CASE STUDY 2
Manufacturing "Lift and Shift"
As a UX Design consultant at a large software company, I was tasked with translating the design of an outdated manufacturing software suite to a state-of-the-art Angular app. Much of the functionality would be the same— just the presentation would be different. Regardless, I still needed to dissect the complex functionality to "lift and shift" to the browser.
In one year, I boiled 250+ screens down to 6 core templates, and coached local and offshore teams to implement them accurately. I also presented to customers at the annual conference about the redesign strategy. Unfortunately, this venture lost funding and was never fully completed.
Templated Approach
Software Redesign
Offshore Teams
Goals
The Users were manufacturing companies paying a subscription to run the software. They liked that they could efficiently enter data and track progress, but expected a more modern looking app in 2017.
The Business was running low on developers who could build on old systems, and were falling behind in the marketplace. They needed to stay competitive and use newer technologies to attract talent.
My Strategy
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Become an expert in the legacy software.
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Use as few repeatable UI templates as possible.
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Design around Angular Material components to increase speed of development.
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Use remote usability testing tools like usabilityhub.com to collect feedback.
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Create a prototype using navigation patterns native to web browsers.
The redesign added a feature many competitors had: allowing users to search the navigation in addition to searching for individual records.
With the ability to jump from one form to another, it was important to understand form validation, saving, and reverting scenarios.
Ben is far exceeding expectations and his designs were the reason we had anything to release. I've looked at our competitors' UI and thanks to Ben, ours is much better. He consistently excels without needing any hand holding and fits in well with the rest of our team. Our other divisions and even general manager have given him wonderful feedback around the value he brings to the team.
- Director of Development
