Core products overhaul
An overview of 3 major projects I worked on at GS1. If you’d like to chat about the full process, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Rebuilding Dashboard
Dashboard is a standalone analytics product aggregating data from 6 apps, providing insights into overall product performance. The existing version was plagued with limited analytics and poor performance—prompting a complete rebuild to improve business visibility and adoption, while transitioning development to an in-house model leveraging PowerBI and EDW.
Duration: 14 months (Q2 2021 - Q3 2022)
Core Team: Business director; Product manager; Business analyst; Data architect; 3 Lead data engineers; Project manager; UX designer (me)
Main outcome: Project discontinued but set the groundwork for future initiatives
My role & contributions
I joined the project in the late-discovery stage, urgently needing design artifacts, and rapidly established myself as a key contributor to the team.
My involvement spanned design execution, cross-functional collaboration, and stakeholder management, with a limited degree of user research & testing.
Rapid prototyping for strategic buy-in:
Facilitated workshops with the business lead, VP of IMS, and product manager to synthesize SME knowledge, product vision, and key requirements. Created mid-fidelity prototypes within 1 week, securing leadership buy-ins and stakeholder alignment.
Iterative design and development handoff:
Conducted deep dives into business processes and data flows across products to ramp up technical knowledge. Held design review sessions with stakeholders and iterated designs based on feedback—created high-fidelity design prototype for handoff.
Built strong relationships with product manager, data engineers, and business analyst, adapting designs with technical constraints while advocating for long-term usability.
Current Dashboard (Home)
Concept prototype (Home)
Design handoff (Home)
Challenges
Technical barriers leading to compromises in execution
Leadership’s push for a PowerBI-only solution to save cost mid-project introduced significant design and usability trade-offs. UX had to adapt to an evolving technical direction, limiting the tool’s potential impact.
Team turnover, political divisions, and budget strains
High-pressure environment and draining resources led to frequent turnover among key contributors, destabilizing project momentum. As progress stalled, fingers started pointing at one another, waning leadership confidence.
Outcomes
The project was discontinued due to budgetary constraints, shifted priorities, and stagnant development. However, it paved the way for subsequent initiatives.
Highlighted critical gaps in GS1’s analytics capabilities, driving business investments in scalable data infrastructure like Data Lake and Single Data Model.
My design contributions seeded the foundation for how future Dashboard capabilities can integrate into Single Platform.
Takeaway
This project was a defining experience in my early design career, teaching me to operate effectively under pressure. Early prototyping and stakeholder alignment can generate momentum, but success depends on managing resources and leadership expectations effectively, calling out risks, and minimizing division.
Unifying Content Access
To access various content types of the same product, suppliers and retailers need to navigate 2-3 tools that look and behave differently. Playing a key role in GS1’s Single Platform transformation, this initiative sought to centralize product data access and transition development in-house.
Duration: 18 months (Q1 2022 - Q2 2024)
Core Team: Product manager; Business analyst; Development manager; 2 Leads developers; Front-end developer; Automation engineer; 2 QAs; Project manager; UX designer (me)
Main Outcome: Product launched with reduced scope in Q1 2024
Slide Deck: Click Here (password-protected)
My role & contributions
I was brought in to turn around a failing project that needed immediate course correction. Initially, I mentored the assigned UX designer but assumed the design lead role shortly after, guiding the design vision through the project’s complexities.
My involvement spanned strategy, cross-functional collaboration, research & testing, design execution, and stakeholder management.
Unblocked progress and bought more time for discovery and refinement:
Conducted workshops and technical deep dives to refine design deliverables within a week, regaining leadership confidence and securing project continuation.
Leveraged tools like Pendo and CRM data to understand user behavior, supplemented by limited user interviews and testing to inform design decisions.
Balancing strategic aspirations with immediate needs:
Regular discussions with VP of IMS and Product Manager on roadmap, new issues & requirements, future platform strategies, ideas proposals, and design reviews.
Development hand-off for phased delivery strategy: mid-fidelity prototype for internal functional prototype followed by high-fidelity prototype for external launch.
Designed GS1’s next-gen UI and its component library, laying the groundwork for Design System implementation and subsequent Single Platform projects.
Foster team unity and cross-collaboration to maintain momentum:
Bridged gaps between impatient leadership and a cautious development team by advocating for team unity and psychological safety.
Walked the talk by committing to proactive collaboration, advocating for practical solutions, adapting designs to technical realities, and delivering on-demand design support with 0–3 day turnaround.
Product List — Legacy apps
Product List — Design handoff (functional prototype)
Product List — Design handoff (Q1 2024 Launch)
Challenges
Treading unknown waters with limited visibility and resources
Limited discovery and restricted user access required the team to move fast under assumptions. Historically, GS1 had never successfully pulled off projects at this scope internally, especially with limited resources, tight timelines, and historical distrust.
Legacy structures and dependencies limiting feasibility
Technical deep dives uncover data and development limitations that render product and design vision unviable, requiring urgent compromises to meet delivery goals.
Scope creep under tight deadlines
Requirements were expanded mid-project, significantly increasing ambiguity and technical complexity while lacking sufficient research. Expiring contracts with external providers dictated a fixed deadline for launch at all costs.
Outcomes
Launched in Q1 2024 with reduced scope—introducing new UI, simplified workflows, 2 new content types, and sunset 2 legacy tools.
Received encouraging feedback from stakeholders and users despite challenges with change management and implementation quality.
Development was on track to deliver backlog items in follow-up releases, though I left GS1 before confirming its completion.
Takeaway
Fostering trust and unity, staying flexible, and strategizing proactively are the foundations for momentum, essential to delivering against the odds.
Unifying Content Loading
Getting products to a trade-ready state can be a significant hurdle for suppliers, having to navigate 1-5 tools with limited visibility. Playing a key role in GS1’s Single Platform transformation, this initiative sought to streamline the content loading experience—Product Information (PIM) and Digital Assets (DAM) management—addressing legacy debts while laying the foundation for a scalable future.
Duration: 8 months (Q4 2023 - Q2 2024)
Core Team: Product manager; Business analyst; 2 Development managers; 2 Lead developers; 3 Front-end devevelopers; Automation engineer; 2 QAs; Project manager; UX designer (me)
Outcome: Interim solution under development as of Q2 2024
My role & contributions
As design lead, I collaborated closely with product leadership and engineering to drive discovery, design vision, and implementation strategy.
My involvement spanned strategy, research, design execution, cross-functional collaboration, and stakeholder management.
Shaping the design vision:
Conducted workshops and technical deep dives, leveraged analytic tools (Pendo & CRM data), and interviewed SMEs and users to uncover major problem spaces. Partnered with product leadership to prioritize opportunities and designed workflows that streamlined overlapping functionalities and disjointed processes.
Driving implementation:
Facilitated technical workshops with Engineering lead and Product Manager to define implementation strategies that leadership could choose from. Created design concepts for the recommended option, advocating for usability and sustainable development.
Expedited design library migration from XD to Figma, allowing development to prep for required front-end components and buy the team more time to find alignment.
Created a high-fidelity prototype for the option mandated by leadership. Documented previous design works for future platform vision before I left GS1.
Home — Legacy Apps
Home (Product Catalogue) — Concept proposal
Home (Product Catalogue) — Design handoff
Challenges
Leadership misalignment and internal power struggles
Conflicting expectations between speed and quality from leadership led to constant scope and priority shifts. Misalignment forced the team to pivot often and wasted valuable time. Internal politics disrupted collaboration and undermined trust.
Technical debts and unready infrastructure led to limited options
Legacy tools were built in a rush using different tech stacks, which led to massive technical debts. Development and data infrastructure weren’t ready to accommodate next-generation platform capabilities. Neither building a new tool nor merging existing tools was feasible for the project timeline while leadership refused to budge.
Board reputation > Customer/user value
Compromises were inevitable but even interim solutions were flagged as more disruptive than helpful. Even if shipped, the project has a much higher chance of failing than succeeding, and positions Product and UX as the perfect scapegoats for failure.
Outcomes
Interim solution in development as of Q2 2024.
Though the project was ongoing when I left GS1, my contributions helped the project to keep going and laid the groundwork for future Content Loading’s capabilities when/if the necessary infrastructure are in place.
Takeaway
Misalignments at leadership level can have devastating effects when left unnoticed. For a complex project with moving pieces, it’s better to be ruthlessly pragmatic than caustiously optimistic, especially for aspects beyond my control. Disagree and commit is important but never compromise principles and integrity.