Work
User research;
System architecture design;
User journey;
User interface;
Implementation testing
Work Assignments System
Client
Flexport
Team
1 UX, 1 PM, 1 EM, ~5 Eng
Work Assignment is the product that defines the work responsibilities of each operator and Partner, then distributes work with customized rules and absolute accountability.
The new experience is developed based on many rounds of research, testing, and iterations. After the MVP launch, CSAT survey responses rated the product as Good/Excellent ( 95% satisfaction rate). The work Assignment system is claimed to be the most successful product in Flexport.
Highlighted contributions
🦄 Pioneer - Created the very first and most successful product in FFA
Setting up the foundation design system for FFA products
Bringing real impact to business and users with 94% CSAT
Working on one of the most complicated project with complex
🥅 Gatekeeper - Conducted more than 10 research and testing to ensure product quality
🧪 Scientist - Created over 80 iterations for homepage and went through 40 design critiques
🤝 Culture driver - Drove inclusive research working model among the project and UX team
🏃 Marathon runner - Led E2E from exploration and project scoping to execution and validation
Flexport is a full-service global freight forwarder and logistic platform using software to provide better user experience in global trade. The FFA powers Flexport’s internal freight forwarding operations, and allows Partners to onboard into the Flexport ecosystem and deliver the same high quality logistics services that Flexport provides its Clients.
Challenge
Building the very first product in a new product ecosystem - FFA
Freight Forwarding App (FFA) is a new product ecosystem that focus on operation. The product 'Work Assignments' is planned before the FFA ecosystem is created as to fulfill the urgent needs. There is no reference on how to build the new design pattern and standards that would be adaptable for the rest of the products in the ecosystem. Nevertheless, our objective was to create a strong workforce management tool with high-performance technical foundation, easy-to-use interface, adaptability to business growth and changes, and end-to-end assignment journey capability.
High level goals:
- Business and Process Agnostic - Built to scale and adaptable to business and process changes.
- Measurable and Accountable - Provides clear representation of who should do what, supporting data points that can measure assignment impact.
- Configurable and Predictable - Provides end-user scoped controls to manage and improve assignments for smooth operations.
- End to End - Supports the workforce management journey of freight forwarding by providing operators a view into the whole shipment lifecycle, everyone's exact one-task one-user assignment, for managers the ability to manage their team workload with data and machine learning.
Impact
Work Assignments is recognized as the most successful product in Flexport as it resolves many user pain points and streamlines the assignment model. It provides flexibility for managers to arrange team structure and handle daily assignment tasks. With the help of the new assignment experience, managers no longer worry about missing any business from the wrong assignment.
Process
Phase 1 - Identify the problem and formulate the product direction and roadmap
Kickoff research > Product direction and roadmap > Product proposition
Kickoff research
In the first explorative research of the project, we interviewed 11 active users covering 5 regions and 3 functions on 1:1 bases. The research reviews the current assignment model in the organization, and how do teams distribute work online and offline. After the interviews, we debriefed onto user boards and did 2 rounds of cluster to crystallizes the top findings.
Top findings
- Low system performance, Inherited Bugs, Difficult Investigation
- User Unfriendly UI and unnecessary UX
- Over-assignment to slow down work efficiency
- No Accountability, No Performance Management
- Offline Assignment Monitoring and Reallocation
- Offline OOO (Out Of Office) Assignment
- No Batch Editing Tool
- No Client Mapping with Data and Reporting
Most findings describe the system that was built and designed badly, many workarounds were created due to the lack of product support, poor data quality damage product reliability. The poorly built assignment model causes data loss and user trust.
Opportunity area
Product direction and roadmap
Product direction
Based on the opportunities from the kickoff research, the product roadmap will develop with 4 directions.
Product roadmap
There are lot of problems in the current assignment model. To deliver a comprehensive assignment experience to the users, the second phase (MWI Assignments) includes many new and practical features that tackle user pain points. The final phase focuses on workload balancing and non-shipment assignments as to enlarge the coverage of the system. Also, more features related to workforce management and integration will be planned in the later phases.
Product Proposition
Key personas
Phase 2 - Solution iteration and validation
Research roadmap
Led 180+ hours for 10+ research and testings
Research is the key of creating the product that deliver the right value to the users. Except survey, there are different forms of UX research are conducted, including explorative, proof of concept, feature validation, workshop, co-create workshop, UI testing, prototype testing, and beta testing.
It was an enjoyable research journey to validate the solution with high variety in versioning and strategic approaches. Every time I talked with the users, the design approach and product direction get clearer. The satisfaction of solving users' pain point encourage me to explore the most elegant solution to their problems.
Research roadmap
Iterated 80+ Explorations filled in 3 Figma files
Iteration is one of the most enjoyable activities during the whole design process. By creating so many iterations, the process inspires more potential features and further polishes them. That is a way to bring value to users from a design perspective. Below are some key topics during the iteration process.
Below are some key topics during the iteration process.
- New configuration experience with new components - Dynamic panel, and categorization of rule attributes
- Wordings for assignment
- Admin/ owner concept
- Operator and monitor permission
- Hierarchy of rule and cascading logic
- Multiple assignment structure
- Visibility of all work in the team
- Alert of unfinished assignment set up
- Attribute management
- Dashboard for historical data
- Usage and definition of UI components - Pills, Table, Status tag, Tag, Segments, Filters, Removable items, Drag & Drop interaction, Drop-down interaction
Final look
Key pages
Landing page
Organization unit page
User assignment profile
Product highlights
New assignment configuration process
FROM searching from sea of criteria types TO checking only the relevant categories
FROM doubting what was selected TO viewing all the selected attributes in one place
FROM worrying any assignment mistakes TO having confidence of any rule change
Ensure 100% assignment coverage with correctness
FROM missing assigning new clients TO managing safety nets to capture all the assignment gaps
FROM looking for any urgent tasks TO being notified from any assignment urgency
FROM communicating with other teams to discover assignment conflicts TO viewing all the sources of conflicting assignments in one place
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I'm lucky to be able to play the UX role in this challenging but meaningful project. As this project requires heavy and dynamic business contexts, many research and workshops are conducted to define the product requirements and user expectations better. I truly believe that research and user testing are essential elements of building a successful product. Therefore, all the features and designs have gone through user testing before launch to ensure the product won't unexpectedly impact business. Besides the project team that I worked closely with, I treasure having such a great global UX team. In Asia, we support each other on professional and personal sides.
