Project Overview
*Due to NDA, screenshots & specific information will be limited
The Company:
PLS Logistics Services has become one of the country’s leading logistics services providers. Based in Cranberry Township, PA, a suburb of Pittsburgh, PLS provides dependable outsourced logistics solutions as well as freight brokerage services.
The Problem:
The project will be focused on a turnkey cloud-based application, that will lay the foundational underpinnings for a Shipment Load Board, for Shippers, Carriers, and Brokers to utilize across the country from various organizations.
The Objective:
To produce a functioning platform available at the end of the development period, that can support the needs of the shippers, carriers, and brokers. Users should be able to post, and search for load transactions, as well as carrier resources to complete those transactions.
Who I worked With:
Project Manager, Analysts, Software Engineers, Stake Holders, Quality Assurance, In House Brokers
Tools:
• Sketch • Jira • Confluence • Zeplin • Google Docs
The Process
1.) Gathering specs and additional requirements from stakeholders and brokers
2.) Create User flows & lo-fi wireframes based on requirements and user stories
3.) Present solutions to Product Manager, Lead Architect & engineering team for technical feasibility feedback. The Engineering Team provides estimates and develops the functionality
4.) Quality assurance testing and feedback
5.) Additional bug clean up and performance improvements would be made before presenting progress to the stake holders at the end of a 2 week dev sprint.
6.) Deployment & Retrospective with the team
Low fidelity wireframes were created using Balsamiq to keep stakeholders focused on usability versus high fidelity visual details.
Lo-Fidelity Wireframes
Preliminary wireframes were created prior to sprint zero. These were later modified according to the user stories created by the project manager.
Various developer ready, High Fidelity designs
High Fidelity Mocks
Once user flows and wireframes were approved, I created the high fidelity mocks to deliver to the engineering team.
Tablet & Mobile screens displaying the trucking match platform
Tablet & Mobile Approach
Creating responsive screens were challenging since we didn’t approach the project with a “mobile first” approach. Keeping long rows of data is cumbersome and not user friendly for mobile screens. We opted for a "card” based ui pattern to display results.
Various components were built for quick global design changes and easy developer reference.
Building a
Component Library
Staying organized within the sketch design file was a top priority. I created a component library with various embedded styles, colors, and fonts so I can work quickly and efficiently whenever global changes were needed.
Challenges & Contraints
• Delivery of the MVP was expected in three months
• No QA until second sprint, thus creating backlog of bug fixes early in production
• Minimal usability testing from shippers and carriers during design sprints
• Responsive breakdowns were challenging since it wasn't a mobile first approach
• Webfont license for the original chosen font wasn’t available
• Lack of usability testing after MVP was launched