WorkaSa MobileUser tested

Managers need quick access to operational information when they’re away from their desks.

Role: Product Design Lead · CMU MHCI Capstone
Team: 2 Product Designers · Technical Designer · Product Manager · Technical Lead
Timeline: Jan–Jul 2026
Tools: Figma · Figma Make · Claude · Notion

Overview

Applied Systems Associates (aSa) builds ERP software for the steel fabrication industry. The mobile experience is for general managers and plant superintendents.

My role

As part of a five-person CMU MHCI Capstone team partnering with aSa, I led product design for a mobile experience that gives managers quick access to operational information while away from their desks.

Problem

Critical information is only useful in the moment people need it.

When construction managers needed updates on their steel orders, getting answers often required multiple calls or returning to a desktop. How might we surface the right information from a complex system so users can make faster, more confident decisions?

Diagram of communication gaps across the job site, office meeting, shop floor, and desk between construction managers, general managers, and plant superintendents — Communication gaps across the job site, office, shop floor, and desk.

Research activity

Research shifted the focus from recreating the desktop to supporting decisions in the field.

We initially assumed mobile should carry aSa Studio’s full capabilities onto the plant floor. Through research with manufacturing leaders and consultants, we learned what managers actually needed away from their desks.

I led several research activities, including rapid-response evaluations comparing layouts to understand which helped users interpret information more quickly. These exercises reinforced the importance of information hierarchy in complex workflows.

I helped synthesize our findings into mobile requirements, feature priorities, and design decisions.

9
Research engagements
2
In-person site visits
17
Field experiments
5
Evaluative rounds

Mobile value depended on the user’s role and environment. It mattered most for managers who moved between locations and needed operational status quickly.

Users weren’t asking for more data. They needed faster answers to keep work moving when plans changed.

Research challenged what belonged on mobile.

We assumed users wanted desktop-level customization, that shop managers needed mobile data entry, and that job site logistics should be the focus. Testing revealed a different direction.

Table of spring assumptions versus what we tested across dashboards, shop floor, and job site logistics — Spring assumptions versus what we tested across dashboards, the shop floor, and job site logistics.

Research synthesis board with clustered sticky notes alongside mobile UI pattern explorations and sketches — Research synthesis and UI exploration, clustering findings and exploring mobile UI patterns.

The opportunity to extend aSa Studio, not recreate it.

A focused mobile experience that surfaces critical information wherever work happens, while prioritizing what matters most to users.

Prioritizing answers over information

I explored dashboard layouts that surfaced the information managers needed most. Through mid-fidelity prototypes, I evaluated how quickly users could identify key operational details and recognize issues requiring attention. This led to a focused dashboard that prioritized at-a-glance status, actionable alerts, and quick access to deeper information.

Mobile dashboard with callouts for quick access to key details, actionable signals, and prioritized information — Mobile Dashboard Design

Balancing customization with guided flexibility

I worked with another designer on an open card sort and found that priorities varied across plants, so we created a customizable dashboard from a bounded set of high-value widgets.

Mobile home with starred Inventory Overview, Production Progress, and Estimate widgets — Customizable Mobile Dashboard

Design system

Building a system for mobile

I established a reusable system for typography, color, components, widgets, navigation, and icons. It was built with WCAG AA in mind and extended beyond the components in the final prototype.

Be Vietnam Pro type styles labeled beside a Fabrication Details card: heading, subheading, and caption — Typography
I evaluated typefaces and recommended Be Vietnam Pro for its open letterforms and readability across small labels, numerical values, and information-dense dashboard widgets. After reviewing the recommendation together, our team adopted it across the mobile design system.

Named color palette with hex values for the aSa mobile design system — Color
Semantic colors for status, alerts, and actions, meeting WCAG AA contrast.

Supporting mobile UI components including navigation, widgets, chips, and progress bars — Components
Flexible patterns and states that keep interactions consistent across the mobile experience.

Solution

A customizable mobile dashboard built around operational priorities.

Managers and plant superintendents can quickly understand what’s happening, identify what needs attention, and drill into the details needed to respond.

Customize what matters

Favorite the widgets you use most to build a home screen around your workflow.

Drill down when you need more

Start with a high-level signal, then drill into the details without overwhelming the screen.

Move between locations

Switch between plants to quickly understand the operational picture at each location.

Impact

Bringing key workflows into the field.

Prototype testing validated the core mobile interactions, and two prototype solutions were delivered to aSa.

Through research and iterative testing, the team explored how a mobile experience could support key workflows away from the desktop.

What I’d explore next

Validate with fabricators
Test the final workflows with a broader group of fabricators before rollout.
Design for the field
Explore offline support, low-connectivity workflows, and accessibility.
Clarify date ranges
Explore global versus widget-specific filters to make time-based data easier to interpret.

What I learned

01
Research starts with understanding the problem space.
This project taught me to slow down before jumping into solutions. Combining research methods and speaking with users early helped me build a stronger understanding of the product, workflows, and underlying problems before making design decisions.
02
Design systems require thinking beyond the screen.
Building a scalable design system from scratch was new to me. It pushed me to strengthen my visual design skills while thinking about accessibility, consistency, and how components could support the product beyond the screens we designed.
03
Good product design is a team effort.
Working closely with another designer, our clients, and technical stakeholders taught me to balance user needs with technical feasibility, communicate design decisions clearly, and collaborate toward solutions rather than designing in isolation.

Want to learn more? Reach out!

Some sensitive information has been omitted or anonymized to respect client confidentiality.