Project Overview
I was engaged to lead the user interface design for ChickenGuard, a market leader in automated poultry security solutions. Their market primarily targeted hobbyist chicken keepers, with products that safeguard poultry well-being by automating coop access based on natural circadian rhythms (sunrise and sunset) or by manual control.

My specific remit was to design the touchscreen interface for the ChickenGuard ProPlus external control unit, that automated door operation via timers, clocks, or ambient light sensors.

The Brief & User Requirements
The project required a highly functional, resilient interface tailored to outdoor, real-world conditions. Key UX requirements included:

High Visibility: Maximum legibility in low-light, high-glare, or poor weather conditions.

Physical Accessibility: Large touch targets easily operable while wearing outdoor work gloves.

Streamlined Information Architecture: A minimalist, friction free setup process using universally recognised icons and unambiguous titles and wording.

Design System & Decisions
To address these challenges, I firstly set out to create a utilitarian, accessibility-first design system:

High Contrast Palette: I used a strictly restricted palette of black, white, and two high visibility yellows along with the brands existing pallette. This maximised contrast ratios and readability, aligning with AAA web accessibility standards for visually impaired users.

Brand Alignment: The UI seamlessly integrated ChickenGuard’s existing brand guidelines to ensure visual continuity across their broader product range.

Typography & Layout: I selected bold typography and scaled the UI components to maximise tap targets.

Optimised User Flows: I reduced the overall screen depth to a minimum that mapped out the shortest possible customer journey required to complete the unit's setup.

Prototyping, Iteration, and Testing
Following stakeholder approval of the initial wireframes and user flows, I worked closely with the engineering team to deploy a rapid high-fidelity prototype for Alpha user testing.

The initial testing phase produced critical and unexpected user insights. Leveraging this feedback I refined a series of wireframes and designs to further improve the UX and UI. The main improvements included:

Further simplifying the visual design by reducing colour complexity (now just using black, white and 2 yellows).

Increased button surface areas beyond the initial specifications for better and more accurate button press.

Consolidated multi-step processes to single screens to enhance simplicity.

Outcome
After several iterative testing cycles the UI architecture was finalised and moved into a full production build. A final validation testing phase confirmed that the interface met all usability benchmarks for product launch. The project concluded with a highly successful handover that exceeded the client's expectations for simplicity, accessibility, and ease of use.