From Excel Chaos to a Unified Retail Powerhouse

Orchestrating the end-to-end design and strategy of a responsive platform that unified fragmented legacy workflows into a high-velocity digital marketplace.

Role

Lead Product Designer

Industry

Retail

Scope

September 2019 - January 2022

The Strategic Mission

In 2019, I was tasked with architecting a ground-up retail platform (Responsive Web) to digitize field sales. The goal was to replace manual, error-prone processes with a self-service environment that empowered store owners and reduced reliance on sales representatives.

Product: B2B Retail Management Platform
Team: Cross-functional (Eng, PM, Sales Stakeholders)
Role: Lead Product Designer
Scope: Full-scale platform architecture and the creation of a foundational Design System.

The Challenge: Operational Fragmentation

The retail landscape suffered from "information asymmetry." Store owners managed inventory, goals, and deliveries across disconnected Excel files and legacy local software.

The Senior Perspective: This wasn't just a UI problem; it was a systemic bottleneck. The lack of a unified data layer across the supply chain suppressed the company’s growth by making real-time business goal tracking impossible and increasing the operational cost of field sales.

Strategy: Diagnosis & Technical Alignment

I moved beyond digitizing spreadsheets to focus on Platform Consolidation:

Multi-Persona Architecture: Designed a flexible system serving both "Strategic Oversight" (Chain Managers) and "Tactical Execution" (Single Store Owners).
Hardware Agility: The application should be responsive, as users will be able to do many things in the field. It should also be compatible with various devices, even older phone models.
Strategic Alignment: Responding to the business requirement for a unified digital ecosystem, I architected a dedicated Design System. This moved the organization from a "siloed project" mindset to a "scalable platform" model, effectively future-proofing the product and preventing technical debt from day one.

Persona and Design System Preview

System Work: Architecting the Modular Engine

We began our research. We searched for similar solutions among competitors. We focused on a select few, such as: Eurocash, Comarch, Frappka, Lildl Plus, Pepper, and Żappka. Based on the collected information and screens, the first wireframe was created (mid-fidelity web wireframes). The heart of the application was the dashboard, where we wanted to place most of the functionality in the form of cards.

75% of Users Felt Overwhelmed — Opportunity for Flexibility

I conducted interviews with users and usability tests with individual store owners to discover the pain points associated with the application. Most of them were overwhelmed by the amount of functionality. In addition, using card sorting, we identified key functions (prioritization) and built a navigation structure for the site.

I shifted from a flat list of features to a Modular Widget Engine.

91% of Users Preferred the New Design After Testing

I reduced design friction, which strengthened user flow. The "Top 3" Framework: Based on card-sorting, I prioritized Tasks, Orders, and Business Goals into a "Golden Path" dashboard, nesting secondary features into logical categories.

We also created mobile screens for the next round of user testing.

Portal Version 1 (mobile)

Continuously Expand and Iterate

I continued with iterative research and testing cycles, validating successive prototype versions (v1–v3) with users. Each iteration refined the homepage layout, feature prioritization, and overall experience. In parallel, we expanded both web and mobile versions and evolved the information hierarchy to support new functionalities, including promotions/contracts. While the interface evolved, the core structure established during the initial research remained consistent.

Portal Version 3 (mobile & web)

Delivery: Leading through Collaboration

Engineering Sync: Delivered a component-based handoff that allowed developers to pull standardized code, significantly increasing development velocity.
Constraint Management: When new features (like Promotions) were added late in the cycle, the modular card system allowed us to integrate them without breaking the core user flow.
Mentorship: I established documentation standards and design principles that were eventually adopted by the broader design organization.

Outcomes

The project successfully moved the company from a "dev-led UI" to a "system-first" culture.

Market Expansion: 100% Increase in market interest within the sector
User Growth: 1,000+ Active Users successfully onboarded at launch
Business Value: 4 New Enterprise Clients signed (citing the platform as a key factor)
Efficiency: Significant measurable increase in engineering velocity via the Design System
User Preference: 91% of Users preferred the new design over legacy workflows

What I Learned

1. Complexity requires Curation, not just Simplification

Early research showed that 75% of users felt overwhelmed. I learned that in B2B retail, you can’t always "remove" features because they are essential for business. Instead, the solution lies in Information Architecture. By moving from a flat list to a prioritized "Top 3" hierarchy, I proved that you can maintain high functionality without sacrificing a low cognitive load.

2. Design Systems are Culture Shifters

This project taught me that a Design System is more than a UI kit—it's a communication tool. By delivering a robust system that met the company's requirement for a fresh identity, I saw firsthand how design can act as a catalyst for a company-wide digital transformation, eventually pushing legacy applications to modernize their own technical and visual standards.

3. Hardware Constraints are Creative Guardrails

Designing for older mobile devices in the field forced a "Performance-First" mindset. I learned that true accessibility in a retail environment means accounting for low-spec hardware and varying lighting conditions (e.g., in a warehouse or delivery truck). This constraint ultimately made the platform more resilient and faster for all users.