UI Design | UX Researcher & Designer in SLC, UT

Platform color update

Omnitracs (B2B SaaS - Hardware/Freight), a company under the Solera umbrella, requested a cost-effective platform modernization. The objective was to update the platform from the old branding to the new branding. This update included logos, backgrounds, basic table formatting, and overall color schemes – essentially anything that could be done with CSS and minimal HTML work. This application update involved three product owners, one product manager, and an offshore development team that implemented the changes.

This project constituted about 50 percent of my workload over a three to four-week period, covering two separate applications and dozens of screens. The majority of the work consisted of discovery (examining every aspect) and QA (ensuring the polished state of each aspect).

Overall, this update was very successful. Each department completed their tasks by the deadline set by the business, and more importantly, the next round of NPS scores rose significantly (with this being the only update along with bug fixes).

Dated Application to MUI

FreightPop (B2B SaaS - Shipping/Freight) approached me to assist with their platform redesign as a freelance project. When we initially met, we discussed their expectations and goals for this redesign. The overall usage of the platform was well perceived, as it is one of the most feature-rich platforms on the market (Don Norman ringing in my ears). After concluding our initial meeting, we agreed to create an MUI design system (leveraging developer experience with MUI) to incorporate their new marketing color scheme into the application. We also put together a couple of screens and samples to guide the engineering team.

Before completing this initial arrangement, I was asked if I would be interested in extending and continuing for the duration of the project. My duties now included helping put together user testing questions, continuing to flesh out screens, and iterating on complex UX workflows.

The updates and workflows have been well received. Unfortunately, I do not have access to analytics, NPS, or other key metrics. However, there was minimal to no rework required, and I maintained a healthy relationship with the product team – these metrics have been my gauge of success on the project.

Quick Explorations

While at West Monroe, I was assigned to various sales engagements aimed at bringing clients into new markets.

Company A (a generic name for an NDA) was a service company with software to track inventory and assignments within the cleaning and maintenance space of healthcare. Company A was purchased by an investment firm with the aspiration to sell the software in a similar, but more strictly regulated, field of life sciences. Our main job was to determine what changes would be necessary to make that transition, along with possible efficiencies in their existing space. We identified the current personas, interviewed multiple individuals in each type of position, extrapolated which personas would be necessary to enter the new market, and met with a few of them as well. Some of the findings were difficult for the product team to digest. Technicians were keeping their notes/documentation in a spreadsheet along with the required fields in the software. As the discussion continued, we shifted our focus to the efficiencies in the current tool, as that seemed to be the preferred solution. The contract was renewed after this engagement, and another designer took over as my staffing had changed.

Company B (NDA) is a GIS SaaS platform targeted towards state and local governments. This was another company purchased by an investment firm looking to enhance the platform. The product team seemed fairly apprehensive about working with us, as they were not involved in the decision. In each meeting, we received little feedback or direction. Internally, we discussed the best way to gather feedback and direction from the product team. We held workshops, conducted one-on-one interviews and group sessions, but still received little input. With the deadline approaching and minimal design work being done, I took a quick stab at a mobile-first future direction. It turned out that this company had never worked with a designer before and assumed that any delivered graphics were a definitive compass for the future of the application. After presenting something tangible, they provided stricter requirements and expectations.

The software is desktop-focused with minimal responsiveness, yet it maintained a 45% mobile usage based on their analytics. The direction suggested was to focus on mobile and map usage for fieldwork, with clerical work available on the desktop version. The colors were taken from their marketing requirements, which were established prior to our engagement. This contract was also renewed after this engagement, and another designer took over as I was fully contracted.

Flash to Greenfield

Desking (B2B SaaS - Automotive) was the largest project that DealerSocket had undertaken during my tenure, in terms of the number of employees dedicated to the project. At the beginning of the project, my role was UX Researcher. I served as a sounding board for the designer who was creating the initial design system. Together, we explored different paths. While he was preparing the designs, I was conducting surveys, user tests, and creating a working prototype.

Midway through the project, the designer left for another opportunity. I took ownership of the design along with the research. Most of the major issues had been resolved, but there were still some micro user interactions that needed to be addressed, some with more significant impacts than others. Continuous testing of new implementations, along with market assessments, set Desking up for success.