BCTS
An internal organisation mangement tool
2019
A desktop application which allows the congregation of approved permits from various sources, with a centralised system that keeps users on track with what to do, providing reminders for tasks requiring immediate action and also case management features.
It is essentially a management tool to aid organisations in their flow of documents and deadlines.
Motivation
A client requested project to develop a system that allows them to track their permits, licenses, compound charges etc., as well as the progress on all their documents related to the Brokerage Control Tower System.
This is a from-scratch project that GeTS has no previous expertise on, but as we have a clear client to pitch to, it was a project were we can work closely with the users.
Discovery
Requirement Gathering
The first few requirement gathering sessions were vague, mainly speaking with the Account Manager on what is required: A system to consolidate Permits, Licenses, Fines, Compounds in one place, and provide the user with reminders to renew their permits and license, and to pay their fines.
Understanding the Assets
How they work, renewable procedure, validity duration
Permit Details and Expiry Dates
License Details and Expiry Dates
When are they fined, warnings etc.
Stakeholder and User Research
How do the users wish to use the system?
How many people will be using it?
How many reminders is sufficient? Lead time for user?
Market/Competitor Research
Looking into the current landscape of a Brokerage Control Tower System. What do other logistics compnay do/use.
Information Architecture, User Needs
The below Information Architecture + target group needs summarises the key findings and discussions from our research phase. We manage to get a clear direction and even able to lock down the requirements for an MVP as well as a long-term vision for BCTS.
Define
System Flow
Having defined our user needs and the documents required to be present for the system to work, a system flow was mapped out to helps us see clearly the process of what can happen within, and also what to add/eliminate and the different use cases that might be present.
Each case is only formed and exist when a permit is present. The permit is therefore the key document and single source that links every other document and case/compound together.
POC Mock
A quick wireframe to illustrate the concept
User Validation
We went through several rounds of validation with 3 main users from the client side. Through presentation of a flow as well as user testings on a clickable prototype.
Design
Will the different corrections and revisions, we added a few features to the original idea:
Collaborative platform - To prevent miscommunication or duplicative work, a comment box can be updated by any user for updates. The system will also prompt in the comment box on any actionables.
Dashboards - Managerial Dashboard and Employee Dashboard. For managers to keep track of his team/employees work and reports, and for employees to keep track of their cases and obtain reminders.
In-app Inbox - To assist in assigning of cases or projects.
Wireframes
Final Design
The final design is then white-labelled for our client, and branded accordingly as well.
Permit --> License --> Case --> Compound
Design Specifications
For development purpose.
![[Asset] Icons.png](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/d563db_2cc34a8c5932410a9b93247019b4f1d0~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_111,h_139,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/%5BAsset%5D%20Icons.png)
Develop
Development
Development was done after the design phase, we took a waterfall approach here due to the length of time taken with the back and forth of customer requirements.
However, technicalities were also consulted early in the stage with our engineers, such as the possibility of having the permit looking exactly the same as the original PDF submitted to authorities and the download, instead of a digital form.
Note
Till date, only the MVP was produced, from what was shown earlier. The long-term vision has not been realised due to a budget halt on the client side.
All in all, it was a project that allowed close working relationship with a client, hence it was more targetted and specific. As a project that was done right from the start, it gave us room for creativity.
However, there were difficulties with persuading a Sales Manager on some of the UX approaches we took along the way, which will be better managed if a product manager is present. I do enjoy that the engineers were able to come in at the start to provide technical advice.