🏗 Fixing a 20-Year-Old UX Mess: The Ship Primus Redesign Story
How I turned a tangled legacy system into a modern, intuitive logistics tool.
My Role
Lead Product Designer, User Researcher
The Challenge
Ship Primus is a highly complex enterprise Transportation Management System (TMS) used by logistics companies to manage their shipping operations. As the Lead Product Designer, I worked directly with the CEO for 8 months to create this brand new TMS application from scratch. This project required the full spectrum of the UX process from initial user research to final pixel-perfect prototyping.
Understanding the Users
When I started, there was an existing Ship Primus product that is used globally by a multitude of different users. I have a background in logistics, so I know that immersive user research is critical. I conducted contextual inquiries by shadowing shipment brokers, shipments operations reps, carrier dispatchers, carriers (truck drivers), and warehouse workers to deeply understand their use cases and pain points in the current TMS system.
“I know this current platform like the back of my hand.”
"There is just too much going on. Usually I only need to find a single tracking note."
"I can not have my software be the reason that I am behind on these loads."
The Vision
With the CEO and product team, we established the following OKRs to guide the product vision:
- Increase logistics team efficiency by 30%
- Reduce shipping errors and delays by 50%
- Achieve 90% user satisfaction in post-launch testing
Legacy UI Woes
Before embarking on this full redesign, Ship Primus was using a legacy TMS application that had been duct-taped together over decades. The user interface was a tangled mess that looked like it was ripped straight out of Windows 95...
The Design Process
Over 8 months, I iterated through research, ideation, prototyping, and testing cycles to shape the end-to-end experience for Ship Primus.
User Workflows
I mapped out the key user workflows like scheduling shipments, tracking shipments, managing exceptions, and reporting. This formed the core structure of the product.
Wireframes and Design System
My first UI work began with constructing a brand new style guide and component library. Borrowing from Material UI, I began to iterate on custom components, all adhering to a fresh brand update and style.
Then, starting with low-fidelity wireframes, I explored different UI layouts, navigation, and interactions to optimize the different workflows.
Usability Testing
I conducted regular usability testing with logistics professionals using interactive prototypes. This surfaced areas of friction and allowed me to validate solutions.
High-Fidelity Mockups
The final high-fidelity mockups incorporated a clean, intuitive UI design with custom illustrations and data visualizations for at-a-glance insights.
Examples
Getting Truckload Quotes
I designed an elegant solution that streamlines the inherently complex process of getting truckload quotes into a simplified flow within a unified interface. With just a few inputs for shipment details, users can instantly request and view quotes from the integrated carrier network and load boards.
Managing and Tracking Shipments
The Shipments page provides a centralized interface for logistics coordinators to monitor and manage shipments. I designed a highly customizable experience allowing users to filter data, save views, and access frequent workflows with one-click for streamlining their tasks. The interface provides an at-a-glance overview of the shipment details, robust filtering capabilities, and the ability to take actions like rescheduling or updating status directly from the main shipments table.
Takeaways
This ground-up product build for a complex enterprise application was an incredible learning experience. Some key takeaways:
- Immersive user research is invaluable for defining the right problems to solve
- An iterative design process with continuous user validation is critical
- Aligning the entire product team around clear objectives and vision unifies efforts
- Leveraging data, and begining to incorporate AI and automation can dramatically boost efficiency and accuracy
I'm proud that Ship Primus is making logistics operations smarter, smoother, and more cost-effective for businesses worldwide. This project exemplified the power of human-centered design for even the most complex enterprise software.