Digitizing the Rail Industry
An aging industry, ripe for disruption, by itself or a competitor. How can software become the competitive advantage?
The rail industry was losing ground to more predictable and cost-effective over-the-road shipping, a clear sign of the aging rail infrastructure and processes.
I led a strategic transformation of our core rail ecosystem, setting new standards for how users interact with the digital rail. My approach was rooted in deep industry and user understanding, focusing on aligning our products and major customers to uplift the entire ecosystem.
Movement Planner:
Reshaping Product Vision
The Movement Planner project began with a critical challenge: understanding the reasons behind low user adoption despite significant implementation and training programs. Through in-depth user research and co-creation workshops with key customers across two continents, we gained an unparalleled understanding of true user needs.
This allowed us to shape a five-year product vision that not only addressed user pain points but also exceeded company goals. Dozens of workshops and validation sessions led to radical improvements in interface design and a significant reduction in cognitive load for dispatchers, ultimately increasing their effectiveness.
RIGHT: Screenshot of the original software. Typical trainees took over a year to feel comfortable with the ‘string graph’ visualization.
Bottom: Typical environment. Software typically sat out of eye-line because it was too hard to use.
Top, Right: Artifacts from multiple discovery workshops, generative workshops, and synthesis sessions.
Top, Right: Early concepts in dark mode to get user and development feedback.
Top, Right: Final prototype for feedback
LEFT: Screenshot of the original software—‘track view’ visualization.
Bottom: Typical environment. Software typically sat out of eye-line because it was too hard to use.
Smart Intermodal Terminal:
Modernizing Mission-Critical Operations
Modernizing our 20-year-old Smart Intermodal Terminal product, used in thousands of rail yards across the continent, was a monumental undertaking. Partnering with a key customer operating over 25 intermodal yards, where just one hour of downtime costs $1 million, underscored the critical importance of this initiative.
My team embarked on a three-month intensive discovery across various yard locations, validating the problem space and co-creating a product strategy that aligned business and customer goals. This multi-year project impacted hundreds of thousands of workers, truckers, and companies. To maintain momentum and alignment, the UX team consistently worked one-quarter ahead of engineering, delivering a new product release every six months. This project became the prototype for our broader Enterprise UX framework, establishing best practices for large-scale, complex product transformations.
Smart Automotive Terminal:
Standardizing Complex Workflows
The Smart Automotive Terminal project presented a unique challenge: reimagining the automotive shipping process where initial user research revealed a complete lack of standardized procedures across the entire network. This fragmentation led to significant communication bottlenecks and challenges in onboarding new employees.
Our approach was rooted in in-depth user research and discovery. We meticulously mapped out the complexities and variations of each terminal and customer, synthesizing common procedures to create a flexible workflow that worked for everyone. The new solution, scaled to mobile and desktop platforms across hundreds of locations and partners, was met with widespread delight from executive stakeholders and users alike, who praised the standardized workflows and enhanced usability.