8 months
March - October 2021
In 2021, over 1 million truck drivers in Pakistan faced the challenge of finding delivery jobs without relying on predatory middlemen. Truck It In, a pioneering trucking logistics startup, aimed to tackle this issue head-on. As the solo product designer, I joined the team to create the minimum viable product (MVP) from scratch in just 6 months.
In just one year, Truck It In had disrupted the trucking industry by directly connecting truck drivers and shippers, eliminating the need for intermediaries. However, their existing infrastructure relied on manual reporting, which couldn't sustain the company's rapid growth. Our challenge was to design a scalable solution that not only supported growth but also offered a user-friendly experience.
As the sole UX designer, I led the product design for a SaaS ecosystem, including mobile and web applications. Collaboration was essential, and I closely worked with engineers, a UI designer, and two product managers. The design process involved sprints, Design Sprints, and Agile UX in an Agile environment.
We created a web-based shipment management dashboard that empowered shippers to create and manage shipments while tracking deliveries seamlessly.
An Android app acted as a job board, allowing truck drivers to bid on shipments posted by shippers, manage deliveries, and review their income. A hyperlocal design approach was adopted to cater to the community's language preference.
To comprehend the business model, I conducted seven stakeholder interviews, including engineers, product managers, business managers, and founders. Additionally, two subject matter expert interviews and four user interviews helped identify crucial user needs and pain points.
User surveys yielded insights, with over 300 responses revealing trends like 100% Android smartphone usage, difficulties in finding work, and a preference for smartphone use in Urdu, the local language.
Studying seven competitors identified trends and opportunities. The analysis identified an opportunity to make the product hyperlocal to address shifting market dynamics.
One of the key outcomes of the research phase was a service blueprint that was used to designed the MVP. The goal was to share the concept with business managers and product owners before the design phase. This was important to design collaboratively from the beginning involving perspectives of all key stakeholders.
Service blueprint depicting the users involved, what they need, how we're going to provide it, and the relevant teams required to achieve them.
Generating Ideas: Ideation involved identifying concepts aligned with user's mental models and prioritizing features. Design sprints facilitated diverse team collaboration, aligning business and user requirements. Key features and functionalities for the MVP were selected based on user impact and engineering feasibility.
An important challenge to cross was the scalability of the proposed solution. For example, designing a shipment creation form needed to be easy to fill because there is a lot of information to be filled.
Paginated booking form requiring multiple pages to make a booking
First proposed solution was a paginated form to reduce user’s cognitive load and allow them to jump to different sections of the form if needed. However, user testing revealed that this form did not work well when multiple shipments needed to be made.
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Single page booking form that makes relevant information available once required information is entered
First proposed solution was a paginated form to reduce user’s cognitive load and allow them to jump to different sections of the form if needed. However, user testing revealed that this form did not work well when multiple shipments needed to be made.
Taking feedback and iterating on designs effectively played a crucial role in addressing challenges and aligning teams.
The solution delivered impactful results, including increased scalability, improved user experience and workflows, and significant industry impact and growth potential.
This project provided valuable insights, including the need for a systems thinking approach for complex problems, the importance of adapting within start-up constraints for efficient design, and the significance of effective communication and feedback-driven iterations to resolve conflicts and align teams.
By addressing these challenges, Truck It In successfully transformed the trucking industry and paved the way for further growth and innovation.
