PROJECT OBJECTIVES
UPS's Mail Innovations (MI) Department started a significant modernization initiative in 2019. Business processes, technologies, and applications were revamped to ensure more efficient, faster, and accurate processing and delivery of mail.
Business Goals
Reduce manual and error-prone processes
Limit access to disconnected information
Ensure more visibility into data, planning and operations
CONTEXT
The Mail Innovations (MI) Department at UPS works with postal services in the US and abroad to help businesses manage their end-to-end mailing needs, such as mail prepping, mail processing and transportation. The MI network consists of 22 facilities in the US.
“The areas of frustration and pain points in many cases are assigned to the lack of connectivity of information. Since inception we always [had] separate entry points.”
DESIGN OBJECTIVES
Design 5 interconnected applications to support the vision and business objectives of modernized operational processes.
Design cohesive user experiences across the suite
Optimize flows and user experiences with the system
Ensure visual and behavioral consistency
Timeframe
2020 - 2024
Client
Mail Innovations, UPS
APPROACH AND CONTRIBUTION
Led end-to-end strategy and design for a suite of 5 interconnected applications
Partnered with stakeholders and users to understand the business processes, goals, and user' needs for each application and the suite.
Led continuous research and translated complex concepts and large-scale processes into concrete process flows, user journeys, cross-product data flows, desired outcomes, low and high-fidelity prototypes.
Facilitated cross-functional and cross-team alignment around the problems-to-be solved, desired outcomes, dependencies, and a holistic vision for the suite.
Orchestrated system-wide strategy & discovery
Spearheaded a systems thinking approach by leading continuous research. Helped break the silos of knowledge, pushed for more holistic and strategic problem-solving and kept decision-making grounded in research and alignment.
Successfully balanced tactical work and strategic thinking to avoid short-sightedness, rework and ensure teams had a long-term vision for the entire suite.
Had a direct influence on the suite roadmap by visualizing dependencies and pinpointing logical and executional efficiencies.
Drove team alignment & high-value delivery
Mentored the product triad to pivot from a feature delivery model to an outcome-driven roadmap.
Facilitated cross-functional alignment between three development teams to maximize value delivery and efficiency.
Led the development of a strategic suite roadmap that ensured incremental value was delivered efficiently, allowing the business to see immediate returns on long-term initiatives.
Maximized consistency, reduced rework
Scaled visual and behavioral consistency across the suite by iterating on shared user flows and design patterns.
Collaborated with engineering on a UI Implementation Wiki to codify design standards and frameworks, significantly reducing development and QA work.
Skills
Continuous UX research
Stakeholder collaboration
UX Strategy & roadmap
Strategic thinking
Cross-functional team collaboration
Passion for solving user and business problems
UX/ UI design
Visual communication
Presentation and feedback gathering
THE SUITE
MI Ship Suite comprised of five applications to be used in modernized processes for processing, transportation, tracking and reporting of mail in the UPS network. The applications were conceptualized, designed and partially developed over three years.
Setting transfer plans for processing, reporting and routing of mail
Placing into containers, labeling and staging
MI PROCESSING APP
Recording trailer positions for air or ground transfer
App for processing mail at an origin facility. Mail is scanned, weighed and redirected to specific location based on the destination address. Main Innovations label is printed and is used for mail routing.
Business Value:
Increase mail processing speed and efficiency
Reduce processing errors
User Value:
Cleaner and more straightforward UI
Minimal screen interaction needed
Increased productivity
CONTAINERIZATION APP
Acknowledging mail transfer and receiving between origin and destination facilities
Responsive desktop and mobile app for creating container IDs, container labels and record container type and weight.
Business Value:
Unique Container IDs created with container information saved for accounting and investigative purposes
User Value:
Clean and straightforward UI
Responsive design
Minimal screen interaction needed
Monitor mail status. Communication between facilities
TRAILERIZATION APP
Mobile app for automating Load Manifest creation. Forklift drivers create online Load Manifests by scanning Container IDs. Load Manifests are easily shared between apps and accessible by origin and destination facilities.
Business Value:
Redundant work, inefficiencies and human errors minimized
Increased accuracy and more granular information shared
User Value:
Manual work eliminated
PRE - ALERT APP
Desktop app for Transportation Managers and Operations Supervisors to monitor the progress and status of shipments and communicate information between origin and destination facilities.
Business Value:
An online hub for shipment information
Increased visibility and accuracy of information
Improved communication between facilities
User Value:
Filters and color coded statuses facilitate prioritization and guide users
Easy access to other apps and supporting information
TRANSFER & RECIEVE APP
A desktop app for monitoring the processing of mail and electronically acknowledging when mail is ready to leave the origin facility or received at the destination facility to be sorted.
Business Value:
Increased visibility and accuracy of information
Improved communication between facilities
User Value:
UI facilitates prioritization and guides toward timely action
CASE STUDY
System-wide Discovery & Strategy
Context
The Mail Innovations (MI) Department was leading a large-scale initiative for modernizing processes, technologies and applications used to process and transport mail in the UPS network. The business recognized the importance of user experience in successfully delivering on the business objectives, but had limited understanding of the UX process.
Challenges
The department was in its early stages of design maturity. Understanding of UX design was limited to screen design.
Multiple teams were working on multiple projects.
Teams were using SAFe methodology, but research was done ad hoc and piecemeal.
There was a vast knowledge gap between the business stakeholders and the development teams tasked with the implementation.
My Approach & Contribution
Partnered with business stakeholders and users to understand the limitations and pain points of the legacy processes and applications, and the vision for the future.
Spearheaded a systems thinking approach by leading continuous research. Helped break the silos of knowledge, pushed for more holistic and strategic problem-solving.
Translated complex concepts and large-scale processes into concrete process flows, user journeys, cross-product data flows, desired outcomes, low and high-fidelity prototypes.
Socialized research findings and artifacts with Project Management and the engineering teams. Emphasized the “Whys” behind behaviors and requirements. Kept decision-making grounded in research and alignment.
Had a direct influence on the suite roadmap by visualizing dependencies and pinpointing logical and executional efficiencies. Mentored the product triad to pivot from feature delivery model to an outcome-driven roadmap.
Facilitated cross-functional collaboration between three development teams to achieve alignment and maximize value delivery.
SYSTEMS THINKING & DISCOVERY
Partnered with business stakeholders and users to understand the limitations and pain points of the legacy processes and applications, and the vision for the future.
Spearheaded a systems thinking approach by leading continuous research. Helped break the silos of knowledge, pushed for more holistic and strategic problem-solving.
Socialized research findings and artifacts with Project Management and the engineering teams. Emphasized the “Whys” behind behaviors and requirements. Kept decision-making grounded in research and alignment.
From working one application at a time to thinking about the system
Research of Legacy Processes, Pain Points & Opportunities
Multiple discovery sessions led to this document capturing the legacy lifecycle of a mail piece in the UPPS network the role of the legacy applications, the user and business pain points, and opportunities for improvement. It gave us a foundation for understanding and alignment. (Click image to enlarge)
User Needs Across the Suite
Three of the five applications in the suite were to be used by the same three user types. The personas included a section that talked about the user overarching needs and a vision for how each application was going to address these needs (click to enlarge)
Expand on the Existing Design System
Because of the specifics of the flows and applications, I had to expand on the UPS Design System and develop custom components for the grids, modals, icons, and illustrations. I continuously refined the components to achieve visual consistency while retaining simplicity and ease of use.
Standardizing the wording and color coding of the mail statuses in the suite.
Created and Standardized Meaningful Mail Statuses Across the Suite
One of the main goals of the modernization was to increase users visibility into mail progress in the UPS network. I worked with the business stakeholders to:
Come up with meaningful mail statuses in each application
Record and document a holistic flow and status dependencies
Standardize the status naming and color coding across the applications
Below is a visualization of the air mail flow and mail statuses to be used throughout the suite. The visualization helped clarify the status triggers, dependencies, wording and color coding. (Click image to enlarge)
Pivot from feature to outcome-driven conversations
A summary of how the modernized applications would contribute to the overarching business goals. (click to enlarge).
PRODUCT STRATEGY & TEAM ALIGNMENT
Translated complex concepts and large-scale processes into concrete process flows, user journeys, cross-product data flows, desired outcomes, low and high-fidelity prototypes.
Facilitated cross-functional collaboration between three development teams to achieve alignment and maximize value delivery.
Had a direct influence on the suite roadmap by visualizing dependencies and pinpointing logical and executional efficiencies. Mentored the product triad to pivot from feature delivery model to an outcome-driven roadmap.
Data Flows and Connectivity of Information
My visualizations served as a North Star for the team. Below is a visualization about how the MI applications would work together to improve information connectivity and increase user visibility into mail in the UPS network. The diagram helped with planning, prioritization, and decision-making. (Click image to enlarge)
INFLUENCING THE PRODUCT ROADMAP
Had a direct influence on the suite roadmap by visualizing dependencies and pinpointing logical and executional efficiencies. Mentored the product triad to pivot from feature delivery model to an outcome-driven roadmap.
Influenced the decision to prioritize design and development of the flows and applications for air mail before ground mail.
Worked with the business stakeholders to define core MVP and post-MVP functionality and create a roadmap to deliver value incrementally.
Created a dual-track plan for the UX work and development work to ensure the team’s efforts were spent efficiently, strategically, and in synch to provide value to the business and users as quickly as possible.
MI Suite and Data Flow for Air Mail
UPS had different operational processes for air and ground transportation of mail. I created data flow diagrams for each transportation mode. (Click image to enlarge)
MVP of the data flows and MI applications for air flow (click to enlarge)
Scaling Visual & Behavioral Consistency
Standardized component usage across the suite.
Collaborated with engineering on a UI Implementation Wiki to codify design standards and frameworks, significantly reducing development and QA work.
Future User Journeys Across the MI Suite
I led the creation of future MI Suite user journeys for the three personas. We iterated on them as we learned about the business processes and refined the data flows. The user journeys and data flows informed the requirements and design of the applications. (click to enlarge)
I discussed creating a scaled-down, core functionality version of the air mail flow with the business stakeholders and the development team. The visualization documents the entire suite's applications, dependencies, and information flow. (click to enlarge)
Visualizing dependencies and pinpointing logical and executional efficiencies
My visualization of the status of work on the various segments of the flows for air and ground mail demonstrated the value of prioritizing work on the air flow before the ground flow. The visualization helped the teams define the air flow's core MVP and post-MVP functionality.
Dual-Track Roadmap for Delivering Value
I led the creation of a dual-track roadmap for the UX and development work to ensure the team’s efforts were spent strategically, efficiently and in synch to deliver value to the business and users as soon as possible. (click image to enlarge).
OUTCOMES
The extensive discovery efforts, focus on value delivery, having a clear and well understood roadmap helped with alignment, efficiency and overall project success.
User Satisfaction
User satisfaction
Ability to plan
Reduced error rate
Team Success
Work with a vision and focus
Understanding dependencies
Allow for testing and improving
Confidence in project's progress
Business Success
Seeing results sooner
Increased efficiency
Reduced confusion and (re)work
Reduced operational and development costs
Improved customer service