User Story: Facility Types Management (AX04US06)

Facility Types Management - User Story Document

1. Problem Statement

User Roles Identified:

Asset Manager: Responsible for managing facility infrastructure and planning facility-based maintenance strategies
Utility Administrator: Manages facility type configurations and maintains standardized facility classifications

Pain Points by User Role:

Asset Manager:

Inconsistent facility categorization across the utility leading to poor facility management and maintenance planning
Difficulty in tracking facility types and their operational purposes for strategic planning
Limited visibility into facility classifications needed for resource allocation and capacity planning
Manual processes for organizing different types of facilities without standardized descriptions
Inability to correlate facility types with operational requirements and regulatory compliance

Utility Administrator:

Time-consuming manual setup of facility type definitions without standardized templates
Lack of centralized management for facility type descriptions and classifications
Difficulty maintaining consistency in facility data structure across different operational areas
Complex process to add new facility types and update existing facility descriptions
Limited ability to customize facility classifications based on specific utility infrastructure

Core Problem:

Water utilities lack a standardized system for managing facility type definitions and descriptions, leading to inconsistent facility classification, poor infrastructure organization, and inefficient facility management across treatment plants, pumping stations, and administrative facilities.

2. Who Are the Users Facing the Problem?

Asset Manager

Oversees facility infrastructure management and strategic planning
Requires standardized facility types for effective facility management and maintenance planning
Needs consistent facility classifications for resource allocation and operational optimization

Utility Administrator

Manages system configuration and master data for facility types
Responsible for setting up and maintaining facility type definitions and descriptions
Ensures data consistency across all facility management systems

Both roles should have access to this feature with appropriate permission levels based on their facility management responsibilities.

3. Jobs To Be Done

For Asset Manager: When I need to organize and manage different types of utility facilities for strategic planning and maintenance optimization, But I lack standardized facility type definitions with proper descriptions that makes it difficult to categorize facilities and plan resource allocation effectively, Help me access a comprehensive facility type management system with standardized classifications and detailed descriptions, So that I can develop effective facility management strategies, optimize resource allocation, and maintain consistent facility organization.

For Utility Administrator: When I need to set up and maintain consistent facility type definitions across the utility, But I face time-consuming manual processes and lack of standardized templates for facility classification that create organizational inconsistencies, Help me configure facility types with easy customization options and centralized description management, So that I can ensure facility classification consistency, reduce setup time for new facility types, and maintain standardized facility organization.

4. Solution

The Facility Types Management system provides a comprehensive platform for organizing utility facilities with the following capability areas:

4.1 Facility Type Definition and Management

Pre-configured facility types for common water utility infrastructure (Water Treatment Plant, Wastewater Treatment Plant, Water Pumping Station, etc.)
Custom facility type creation with detailed operational descriptions
Centralized management of facility classifications and descriptions

4.2 Facility Description Management

Detailed description fields for each facility type explaining operational purpose
Standardized description templates for common utility facility types
Custom description creation with comprehensive operational details

4.3 Facility Classification Organization

Organized list of facility types with expand/collapse functionality
Hierarchical display of facility information with descriptions
Easy access to facility type details and management functions

4.4 Search and Management Capabilities

Advanced search across facility types and descriptions
Quick access to facility type information and editing functions
Streamlined facility type creation and modification workflows

4.5 Standardization and Templates

Industry-standard facility type templates for water utilities
Standardized naming conventions and description formats
Best practice guidance for facility organization and classification

4.6 Integration and Data Management

Seamless integration with facility management and asset registry systems
Export capabilities for reporting and facility planning
Data validation and consistency checks across facility definitions

5. Major Steps Involved

Asset Manager Flow:

Access Facility Types Dashboard
- Navigate to Settings > Facility Types
- View existing facility type definitions and descriptions
- Review facility type organization and classification structure
Review Facility Classifications
- Expand facility types to view detailed descriptions
- Assess current facility type coverage and organization
- Identify gaps in facility classification structure
Analyze Facility Organization
- Review facility type descriptions for operational clarity
- Assess facility classification effectiveness for planning purposes
- Identify optimization opportunities in facility organization
Request Facility Type Modifications
- Identify needs for new facility types or description updates
- Submit requests for facility classification enhancements
- Provide operational requirements for facility type improvements
Validate Facility Management Effectiveness
- Review facility type utilization across the utility
- Assess facility classification effectiveness for strategic planning
- Recommend improvements for facility organization

Utility Administrator Flow:

System Configuration Access
- Log into SMART360 administrative interface
- Navigate to Settings > Facility Types
- Access facility type management dashboard
Create New Facility Type
- Click "Add Facility Type" button
- Enter facility type name and operational description
- Configure facility type settings and classifications
Manage Facility Descriptions
- Edit existing facility type descriptions
- Update facility type information as operational requirements change
- Ensure description accuracy and completeness
Configure Facility Classifications
- Set up facility type names with descriptive information
- Define facility operational purposes and characteristics
- Configure facility type organization and hierarchy
Validate and Test Configuration
- Review complete facility type structure
- Test facility type creation and modification workflows
- Validate integration with facility management systems

6. Flow Diagram

7. Business Rules

1. Facility Types Main Page

Title: "Facility Types"
Subtitle: "Manage facility types and their descriptions for your water utility system."
Breadcrumb: Dashboard > Settings > facility-types

Search Field

Field Name: Search
Placeholder: "Search facility types..."
Rules:
- Minimum 2 characters required to trigger search
- Search is case-insensitive
- Searches across facility type names and descriptions
- Real-time search with 300ms debounce
- Maximum 100 characters allowed
- Special characters allowed: hyphen (-), underscore (_), space
- Search results highlight matching terms
- Empty search displays all facility types
- No search filters or advanced options

Add Facility Type Button

Button Text: "+ Add Facility Type"
Rules:
- Positioned in top-right corner of the page
- Dark blue background (#1f2937) with white text and plus icon
- Opens inline "Add New Facility Type" form below the button
- Disabled if user lacks facility type creation permissions
- Button changes to "Cancel" mode when form is active

2. Facility Types List Display

Facility Type Items

Display Requirements:
- Facility type name displayed as main header
- Expand/collapse functionality with chevron icon (up/down arrow)
- Edit icon (pencil) on hover for authorized users on the right
- Delete icon (trash) on hover for authorized users on the right
- Three-dot menu for additional actions on the right
- Clean list layout with consistent spacing

Facility Type Name Display

Rules:
- Displayed as clickable text for expand/collapse
- Font weight: medium/semi-bold
- Color: dark gray/black for readability
- Truncated with ellipsis if exceeds container width
- Hover effect changes cursor to pointer
- Click anywhere on the row expands/collapses description

Expand/Collapse Functionality

Rules:
- Chevron icon rotates 180 degrees when toggling
- Smooth animation transition (200ms)
- Only one facility type expanded at a time (accordion style)
- State persists during session but not across page reloads
- Keyboard accessible (Enter/Space to toggle)

Description Display Area

Rules:
- Shows when facility type is expanded
- Label "Description:" in bold
- Description text in gray color (#6b7280)
- Left padding for visual hierarchy
- Auto-wraps text content
- Preserves line breaks from description field
- Collapse after 3 seconds of inactivity (optional)

Action Icons

Edit Icon (Pencil):
- Only visible on hover
- Positioned on the right side of each facility type row
- Opens inline editing mode for the facility type
- Disabled if user lacks edit permissions
- Tooltip: "Edit facility type"
Delete Icon (Trash):
- Only visible on hover
- Positioned next to edit icon
- Triggers confirmation dialog before deletion
- Disabled if facility type has associated facilities
- Tooltip: "Delete facility type"
Three-dot Menu:
- Always visible on the right
- Contains additional options like "Duplicate", "Export", etc.
- Dropdown menu with consistent styling

3. Facility Type Examples (from screenshots)

Water Treatment Plant

Name: "Water Treatment Plant"
Description: "Facility that treats raw water to make it suitable for human consumption and meets drinking water quality standards."

Wastewater Treatment Plant

Name: "Wastewater Treatment Plant"
Description: Not visible in screenshots, but would follow same pattern

Water Pumping Station

Name: "Water Pumping Station"
Description: Not visible in screenshots, but would follow same pattern

Wastewater Lift Station

Name: "Wastewater Lift Station"
Description: Not visible in screenshots, but would follow same pattern

Water Storage Facility (Tower/Reservoir)

Name: "Water Storage Facility (Tower/Reservoir)"
Description: Not visible in screenshots, but would follow same pattern

Biosolids Management Facility

Name: "Biosolids Management Facility"
Description: Not visible in screenshots, but would follow same pattern

Administrative / Operations Center

Name: "Administrative / Operations Center"
Description: Not visible in screenshots, but would follow same pattern

4. Add New Facility Type Form

Form Display

Form Title: "Add New Facility Type"
Form Position: Inline, appears below the "Add Facility Type" button when clicked
Form Width: Full width of the content area
Form Background: Light gray background to distinguish from list items

Facility Type Name Field

Field Label: "Name"
Placeholder: "Enter facility type name"
Field Type: Text input
Rules:
- Required field (no visual asterisk shown in screenshot)
- Minimum 3 characters, maximum 50 characters
- Must be unique across all facility types (case-insensitive)
- Allowed characters: letters, numbers, spaces, hyphens, forward slash (/), parentheses ()
- Cannot start or end with spaces
- Cannot contain consecutive spaces
- Cannot be only numbers
- Cannot contain special characters: @, #, $, %, ^, *, <, >, ?, |, , [, ]
- Real-time validation with error display below field
- Character count indicator (optional)

Facility Type Description Field

Field Label: "Description"
Placeholder: "Enter facility type description"
Field Type: Textarea
Rules:
- Required field (no visual asterisk shown in screenshot)
- Minimum 10 characters, maximum 500 characters
- Must provide meaningful description of facility type purpose
- Cannot be only spaces or special characters
- HTML tags not allowed
- Auto-resize textarea based on content (minimum 3 rows)
- Character count indicator showing remaining characters
- Line breaks preserved in storage and display
- Real-time validation with error display below field

Form Action Buttons

Save Button

Button Text: "💾 Save" (with disk icon)
Button Style: Gray background (#6b7280) with white text
Rules:
- Disabled until all required fields are valid
- Background color changes based on validation state
- Shows loading spinner during save operation
- Success message: "Facility type created successfully"
- Error handling for duplicate names and system errors

Cancel Button

Button Text: "✖ Cancel" (with X icon)
Button Style: Text button, no background
Rules:
- Always enabled
- Confirmation dialog if unsaved changes exist
- Confirmation message: "Are you sure you want to cancel? Your changes will be lost."
- No confirmation needed if no changes made
- Clears form and hides form area
- Keyboard shortcut: Escape key

8. Sample Data

Facility Types and Descriptions:

Water Treatment Plant
├── Description: Facility that treats raw water to make it suitable for human consumption and meets drinking water quality standards.

Wastewater Treatment Plant
├── Description: Facility that processes and treats wastewater to remove contaminants before discharge or reuse.

Water Pumping Station
├── Description: Facility that houses pumps and equipment to move water through the distribution system or between treatment stages.

Wastewater Lift Station
├── Description: Facility that lifts wastewater from lower to higher elevations in the collection system using pumps.

Water Storage Facility (Tower/Reservoir)
├── Description: Facility that stores treated water for distribution, providing system pressure and emergency supply capacity.

Biosolids Management Facility
├── Description: Facility that processes, treats, and manages biosolids and sludge from wastewater treatment operations.

Administrative / Operations Center
├── Description: Facility that houses administrative offices, control rooms, and operational support functions for utility management.

Additional Facility Type Examples:

Chemical Storage Facility
├── Description: Facility that safely stores treatment chemicals, disinfectants, and other materials used in water and wastewater treatment processes.

Laboratory Facility
├── Description: Facility that conducts water quality testing, analysis, and regulatory compliance monitoring for treatment operations.

Maintenance Shop
├── Description: Facility that houses equipment maintenance, repair operations, and spare parts storage for utility infrastructure.

Remote Monitoring Station
├── Description: Facility that houses monitoring equipment, telemetry systems, and data collection devices for remote operations.

Emergency Response Center
├── Description: Facility that coordinates emergency response activities, crisis management, and disaster recovery operations.

9. Acceptance Criteria

The system must display a list of facility types with their descriptions
The system must allow creation of new facility types with name and description fields
The system must provide editing capabilities for existing facility type names and descriptions
The system must support deletion of facility types with proper validation
The system must validate that facility type names are unique across the system
The system must prevent deletion of facility types that have associated facilities
The system must provide search functionality across facility type names and descriptions
The system must support expand/collapse functionality for facility type details
The system must display facility type descriptions when expanded
The system must validate facility type name length (3-50 characters)
The system must validate facility type description length (10-500 characters)
The system must provide inline editing capabilities for facility types
The system must show save and cancel options during editing
The system must maintain audit trails for all facility type changes
The system must support export of facility type data for reporting
The system must integrate with facility management systems
The system must provide role-based access control for facility type management
The system must display clear error messages for validation failures
The system must prevent creation of facility types with invalid characters
The system must support bulk operations for facility type management

10. Process Changes

Process Area	From	To	Impact
Facility Classification	Manual categorization of facilities without standardized types	Standardized facility type definitions with detailed descriptions	70% improvement in facility organization consistency, 50% reduction in classification time
Facility Management Setup	Custom facility setup without predefined types	Template-based facility creation using standardized facility types	60% reduction in setup time, 85% improvement in facility data consistency
Facility Planning	Ad-hoc facility planning without standardized classifications	Systematic facility planning using standardized facility type definitions	40% improvement in planning efficiency, 75% better resource allocation
Facility Documentation	Inconsistent facility documentation across locations	Standardized facility descriptions and operational purpose documentation	80% improvement in documentation consistency, 90% better operational clarity
Facility Reporting	Manual compilation of facility information from various sources	Automated facility reporting based on standardized facility type definitions	65% reduction in reporting time, 95% improvement in reporting accuracy
New Facility Commissioning	Custom facility setup for each new location	Template-based commissioning using existing facility type definitions	55% reduction in commissioning time, 90% improvement in setup consistency
Cross-Department Coordination	Different facility naming across operational areas	Unified facility type definitions with consistent naming conventions	85% reduction in communication errors, 95% improvement in operational coordination
Facility Maintenance Planning	Limited facility categorization for maintenance scheduling	Comprehensive facility type organization enabling targeted maintenance strategies	70% improvement in maintenance planning, 60% better resource optimization

11. Impact from Solving This Problem

Impact Category	Metric	Improvement
Operational Efficiency	Facility classification time	70% reduction through standardized facility type templates and definitions
Data Quality	Facility information consistency	85% improvement through enforced standardization and validation rules
Facility Management	Setup and configuration time	60% reduction through template-based facility type creation
Planning Effectiveness	Facility planning accuracy	75% improvement through standardized facility type organization
Resource Utilization	Administrative workload	65% reduction in facility type configuration and maintenance efforts
Documentation Quality	Facility description completeness	90% improvement through required description fields and templates
Reporting Efficiency	Facility reporting time	65% reduction through automated facility type data compilation
Cross-Department Coordination	Communication effectiveness	85% improvement through unified facility type terminology
Maintenance Planning	Planning accuracy	70% improvement through standardized facility type categorization
Strategic Planning	Facility organization effectiveness	75% improvement through comprehensive facility type management

12. User Behavior Tracking

Asset Manager Tracking:

Event	Properties	Insights Goal
facility_types_viewed	facility_types_accessed, time_spent, descriptions_reviewed	Understanding which facility types require the most management attention
facility_planning_performed	facility_types_analyzed, planning_duration, decisions_made	Identifying facility types most critical for strategic planning
facility_organization_accessed	facility_types_reviewed, organization_patterns, efficiency_metrics	Tracking facility organization effectiveness and optimization opportunities
facility_reports_generated	facility_types_included, report_format, use_case	Understanding reporting needs and most valuable facility type data

Questions Answered:

Which facility types require the most strategic attention?
How effectively are facility types organized for planning purposes?
What facility type information is most valuable for decision-making?
Are facility type definitions comprehensive for management needs?

Utility Administrator Tracking:

Event	Properties	Metrics	Insights Goal
facility_type_created	type_name, creation_time, description_length, user_id	Number of new facility types per month	Measuring system expansion and facility type evolution
facility_description_updated	facility_type, description_changes, update_frequency	Description maintenance and quality	Understanding maintenance patterns and optimization opportunities
facility_type_search_performed	search_term, results_found, action_taken	Search effectiveness and user behavior	Improving search functionality and information architecture
facility_management_session	facility_types_modified, session_duration, changes_made	Time spent on facility type configuration	Identifying areas where templates or automation could improve efficiency
validation_errors_encountered	error_type, field_name, resolution_time	Data quality and user experience	Identifying common configuration issues and improving user guidance
facility_integration_tested	facility_types_tested, integration_success, issues_found	Integration effectiveness and reliability	Ensuring seamless connection with facility management systems