Pallet

Timeline

Tools

Client

3 weeks

Figma, FigJam, Notion

Contract @ Pallet

My role

As a contract product designer, my goal was to improve efficiency for the existing system because there has been very little innovation on supply chain software in over 20 years. 

What's wrong with the current system?

When our customers are inputting a new order, the charges are confusing - it’s lacking a clear, efficient method to display information. The totals are automatically calculated behind the scenes without showing the numbers or more information to the users. Since money and payments are extremely important to all businesses, we needed to make the charges as less confusing as possible, in order for them to trust us with their money and business. 

Customers have stated that adding accessorials (extra charge items) to each order takes too much time. Currently, it's a drop down that takes at least THREE clicks and scrolls for them to find a specific accessorial they need to add to an order. 

Changes I made

When the user is inputting a fuel charge, the auto calculate option provides no clarification on where the percentage or where the total came from. This makes it difficult for the users to double check the totals.

• I added in an explanation that this auto calculate percentage is a preset.
• I changed the quantity from “1” to the actual freight total. This will make it easier for the users to do their own calculations based on the percentage given.
• I included a hover state to the quantity, which will have an information pop up to show that this price is the freight total.

Tariffs are another type of charge for freight that the users can select when inputting a new order.

Even though they can select the tariff option, it doesn’t explain in detail how it’s calculated - by unit, mile, weight, or the assigned zone.

• To combat this, I added a hover state to state the preset amount for the minimum and maximum prices.
• I also added in a description of how the rates are read in parentheses within that same container - zone/unit, zone/lbs, zone/mi, zone/pc, flat rate.

The weight charge is usually calculated per 100 lbs, but since the current design doesn’t display this information, it makes the math confusing.

• Adding this information straight into the rate container and changing the quantity to the converted rate of the poundage will make it easier for the users to understand how the freight charge is calculated.

A New Feature

Accessorials are extra charges a customer can add to each order. Currently, it takes multiple clicks and scrolls for the customers to find and select the accessorial they're looking for. Since efficiency is key, this is where the new quick add accessorial feature comes in - the customers are able to select a few often used accessorials to be displayed below an order’s charges with as little clicks as possible.

Through the customer's company settings, they're now able to select a few often used accessorials to keep in the shortcut.

These shortcuts will then be displayed as such in the order creation page for easy selection.

Reflecting on Opportunities for Improvement

Even though I was brought onto the team for a short amount of time, I've noticed that there are key areas for improvement throughout the product that I wanted to work on if I had more time. My approach would have included advocating for the implementation of consistent design standards across the site. As it stands, the product has lacks uniformity in presenting information and suffers from alignment issues. Establishing a coherent set of design standards would significantly refresh and streamline the product.

The strategies I recommended are currently in the process of being developed. Given the opportunity to extend my contract, my next step would have been to spearhead user testing for these modifications and closely analyze customer feedback to refine the user experience further. 

Let's connect!

Email: Jacquelinehe97@gmail.com