Overview

Transplace hired me to overhaul their flagship Transportation Management System—a 20-year-old Java Swing SaaS used by 20% external customers and 80% internal operations for planning, executing, monitoring, and reporting freight shipments. Although powerful, the legacy interface lagged modern UX standards and made updates cumbersome. My mission was to embed a repeatable UX process and build a modern, web-based foundation for improved usability, scalability, and ongoing product iteration.

CHALLENGES

Transplace relied on an engineering-led process and had no UX practice in place. Joining mid-stream on the first of 15 apps, I needed to build trust quickly, establish a repeatable UX process, and accelerate learning to lead the redesign of four core modules. Key challenges included:

Introduce a repeatable UX strategy where none existed
Transition from Java Swing to a scalable web interface without disrupting hundreds of active users
Simplify complex, multi-step workflows across four core modules of a 15-app suite
Reduce onboarding friction and streamline in-app processes

Actual screenshot of the old swing application search screen interface before the redesign.

After the redesign

Understanding the Company Strategy

Working alongside product managers, engineers, and operations leads, I synthesized three business directives:
‍
‍Stability - Preserve familiar patterns and provide training materials and in-app tutorials to minimize disruption.
‍Efficiency - Automate repetitive tasks, simplify navigation, and reduce operating costs via a reusable design system.
‍Scalability - Build a web platform that supports future feature roll-out and responsive layouts..

Getting to Know the Users

New TMS User
Name:
Madison
Age:
+25
About the user:

Recently on boarded operators and customers who are getting familiar with the app and customer rules. With a learning curve, they may not execute as many orders as more seasoned users. Familiarity of the system has largely been dependent on their ability to learn the software.

Pain Points:

• "I wish learning the software was easier. I feel lost sometimes having to learn on my own."
• "Sometimes I get overwhelmed by the amount of stuff on the screen at the same time."
• "There are so many table rows. Making it easier for me to find info on the screen would be nice."

Single Application User
Name:
Dan
Age:
28
About the user:

Users who primarily work within one application but have been trained to loosely work between closely related applications. This is commonly seen with Shipment Planning (SP) app users who also work within the Error Correction(ISD) app. The SP app requires users to organize pieces of info into an optimized order to route and plan freight effectively and identify errors within shipments using ISD.

Needs:

• I wish I could share my template configurations or bookmarks with my peers to help onboard them onto a new client or if they have to cover my shift."
• "Everything runs together at times. Color coding could help"

Multi App User
Name:
Shannon
Age:
47
About the user:

Users who may have access to other modules but primarily work within one module throughout the course of a day. This is typically seen with Shipment Execution (SE) App users. The SE user researches discrepancies in a load and assigns loads to carriers by assigning them to the winning bidder. They execute an average amount of loads and are customer facing representatives.

Needs:

• "Its frustrating having to manually edit fields with the same values one-by-one. It slows me down"
• "I wish there was a way to quickly differentiate apps from one another."
• "A history log of my previous actions or load events would be nice to have."

Super User
Name:
Lisa
Age:
+34
About the user:

Experienced users who are having access to several applications and are highly proficient. This user executes loads at an above average rate within the TMS system and may have been at the company for several years.

Pain Points:

• "Having to update the same information on multiple shipments one-by-one manually is so inefficient"
• "I have to go to out of an application to work within another. All this switching takes time."
• "Notify me if there is a new more efficient feature available that would help me save time within operations."

Analyzing and Piecing the Research Together

After compiling front-end requirement documents, I worked up a round of low fidelity sketches to help organize features and components into a layout structure. Wireframes helped piece together and contextualize intricate details of the application and the user flows associated with each feature.

Testing Wireframe Prototypes

Wireframe prototypes allowed me to test and iterate on the layouts before moving on to the aesthetics of the visual design process. To help the design scale across multiple applications within the TMS, I standardized portions of the interface that were shared across all apps. An example was creating a global header shared across all applications. This header allowed the user switch to other applications directly from their app window instead of opening a separate control tower to access other products in the suite as done before. User tests were performed to gain greater understanding of user behaviors and validate whether I was on the right track.

Removing Clutter from the Search Builder.

The legacy search screen exposed every possible criterion—over 200 options—making it overwhelming and cluttered. From user interviews, I learned most filters were irrelevant to a given client. I redesigned the flow to display only client-specific criteria, grouped into logical categories within a collapsible sidebar. This organized layout lets users quickly locate and apply the filters they need without wading through irrelevant options.

Organizing the Details

Detail screens were cluttered, forcing users through multiple clicks to find or edit information. I applied the same sidebar-tabs pattern from the search builder, showing only the active section’s content and hiding the rest. For deeper tasks, modal windows isolate the work area—dimmed background and focused content—so users can complete specific actions without distraction or context-switching.

The Followthrough to Launch

A product launch schedule and deployment plan was crafted to foresee the next steps of the applications. Before launch, thorough rounds of Beta testing needed to take place. Testing every section of the application through all possible scenarios is crucial before launch. Quality assurance helped polish the product for final deployment.

The Payoff

I partnered with scrum teams on beta testing, QA, and rollout planning. Post-launch metrics and feedback demonstrated clear business value:

Streamlined Workflows: 30% fewer steps per key task, saving dozens of user hours each week
Operational Efficiency: Research-driven design choices eliminated dozens of hours in manual processes
Improved Usability: Significant uptick in usability scores and positive user feedback—many said they wished they’d had the redesign “a year earlier”
Scalable UX Foundation: A shared design system and repeatable UX process now power rapid, consistent updates across all 15 TMS modules
Future Roadmap Insights: Uncovered new feature opportunities—interactive materials, optimization tools, and advanced onboarding enhancements—to guide next-generation iterations

By championing user-centered research, cross-functional collaboration, and modular design, I transformed Transplace’s flagship platform into a modern, scalable web application that delights users and underpins ongoing operational growth.

Cristian Valdes

TRANSPLACE LOGISTICS

SOFTWARE PRODUCT REDESIGN