All work

Field Guide

Installing a Runwise system into a building used to take a team of trained technicians and a binder of tribal knowledge. Field Guide is the 0–1 software product that replaced both: a step-by-step install flow that walks anyone through placing, powering, and verifying every device, right on their phone.

Role
Senior Product Manager
Company
Runwise
Timeline
2023 – 2026
Contribution
0–1 product definition, guided install UX, step validation & photo capture, technician & end-user onboarding, cross-functional leadership
Three phone screens from the Field Guide gas-sensor install flow: choosing the install location, following placement criteria for the DeNova sensor, and powering on the Runwise sensor to confirm connection
The first half of a guided gas-sensor install: set the location, follow placement criteria for the DeNova sensor, then power on and confirm the connection by the device's light.

The Challenge

Every install depended on a specialist

A Runwise system spans dozens of devices per building, and each one has to be placed, powered, and paired correctly or the data it sends is worthless. That precision lived in the heads of a small number of trained technicians, so installs were slow, hard to schedule, and expensive, and onboarding a new technician took about a month.

A misplaced sensor or a missed step rarely failed loudly. It surfaced later as a bad reading or a no-show device, turning a five-minute mistake into a return trip. To scale, the company needed installs that anyone could do right the first time.

The Strategy

Turn the install manual into interactive software

I built Field Guide as a 0–1 product that encodes the entire install procedure into a guided, screen-by-screen flow, for two audiences: trained technicians installing a full system, and end users self-installing Runwise wireless unit sensors.

The core bet was validation at every step. Each screen confirms one thing before it unlocks the next, placement against clear criteria, power-on verified by the device's own lights, and a required installed photo, so mistakes are caught at the source instead of on a return trip.

The Solution

A guided flow for every device

Field Guide breaks each install component into numbered steps, so progress is always obvious. The gas-sensor flow, for example, sets the install location by floor and unit, walks through placement criteria for the sensor, and confirms power-on through the device's LED light language, the same colors used across the Wireless Network.

From there it guides mounting the Runwise sensor to spec, then requires an installed photo before the job can be marked complete, leaving a verified record of every device in every unit.

Three phone screens from the back half of the Field Guide flow: confirming the Runwise sensor is on via its lights, mounting it to spec, and capturing a required installed photo before completing
The second half: confirm the sensor is connected, mount the Runwise sensor to spec, and capture a required installed photo, every step validated before the next unlocks.

The same guided pattern works for end users. A separate four-step flow walks a resident through self-installing a wireless unit sensor, set the location, check the placement requirements, peel-and-stick, and finish with a photo, no technician required.

Four phone screens from the end-user unit-sensor self-install flow: input install location, verify placement requirements, peel the tape cover and install the sensor, and take an installed photo
End users get the same treatment for wireless unit sensors: set the location, verify placement requirements, peel-and-stick, and finish with a photo.

Because a half-installed building can't detect all possible leaks, Field Guide also tracks completion. A live roster shows which sensors are online and which still need installing, and an action-needed prompt nudges the right person to finish, so coverage is never left to chance.

iPad and phone showing a gas-sensor roster with an Install 3 remaining sensors banner, several uninstalled sensor rows, and a status of 154 sensors online with no gas leaks detected
A live roster of which sensors are online and which remain, so a building is never silently left half-covered.
An Action needed modal reading Uninstalled sensors, explaining that all sensors must be installed to detect natural gas and receive remote alerts, with an Install sensors button
When sensors are still uninstalled, an action-needed prompt makes the gap impossible to miss, gas-leak detection only works once every sensor is live.

The Impact

An install anyone can get right the first time

$300K
saved per year through install error reductions
35%
increase in weekly install capacity
1 month
less technician training time
20%+
reduction in installation revisits
0 days
required for trained technicians to install sensors
0→1
product built from the ground up

Field Guide turned installation from Runwise's hardest-to-scale step into a repeatable, self-serve process. As a 0–1 product, it guided technicians through a full system install, cutting install costs by $300K a year through error reductions, lifting weekly install capacity by 35%, and reducing technician training time by a full month.

A companion flow let end users install Runwise wireless space sensors themselves, removing the need for a trained technician for sensor installs entirely and reducing installation revisits by 20%+. By validating placement, power-on, and a photo at every step, Field Guide caught mistakes at the source, protecting the data quality that Smart Control Hardware and the Wireless Network depend on.