AI-Assistants
We understand that direct application of knowledge leads to efficient learning, creating a rewarding sense of self-efficacy when individuals experience confirmation of their understanding. However, there's a vast array of information, such as rules, regulations, and intricate details, that many find unappealing to learn despite its importance in professional settings.
Traditionally, we've relied on training courses, manuals, and guidelines to bridge this gap. Yet, the advent of AI-based assistance systems presents a novel solution, eliminating the need for memorization by providing real-time access to necessary information upon a simple query.
Our exploration into AI assistants has revealed their potential when properly refined. Without adequate training, these systems may not meet quality standards, and their efficiency is limited without the integration of visual examples or direct links to sources. Recognizing these needs as opportunities, we've developed systems capable of delivering situation-specific knowledge effectively. These user-friendly systems have shown promise in initial tests, indicating a significant role in complementing traditional educational and training methods.
A simple application with great benefits. To support our partner M1ND, an AI-supported assistant facilitates the learning process for customised accessibility training.
R3ASON: Simplifying Complexity in Product and Innovation Development
Iconstorm has encapsulated its efforts within a comprehensive program named R3ASON, aiming to streamline everyday challenges in product and innovation development. R3ASON has already delivered solutions in user research, requirements engineering, and decision-making, offering direct, impactful assistance in development processes and training. These AI-supported solutions not only enhance productivity but also enrich human capabilities, making intelligent assistance a valuable asset.
First Use Case: AI-Accessibility-Assistant
Acknowledging the upcoming regulations like the Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz (BFSG), effective June 28, 2025, Iconstorm addresses the necessity for products and services to be accessible. This requirement, while raising cost and time-to-market concerns, also presents an opportunity for innovation. Iconstorm explores how AI can support the development of accessible products, offering a pathway that reduces cognitive load and streamlines the design process. Iconstorm quickly transitioned from conceptualizing to developing prototypes that demonstrated significant value and customer promise. By training AI models, such as OpenAI, on accessibility in software development, Iconstorm created an assistant system capable of providing relevant, situation-specific information. This system, superior to basic OpenAI solutions, supports UX designers, frontend developers, UX writers, and project managers by offering tailored advice, including organization-specific guidelines, reference materials, and visual examples.
Enhancing User Manuals and Guides with AI
Use Case: AI-Assisted Documentation for Complex Equipment
Many machines, software, and technical devices come with comprehensive manuals that are seldom intuitive or fully utilized by end-users. Especially in medical technology, detailed documentation is crucial but often underutilized due to complexity and accessibility issues.
Challenge: Underutilized and Hard-to-Navigate Manuals
The primary challenge lies in the complexity and inaccessibility of these manuals, making it difficult for users to find the information they need quickly. Traditional indexes and keyword searches are often inadequate.
AI Solution and Customer Value
AI assistance systems can provide rapid, context-specific help, translating and tailoring the content to suit different user groups. This reduces the initial effort and cost of producing such systems, significantly improving the user experience by making manuals more accessible and easier to navigate.
Streamlining Design Guidelines and Brand Portals with AI
Use Case: AI for Enhancing Brand Consistency
Style guides, brand portals, and related information resources often suffer from low usage rates among professionals, confusion among beginners, and frustration among occasional users due to perceived restrictions on creativity.
Challenge: Low Acceptance and Utility
The main issue is the balance between maintaining brand consistency and accommodating creative freedom, leading to high costs for creation, updates, and maintenance with low overall acceptance.
AI Solution and Customer Value
AI-assisted systems can serve as a transitional technology to increase the utility of design guidelines and brand portals while reducing the effort for users. By providing situation-specific advice, AI can improve acceptance and adherence to brand guidelines, making them a more effective and cost-efficient solution.
Facilitating Governance and Compliance through AI
Use Case: AI-Enhanced Governance and Compliance
Governance and compliance entail adhering to a complex set of rules, laws, and regulations, which are crucial for achieving business objectives but often challenging to navigate and apply.
Challenge: Accessibility and Understanding of Regulations
The difficulty lies in making governance and compliance information accessible and understandable for employees, ensuring they can quickly inform themselves and align their actions with company policies and legal requirements.
AI Solution and Customer Value
Implementing AI assistance systems allows employees to make better, more informed decisions in a risk-aware environment. AI can present governance and compliance information in a user-friendly, context-specific manner, aiding adherence to regulations and improving overall compliance posture.
Support in Assembly and Maintenance Contexts
Use Case: AI Assistance for Product Customization and Digitalization Trends
The trends of product customization and digitalization are reshaping production landscapes, leading to numerous product and process enhancements. However, these advancements introduce new complexities for production staff, particularly in managing an increasing variety of product variants and their associated, ever-more-detailed assembly steps.
Challenge: Overcoming Complexity and Minimizing Errors
A key challenge lies in maintaining an overview of the growing number of product variants and their detailed assembly processes. This complexity can lead to assembly errors and an increase in missing or incorrect parts, affecting overall production efficiency and quality.
AI Solution and Customer Value
An AI assistance system can address these challenges by providing real-time, step-by-step guidance through assembly processes. It can help workers keep track of various product variants and their specific assembly instructions, thereby reducing assembly errors and the incidence of missing parts. Furthermore, the same system can be used for the onboarding and continuous training of staff, enhancing their proficiency and speed in assembly tasks.
Expanding Horizons: Broadening the Impact of AI-Assisted Systems
Iconstorm envisions leveraging its architecture and interface across various domains, recognizing the potential for AI-assisted systems to address governance, compliance, code documentation, and beyond. These systems facilitate better decision-making, reduce cognitive burdens, and enhance user experience, ultimately improving organizational efficiency and knowledge utilization.
Looking Forward: Beyond Efficiency to Social Innovation
While exploring AI use cases often centers on cost and efficiency, Iconstorm highlights the significance of inclusivity and AI's capacity to fundamentally enhance lives. Through crafting solutions in social innovation, Iconstorm seeks to boost participation and opportunities for people with disabilities, illustrating AI's substantial effect on society. Our guiding questions in this area are: "How can AI-supported assistance systems be utilized for people with disabilities? Which assistance systems make sense, and which do not? Who can benefit from them? And under what conditions?
The same application, different use case and different brand experience. We have developed several pilots and are amazed at the results. And so are our customers.
AI Assistant FAQ
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Modern generative AI systems now offer the capability to create individualized instances, which can then be trained specialized away from the main module. We utilize structured and specially prepared documents for training, as this significantly improves the results. This also enables the possibility to contextually include links, images, and files, thereby massively increasing the possibilities and user-friendliness.
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Currently, we are using OpenAI for our initial pilots. However, the procedure is transferable to alternative models. If you have requirements in this regard, please talk to us, and we will clarify.
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This is a key advantage of the structured content with which we train the system; versioning of content is naturally possible.
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The system can be hosted either in our data center or within the existing infrastructure of the client. This allows us to quickly set up pilot systems but also to choose different strategies for sensitive content.
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Our consultants are happy to assist you in selecting suitable knowledge sources and can name efforts for possible structuring of content. If you are not sure whether this solution is right for you - please contact us.
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The test system is made available on request for your use case. Please speak with us, as some preparatory work is naturally necessary.