Waste Operations

The project encompassed six highly interconnected products—ranging from scheduling dashboards to driver tablets and consumer portals.

Overview

Managing waste at scale requires precision, coordination, and real-time data across diverse roles—from dispatchers and drivers to consumers and customer support. This project aimed to unify those touch-points into a cohesive digital experience.

I led the product design team in architecting six deeply interconnected tools: a scheduling and dispatching system, driver tablet experience, internal management tools, mobile and web apps for consumers, and a new public-facing website. Each product was thoughtfully designed to function independently yet seamlessly share content, data, and workflows across the ecosystem.

- Systems Thinking at Scale:
  Early stakeholder discovery revealed fragmented tools and manual workarounds across departments. We mapped the entire operational workflow, identifying key overlaps and gaps—designing a connected system architecture that supported shared data without redundancy.
- Role-Based UX with Shared Intelligence:
  Every user type—dispatchers, drivers, customer service, and end-consumers—interacted with the system differently, yet depended on the same data. We developed permissioned UX flows that maintained data consistency while tailoring functionality and UI to the user’s role.
- Complex Scheduling Made Intuitive:
  The dispatcher tool was built to handle multi-day routes, live vehicle tracking, service exceptions, and dynamic rescheduling—all surfaced through interactive Gantt-style views and map-based dashboards.
- Driver-Centric Design:
  For the in-field tablet app, we focused on safety, clarity, and efficiency. Drivers accessed optimized route lists, live GPS maps, and real-time updates with minimal screen interaction—designed for quick glances and glove-friendly use.
- Consumer Engagement Redefined:
  The consumer web and mobile tools allowed residents to view schedules, request pickups, report issues, and track services. These tools were visually aligned with the new marketing website but structured for rapid task completion.
- Unified Design System:
  A centralized design system was developed and documented in Figma, enabling cross-platform consistency and accelerating engineering handoff. The system included custom icons, color accessibility specs, responsive components, and interaction models.
- Designed for Interdependency:
  Knowing that every product in the system relied on the others, we designed shared components and workflows up front—reducing duplication and future-proofing the architecture.
- Operational Visibility Across Roles:
  Internal tools provided overlapping visibility to ensure alignment. Dispatchers saw what drivers saw. Drivers had visibility into route logic. Customer service could respond in real-time using the same data stream powering field tools.
- Structured for Development Success:
  Though development was not yet complete when I transitioned out, the design deliverables—including annotated flows, user stories, and interaction specs—set a clear path forward. The product was fully prototyped and stakeholder-tested.