Service Area (ONB02US08)
1. Problem Statement
Pain Points
Utility Administrator
- Complex and lengthy hierarchy navigation from region > country > state > ... > premise
- Unable to add tags to service areas for easy categorization and searching
- No service area codes for quick reference and identification
- Cannot visualize the service area hierarchy in an intuitive way
- Unable to see summary data (consumers, meters, etc.) for particular service areas
Core Problem
The current service area management system has an overly complex hierarchy that hinders efficient navigation, lacks proper identification mechanisms (tags, codes), and fails to provide summary data, making it difficult for users to manage utility service areas effectively.
2. Who Are the Users Facing the Problem?
Utility Administrator
- Configures system settings to align with utility business processes
- Manages master data including service area definitions
- Serves as liaison between department heads and IT for system requirements
3. Jobs To Be Done
For Utility Administrator: When I need to configure and organize service areas in our utility system, But I struggle with navigating through an overly complex hierarchy and cannot easily identify or categorize service areas, Help me manage service areas with a simplified hierarchy and proper identification mechanisms, So that I can efficiently organize our utility's operational territories.
4. Solution
A redesigned Service Areas management interface with simplified hierarchy navigation, enhanced identification capabilities, and integrated summary data:
Key Capability Areas
- Simplified Hierarchy Navigation
- Streamlined hierarchy from City > Zone > Division > Area > Subarea > Premise
- Breadcrumb navigation showing current position in hierarchy
- Quick-jump capabilities to any level of the hierarchy
- Service Area Identification
- Unique service area codes for quick reference (e.g., SAV-C, SAV-W)
- Tagging system to categorize service areas
- Hierarchy Visualization
- Hierarchical tree view showing the structure of service areas
- Summary Data Integration
- Consumer count summaries for each service area
- Meter statistics integrated into service area information
- Bulk Operations
- Bulk upload functionality for service areas
- Mass update capabilities for service area properties
- Service Area Management
- Add new service areas (cities, zones, etc.) through intuitive interfaces
- Edit existing service area properties and relationships
- Delete or deactivate service areas when needed
- Export and Reporting
- Export service area data in various formats
- Generate hierarchy reports for planning
- Create custom views of service area data
5. Major Steps Involved
For Utility Administrator
- Accessing Service Area Management
- Navigate to the Service Areas section from the main menu
- View the "Service Area Hierarchy" panel displaying the streamlined hierarchy
- Navigating the Hierarchy
- Click on hierarchy levels (City > Zone > Division > Area > Subarea > Premise) to drill down
- Use breadcrumb navigation to track position in the hierarchy
- Jump directly to specific levels using the navigation buttons
- Viewing Service Areas
- See the list of service areas at the current hierarchy level (e.g., Cities)
- Toggle between different view modes (grid, list, tree) using the view buttons
- View important information at a glance: codes, tags, creation details
- Adding a New Service Area
- Click the "Add City" button to open the creation form
- Enter required details: name, code, parent relationship
- Add optional tags for categorization (e.g., Priority 1)
- Submit to create the new service area
- Editing Service Areas
- Click the edit icon next to a service area to modify its properties
- Update any relevant fields (name, code, tags, parent relationships)
- Save changes to update the service area
- Managing Tags
- Add tags to service areas for categorization (e.g., Priority 1)
- Use tags for filtering and searching service areas
- Manage tag categories and values through the admin interface
- Exporting Data
- Click the "Export" button to download service area data
- Select desired format and data fields
- Use exported data for reporting or integration with other systems
6. Flow Diagram
7. Business Rules
General Rules
- Service area hierarchy must follow the structure: City > Zone > Division > Area > Subarea > Premise
- Each service area must have a unique name within its parent level
- Service area codes must be unique across the entire system
- All service areas must have a parent relationship
- Creation information must be tracked
- Service areas cannot be deleted if they have child elements or associated assets
- Service area codes must follow the pattern of uppercase letters and numbers, First 3 letters of the service area then "-" and then number with 3 digits.
- Service area code should be autogenerated and can be editable
- Each form must provide an auto-generate option for service area codes
- Tags are optional for all service area levels
- All service area forms must have Cancel and Save buttons
Service Area Level-Specific Rules
City Level
- City creation requires City Name and City Code fields
- City tags are entered in the "Enter tag for this city" field
- Cities are the top level of the hierarchy with no parent selection required
Zone Level
- Zone creation requires selecting a parent City
- Zone Name and Zone Code are required fields
- Zone tags are entered in the "Enter tag for this zone" field
Division Level
- Division creation requires selecting a parent Zone
- Division Name and Division Code are required fields
- Division tags are entered in the "Enter tag for this division" field
Area Level
- Area creation requires selecting a parent Division
- Division selection must display Division code along with name (e.g., "S16-Gataiivai BH (DIV001)")
- Area Name and Area Code are required fields
- Area tags are entered in the "Enter tag for this area" field
Subarea Level
- Subarea creation requires selecting a parent Area
- Subarea Name and Subarea Code are required fields
- Subarea tags are entered in the "Enter tag for this subarea" field
Premise Level
- Premise creation requires selecting a parent Subarea
- Premise Name and Premise Code are required fields
- Total Units field must be numeric
- Premise tags are entered in the "Enter tag for this premise" field
Summary Data Rules
- Service Area Summary must be searchable by partial name
- Search results must display service area level, code, and any tags
- Summary view must include active and total counts for:
- Consumers - active consumer and total consumers
- Meters - assigned meters and total meters
- Assets - Active assets and total assets
- Technicians - On work technicians and total technicians
- Summary data must be specific to the selected service area level
Bulk Upload Rules
- The system must support bulk upload of service areas at all hierarchy levels (Cities, Zones, Divisions, Areas, Subareas, Premises)
- Users must select the type of service area to upload by choosing the appropriate radio button
- Service areas must be uploaded in CSV format with proper column headers
- For all service areas except Cities, users must select a parent entity from the dropdown
- The first line of CSV data must contain column headers
- Each line after the header represents a new service area entity
- Data must be comma-separated values (CSV)
- Values with commas must be enclosed in quotes
- For all service areas, the format must include:
- Name field (required)
- Code field (optional) - will be auto-generated if not provided
- Tag field (optional)
- For premises level, additional fields are required:
- Total Units field (optional) - representing the number of units
- The system must provide a "Validate & Preview Data" function before final upload
- The preview must show the parsed data in a tabular format with only first 5 rows
- The system must show a success message when preview is generated successfully
- Users must be able to proceed with bulk upload only after successful validation
- The system must provide format guidelines through a collapsible section
- Users must have the option to either paste data directly or upload a CSV file
- Preview must show number of rows showing out of total
Error Handling
- If a service area code already exists, the system must show an error message: "Service area code already in use"
- If mandatory fields are missing, highlight the fields and prevent submission
- If a bulk upload contains errors, provide a detailed error report without processing any records
8. Sample Data
Cities
Name | Code | Parent | Tags | Created By | Created Date | Zones |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Savaii Central | SAV-C | Savaii | Priority 1 | John Doe | 04/25/2025 | 2 |
Savaii West | SAV-W | Savaii | - | John Doe | 04/25/2025 | 0 |
Upolu East | UPL-E | Upolu | Priority 2 | Jane Smith | 04/24/2025 | 3 |
Zones (for Savaii Central)
Name | Code | Parent | Tags | Created By | Created Date | Divisions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Coastal Zone | SAV-C-CZ | Savaii Central | Residential | John Doe | 04/25/2025 | 4 |
Inland Zone | SAV-C-IZ | Savaii Central | Commercial | John Doe | 04/25/2025 | 2 |
Summary Data
Service Area | Consumers | Meters | Active Meters | Water Quality Index | Maintenance Tickets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Savaii Central | 15,428 | 12,356 | 11,982 | 96.3% | 47 |
Savaii West | 8,769 | 7,234 | 7,012 | 94.8% | 23 |
Upolu East | 22,145 | 18,732 | 18,145 | 97.1% | 38 |
9. Acceptance Criteria
- The system must display the service area hierarchy as City > Zone > Division > Area > Subarea > Premise
- The system must allow users to navigate the hierarchy by clicking on each level
- The system must provide breadcrumb navigation showing the current position in the hierarchy
- The system must display a list of service areas at the selected hierarchy level
- The system must show service area codes for all service areas
- The system must allow adding tags to service areas for categorization
- The system must track and display creation information for each service area
- The system must provide an "Add" button for creating new service areas at each level
- The system must validate that service area codes are unique
- The system must enforce parent-child relationships in the hierarchy
- The system must show summary data for each service area when available
- The system must support bulk upload of service areas for all hierarchy levels
- The system must prevent deletion of service areas with child elements
- The system must allow editing of service area properties (name, code, tags)
- The system must provide filtering capabilities based on service area properties
- The system must search across service areas by name, code, or tags
- The system must maintain data integrity when service areas are modified
- The system must generate appropriate error messages for validation failures
- The system must provide format guidelines for bulk upload CSV data
- The system must allow users to either paste CSV data or upload a CSV file
- The system must require selection of a parent entity for non-City level uploads
- The system must validate and preview bulk upload data before final submission
- The system must display a preview of parsed data in a tabular format
- The system must provide a success message after successful data validation
- The system must highlight specific errors in bulk upload data for correction
- The system must allow auto-generation of codes if not provided in bulk upload
- The system must support optional tags in bulk upload data
- The system must require additional fields for premise level uploads which are optional
10. Process Changes
From (Current Process) | To (New Process) | Impact Analysis |
|---|---|---|
Navigate through excessive hierarchy levels (region > country > state > ... > premise) | Navigate simplified hierarchy (city > zone > division > area > subarea > premise) | 50% reduction in navigation steps for accessing lower-level service areas |
No service area codes available | Each service area has a unique code (e.g., SAV-C) | 40% improvement in service area identification efficiency |
No tagging capability for service areas | Service areas can be tagged (e.g., Priority 1) | 35% faster categorization and searching of service areas |
Cannot see service area hierarchy visualization | Multiple view options (grid, list, tree) for hierarchy visualization | 45% better understanding of organizational structure |
No summary data available for service areas | Summary data (consumers, meters) integrated with service areas | 60% improvement in data-driven decision making |
Manual service area creation process | Streamlined creation with parent-child relationships | 30% faster service area setup and configuration |
Limited export capabilities | Enhanced export functionality with multiple formats | 40% reduction in time spent preparing reports |
No bulk operations for service areas | Bulk upload and modification capabilities | 70% time savings for large-scale service area management |
11. Impact from Solving This Problem
Metric | How It Improves |
|---|---|
Service Area Configuration Time | ✅ 45% reduction in time spent setting up and organizing service areas |
Navigation Efficiency | ✅ 50% fewer clicks to navigate between service areas |
Asset Management Effectiveness | ✅ 35% improvement in asset tracking and management by service area |
Reporting Accuracy | ✅ 40% more accurate reports due to proper service area organization |
Decision Making Speed | ✅ 30% faster operational decisions with integrated summary data |
User Satisfaction | ✅ Significant improvement in user experience with intuitive hierarchy |
Data Quality | ✅ 25% reduction in data errors through proper service area identification |
Operational Planning | ✅ 40% more effective resource allocation by service area |
12. User Behavior Tracking
Utility Administrator
Event | Properties | Insights | Questions Answered |
|---|---|---|---|
service_area_view | {level, view_type, filters_applied} | Understanding how administrators navigate the hierarchy | How do administrators typically navigate the service area hierarchy? |
service_area_create | {level, parent_id, time_to_complete} | Measuring the efficiency of service area creation | How long does it take to create new service areas? |
service_area_edit | {field_changed, original_value, new_value} | Tracking what properties are most commonly modified | What service area properties require the most maintenance? |
service_area_tag | {tag_name, service_area_level} | Understanding tagging patterns | How are tags being used to organize service areas? |
service_area_search | {search_term, filters_used, results_count} | Analyzing search behavior | What service area attributes are most commonly searched for? |
service_area_export | {format, fields_included, hierarchy_level} | Tracking export usage | What service area data is most valuable for external reporting? |
bulk_upload_attempt | {template_used, success_rate, error_count} | Measuring bulk operation efficiency | What are the common errors in bulk service area management? |
Asset Manager
Event | Properties | Insights | Questions Answered |
|---|---|---|---|
summary_data_view | {service_area_id, metrics_viewed, time_spent} | Understanding data consumption patterns | Which summary metrics are most valuable to asset managers? |
hierarchy_navigation | {start_level, end_level, path_taken} | Analyzing navigation patterns | How do asset managers move through the service area hierarchy? |
performance_metrics_view | {service_area_id, metric_type, comparison_made} | Tracking analytical behavior | What performance comparisons are most frequently made? |
filter_application | {filter_type, filter_value, result_count} | Understanding filtering preferences | How do asset managers narrow down service areas for analysis? |
export_summary_data | {metrics_included, format, frequency} | Measuring reporting needs | What summary data is most frequently exported for analysis? |
tag_based_search | {tag_used, service_areas_found, action_taken} | Analyzing tag effectiveness | How effective are tags in helping asset managers find relevant service areas? |
cross_area_comparison | {areas_compared, metrics_compared, time_spent} | Understanding comparative analysis | What types of cross-area comparisons are most valuable? |
This tracking plan will help understand how users interact with the service area management system, identify potential improvements, and measure the effectiveness of the new features in addressing the identified pain points.