OverviewBackgroundBusiness GoalResearchChallengeSolution #1User TestingSolution #2Solution #3Result
GoFreight - Tracking

Cargo Tracking Experience Optimization

Role

Product Designer

Time

2022.07 — 2023.03

Device

Web

Overview

1｜Background
In the shipping process, one of the core tasks of freight forwarders is to track the cargo status. Users need to ensure that the goods are safely delivered to their customers without any issues. We have developed four key features to help users work more efficiently and reduce errors.
2｜My Role
As a Product Designer, I collaborated with a team of Product Managers, RD team, and QA team to design tracking-related features.
My responsibilities included discussing user requirements, executing design tasks, and conducting usability testing.
3｜Challenges
- Limited knowledge in the maritime industry.
- Presenting more information in a complex system while ensuring learnability and readability.
- Developing a low-cost MVP that can validate assumptions.
4｜Achievements
- Summarized past design cases and created design specifications for components.
- Increased the usage of the tracking module.
- Reduced the number of delayed shipments by users.
Background

Assisting freight forwarders in effectively tracking cargo status

GoFreight is a comprehensive software solution designed for freight forwarders, offering end-to-end management of international shipping processes. It helps streamline operations, improve efficiency, and enhance collaboration among different stakeholders involved in the supply chain.
Our users are freight forwarders who facilitate international shipping for businesses, similar to travel agencies for individual travelers.
Tracking cargo status is a key task for freight forwarders to ensure smooth transportation and timely delivery.

Business Goal & Metric

As a startup company, our company-level business goal is to increase annual revenue, specifically ARR.
We have broken it down into various sub-metrics. As the UX team, we extract the metrics where we can add value, focusing on those displayed on the user interface.

Design Process

Understand

User Research & User Journey

Based on business metrics, we examine our product's service flow to identify any gaps or opportunities for improvement.
For each of these areas, we identify the corresponding pain points that need to be addressed. As a result, we define design goals that serve the higher-level metrics.
By analyzing these metrics, we aim to identify any gaps or areas for improvement in our product service flow. These gaps represent opportunities for us to address and improve upon. Therefore, we have defined specific design goals that align with the higher-level metrics.

Challenges

1
Presenting complex transshipment information
ensuring learnability, readability, and usability.
2
High development costs for the ideal solution
requiring low-cost MVP approaches for hypothesis validation.
3
Addressing user forgetfulness and omission
through effective prompt channels in the workflow.
Solution

How does the Demurrage Filter help users avoid fines?

For the import side, when goods arrive at the port and are stored in the container yard, freight forwarders need to retrieve and return the goods within the specified time (Last Free Day). Otherwise, demurrage fees will be imposed for exceeding the time limit, and containers stored beyond the time limit are referred to as Demurrage Containers.
User Pain Points
During the pandemic, there has been a significant increase in container volumes, resulting in a higher frequency of delayed shipments and penalties.
To freight operators, managing a large number of containers with different expiration dates can be time-consuming and challenging.
To address this, we decided to add an entry button on the most frequently used bill of lading view page. Clicking on this button will display containers that are "nearing expiration" or "expired."
User Testing

Conduct usability testing with 5 Internal Colleagues

Since this operation is relatively complex and involves a new design pattern that hasn't been used before, I created the following prototype and conducted usability testing with five internal colleagues who are familiar with shipping knowledge.
The following is the testing script and the test results recorded in an Excel sheet.

Iterations based on the insights gained from the usability testing

Usability Testing Insights
Users were not aware that the button could bounce back after a double-click because other buttons on the same page did not have this "bounce back" interaction behavior.
Components with the same style should have consistent interaction behavior, in addition to visual consistency.
In the initial design, there were only two buttons, and users had to double-click to cancel the filter. However, after conducting usability testing, we removed the bounce-back interaction behavior of the double-click and added the "All" button. This allows users to easily understand that they can cancel the filter by simply clicking "All."

Considering the Needs of OPM (Operation Managers)

In addition to addressing the needs of shipping personnel, I also considered the needs of "shipping managers" who would like to know the status of each subordinate's containers. Therefore, I introduced the "Filter by Shipping Personnel" dimension. Eventually, this feature became one of the key selling points of the business promotion system.
Solution

Proactive User Notification via Email

In addition to allowing users to view container information within the system, we also thought about how to proactively notify users. We decided to use email as the notification channel.
User Behavior Insights
Based on user interviews and observations, we learned that users are accustomed to using email for communication, record-keeping, and reference in their work. They often check their emails first thing in the morning and have a fixed time for reviewing emails.
Email Format Iteration: Initially, the email only provided information about the number of expired containers. After iterations, we improved the email format to display the specific container numbers and expiration dates of the expired containers. Users can also click directly on the email to view more details in the system.
Solution

Using Transshipment Information to Help Users Better Understand Transport Status

User Pain Points
When transshipment occurs, the estimated arrival time of goods becomes unstable, requiring users to frequently check for updates.

The initial solution allowed users to not only view transshipment information but also edit it. This was because sometimes the information received by users was incorrect and required manual editing. However, the engineering team assessed that the development cost for this feature was high, so we explored alternative solutions with lower costs.

To address concerns about the inability to edit for certain users, I suggest implementing a button that opens a questionnaire.

This questionnaire can be used to conduct a simple survey and validate user needs.

MVP: Validating User Needs with a Fake Door

Due to the high development cost identified through interviews and engineering assessment, we decided to validate user needs with an MVP.

I proposed six different solutions, and after team discussions, we chose Solution 3. We believed that this solution would not mislead users into thinking it was a fully functional feature.

Final Solution

Based on user interviews, we learned that import and export users have different requirements for transshipment information.

Import users require less transshipment information. Therefore, I proposed a new design that allows users to hide or display transshipment information based on their specific needs.

Result

Increasing usage metrics and solving problems

+ 23%
Increased usage of tracking feature
Work efficiency
- 8%
Reduction in overdue container
Problem-solving

Internal Influence

Applying design patterns to other functional modules.