IoTApro

ConsultaMe came to me with a working IoT backend and no interface. Their system managed physical access for smart buildings — gates, doors, elevators — through a network of connected devices. The engineers had built a powerful API. What they needed was an app that field technicians and property managers could actually use. The challenge: two very different user types sharing one app. Technicians needed deep configuration access, diagnostic views, and the ability to troubleshoot hardware in the field — often with gloves on and in poor lighting. Managers needed a simplified view: who has access to what, approval workflows, and usage reports. One app. Two mental models. Zero prior design work to reference.

Designing for two user types in one app is a context-switching challenge disguised as a design challenge. The technical solution — a role switcher that adapts the navigation and information density — only worked because I spent time understanding that technicians and managers share data but have completely different goals. The Lottie animations were added late in the project, but they became a key differentiator. Status changes in IoT are abstract — a device going offline is just a number changing. Animating the transition made the system feel alive and helped users understand what was happening without reading error codes. Building the design system first was the right call. It added a week upfront but saved two weeks of inconsistency cleanup later.