Summary
Managing multiple accounts on mobile devices can be overwhelming due to cluttered interfaces, slow navigation, and poor accessibility. This project focused on redesigning the mobile account listing experience - for both Smartgistics' brokers and admins - to improve usability, efficiency, and accessibility.
I was responsible for the conception, IA, research, and visual design of this project.
Challenge(s)
Primary: Users found it challenging to quickly locate and manage their accounts due to an unstructured layout, lack of filtering options, and inefficient navigation.
Secondary: Additionally, administrators needed the ability to perform essential account actions on the go, such as changing or adding ownership of accounts, viewing shipment data, and other future enhancements, without delays or complex workflows. The goal was to create a seamless, intuitive, and visually optimized mobile account listing that supports both everyday users and administrators who need quick interactions while on the road.
User A: Brokers
Brokers are responsible for managing shipments, coordinating deliveries, and ensuring smooth communication between shippers and carriers.
I spoke with and shadowed three brokers (with varying seniority), focusing on their pain-points, frustrations, and tasks. I also wanted to know the time it took for them to complete their tasks (with and without me watching). They are the lifeblood of the company, and their fast-paced and quick-turnaround of their job tasks, required a smooth and efficient flow.
User B: Admins
Admins oversee account management, user access, and overall logistics operations. Their responsibilities include managing multiple brokers, setting permissions, and ensuring smooth platform functionality. While not as fast-paced as the brokers, they need a performant application as data they are interacting with, changes often through the day.
I sat down with two of the admins and the CEO (who was hand-on in most business operations). As I spoke with them, I was able to better understand what aspects of their management they primarily focus on and which are more secondary and tertiary to their role.
Research & Insights
- User Interviews & Usability Testing – Identified issues with cluttered UI, difficult navigation, and lack of quick actions.
- Competitor Analysis – Researched best practices for account listing UI across financial and SaaS platforms.
- Key Findings: Users preferred quick glanceable information, intuitive filtering, and gesture-based actions for better efficiency.
Goals
After several rounds of user research to pull feedback and pain-points, the following goals we laid out for this application:
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Enhance Usability & Speed – Optimize performance to ensure fast loading times and seamless navigation, allowing Brokers and Admins to access account details instantly without delays.
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Streamline Key Workflows – Prioritize essential account management actions (switching accounts, searching, filtering, and administrative controls) while keeping the interface intuitive and mobile-friendly.
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Ensure Consistency & Scalability – Maintain a cohesive experience with the desktop counterpart while designing a scalable framework that can accommodate future features and functionalities.
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Improve Mobile Accessibility & Interaction – Design for touch-first interactions, including gesture-based actions, responsive layouts, and minimal taps, ensuring users can efficiently manage logistics while on the move.
Multi-Phase Designing
When adapting the Mobile View of Account Listing from the desktop version, it was crucial to prioritize key workflows that users rely on daily while ensuring scalability for future needs. Not every desktop feature could be replicated one-to-one on mobile, so we focused on essential actions like account switching, quick search, and administrative controls, streamlining them for a touch-friendly, efficient experience.
Outcomes
- Mobile design allows the brokers to be ready for any potential customer. This cuts down on cold-interactions and frustrations that go along with "waiting until I am back at the office" to start a shipment big or other action.
- Immediate feedback on a potential customer. This allows them to research and/or find out credit viability on a carrier or client.
- Admins can check up at any time on their team and performance metrics.
Clickable prototype.
This one was built out in Figma. If you have any issues viewing the embedded version, let me know and we can walk through it.