Supply Chain Optimization Software - Legacy Desktop to Cloud-Native Platform

The tool was the industry standard for load and packaging optimization, used by FMCG, logistics, and manufacturing firms for close to 25 years. Teams used it to define packaging configurations, simulate load builds, and optimize truck fill rates. It ran only on Windows desktops. This meant location-dependent workflows and no real-time collaboration across global supply chains. Twenty-five years of feature accretion had produced a dense interface with no clear hierarchy and no path to modern collaboration.

Role

As UX/UI Designer, my responsibilities were to:

Run user research with packaging engineers and logistics planners

Shadow workflow sessions to understand real usage patterns, not assumptions

Prioritize features and set UX goals for the cloud migration

Design the end-to-end interaction model for the new platform

Build a progressive disclosure architecture for advanced functions

Design responsive layouts for desktop, tablet, and remote access

Build a component library for data-heavy tables and results

Audit the product for WCAG 2.1 AA and European Accessibility Act compliance

Define keyboard navigation, ARIA labelling, and high-contrast UI for factory floor use

Research

Research showed planners kept parallel paper checklists because they did not trust the desktop app to hold state reliably. It also showed users touched only a handful of the tool's 40+ specialized functions in a typical week. Mixed-case packing and compression analysis were the steps where users backed out of a workflow entirely.

The redesign

The redesign replaced separate modal dialogs for case creation, load building, and truck loading with one continuous linear workflow. High-frequency functions became the primary path. Low-frequency advanced functions moved to an expandable secondary layer, so expert users kept full capability while casual users saw far less complexity. The system pre-populated common dimensions from prior entries and flagged impossible values inline before they reached the calculation engine. CO2 tracking was built into the planning workflow to surface fleet and fuel impact for sustainability reporting.

Results

35% reduction in time-on-task for core workflows, 50% fewer data-entry errors post-launch, 10% reduction in fleet requirements for FMCG clients, and thousands of planning hours saved at one cold-chain firm.