SMART APPLICATIONS PROJECT
Smart Retail, Smart Chemical, Smart Life Sciences, Smart Classic
PROJECT OVERVIEW
The Smart Applications project is a redesign of a comprehensive order management system which allows Fortune 500 clients to track global shipments, manage electronic documentation, and generate standard and tailored reports. With this redesign, new features were also added, including a dashboard of 14 customizable widgets which now serves as the default homepage.
Prior to the redesign, the original application was visually outdated and non-responsive for mobile and tablet devices. The information architecture required restructuring, and the user experience was confusing. This resulted in under utilized features and the need for additional training.
Responsibilities:
Lead UX Design
UI Design
Information Architecture
Duration:
Jun/2015 -
Feb 2019
Project Sprints:
UX: 2 weeks
UI: 1 week
Tools:
Whiteboard
Balsamiq
MY PROCESS
USER RESEARCH
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Site Analytics
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User Profiles
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Surveys
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Pain point analysis
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Business goals
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Project Scope
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Competitive analysis
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UX best practices
UX MOCKUPS
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Low fidelity mockups only (due to rapid turnaround)
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Informal daily discussion/edit of latest mockups with the development team to ensure feasability
REVIEW
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Weekly review with the product manager
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Bi-weekly review with business partners and participating users
UI DELIVERABLES
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Chose bootstrap at the beginning of the project
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Determined overall color and font scheme
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Deliver icons
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Review overall branding strategy
TEST
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Test usability once developer implementation is delivered
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Open testing to select users
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Document needed changes
PROJECT SPOTLIGHTS:
SMART TRACKING
WHERE WE STARTED
The original version was non-responsive, difficult to navigate, and included several smaller, unnecessary features which added visual noise. While the colors were pulled from the corporate site, no other branding standards were created or utilized for this product.
HOW WE GOT THERE
After assessing the user research, business needs, and project scope, the first of hundreds of mockups were created. The information architecture was restructured, the visual noise was removed, and the digital branding strategy was established.
WHERE WE ARE
The dashboard was created and chosen as the default homepage based on the results of the user research. The 14 widgets reflect the top metrics consistently obtained by clients in the previous version.
SMART TRACKING ALERTS
WHERE WE STARTED
Tracking shipments and receiving alert notifications when shipment delays occur were the second and third most used features for this application. The original version kept these features on separate pages which required repetitive searching for the user. The UI was a spreadsheet format and required both a vertical and horizontal scroll.
HOW WE GOT THERE
After deciding to combine shipment tracking with shipment alerts, the biggest challenge was to convince our business partners to move away from the spreadsheet format. The idea of an interactive map was created and was very well received.
WHERE WE ARE
Users can instantly see a global view of their top ten trade lanes and are alerted to any shipment that requires immediate attention. They can toggle their map view between imports or exports and click or hover over an event to see specific tracking details.