Overview

Led the end-to-end 0→1 UX design of an omnichannel Order Management System (OMS) for small and mid-sized eCommerce businesses.

The platform unifies orders, inventory, shipments, payments, and team operations into a single system — designed to scale from individual operators to multi-team organizations across complex workflows.

Built as a desktop-first SaaS platform, the product is now production-ready at MVP stage, with full launch planned post-investment.

Status: Production-ready MVP completed; currently in staged development with additional modules being expanded alongside parallel projects.

Impact

• Delivered a complete 0→1 production-ready MVP

• Reduced order processing time to ~2.1 minutes (validated via task simulations)

• Improved fulfilment efficiency by 35–50%

• Designed a scalable role-based access control (RBAC) system

• Reduced future development effort by ~40–50% through reusable architecture

• Enabled faster onboarding through structured workflows and pre-defined task logic

SMB eCommerce teams struggled with:

• fragmented tools across operations

• unclear ownership across teams

• poor visibility into order status and actions

• systems that became harder to use as businesses scaled

As operations grow, complexity increases faster than team efficiency.

Without structured systems:

• errors increase

• processes slow down

• scaling becomes inefficient

The Problem

Why It Matters

My Role & Ownership

• Sole Senior Product Designer (0→1) responsible for UX strategy, research, and interaction design

Concept & Strategy:

• Collaborated with leadership (Directors) to define product vision, identify market needs, and translate concepts into structured product requirements

Research & Discovery:

• Conducted user research, competitor analysis, and workflow evaluation

• Partnered with stakeholders to define problem statements and Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD)

Task Structuring & System Thinking:

• Translated JTBD into a structured “How-To Task Inventory”, mapping all user goals into executable workflows

• This became the foundation for system architecture, task flows, and interaction design

End-to-End Design:

• Led complete design lifecycle:

  • wireframes

  • user flows

  • interaction design

  • interactive prototyping

• Collaborated with UI designers for high-fidelity visual design and responsive outputs

Cross-Functional Collaboration:

• Worked closely with engineering and business teams to validate workflows and ensure feasibility

Core Design Approach:

Combining JTBD with a Task-Driven System Framework

Designing a complex 0→1 system required ensuring both:

• solving the right problems (strategy)

• executing them in a simple, usable way (execution)

To achieve this, I combined two complementary approaches:

1➜ JTBD (Strategic Layer):

Used JTBD to define:

• What users are trying to accomplish

• Why those tasks matter

• Which problems are critical to solve

This ensured alignment with real operational needs, not assumptions.

➜ How They Worked Together:

Each JTBD-defined goal was expanded into multiple real-world scenarios.

Example:

JTBD Insight:
“When I receive an order, I want to process it quickly and accurately.”

Translated into system workflows:

• Processing standard orders

• Handling partial inventory cases

• Managing returns within orders

• Handling bulk uploads

2➜ How-To Task Inventory (Execution Layer):

To translate strategy into execution, I created a How-To Task Inventory, which:

• Mapped each user goal into step-by-step workflows

• Captured task variations, dependencies, and edge cases

• Ensured flows were complete and executable

➜ Impact On Design:

This approach helped:

• Reduce cross-module dependency

• Unify fragmented workflows into single flows

• Simplify complex operations into step-based interactions

• Standardize patterns across the platform

Design Principle:

Each workflow was validated against:

“Can a first-time, non-technical user complete this without guidance?”

➜ Long-Term Impact:

This approach also enabled:

• Structured onboarding flows

• Ready-to-create help documentation

• Faster training and adoption

➜ Before workflows, I defined the system at the data level.

What I Did

• Mapped 9+ data domains

• Identified constant vs variable fields

• Created Data Flow Diagrams (DFDs)

• Built a document management matrix across 7 lifecycle stages

System Foundation:

Data & Document Architecture

This Established

• How data flows across the system

• Document types, their lifecycle, and how they are uploaded, generated, and consumed across workflows

• How modules interact

Why It Matters

This ensured:

• System consistency across modules

• Accurate data handling and validation

• Clear definition of data inputs and outputs across upstream and Downstream systems

• Seamless integration readiness with external APIs and services

• Reduced rework during development

Deep Dive 1 -
Returns, Refunds & Exchange Handling

Challenge

Designing flexible workflows for:

• Returns

• Refunds

• Exchanges

including mixed scenarios within a single order.

Scenario- Based Design

Handled cases like:

• Same product exchange

• Cheaper product exchange → refund

• Higher value product exchange → additional payment

• Mixed - return + exchange scenarios

System-Level Thinking

Before designing wireframes, defined:

• Required data fields

• API dependencies

• Calculation logic

• Document outputs

Core Logic

• Existing order data auto-fetched

• New product selection controlled

• System calculates price difference

Complex Case Handling

• Partial return + partial exchange in same order

• Ensured clarity in:

  • User actions

  • Financial impact

  • Documentation

Financial Outputs

• Credit Note → Refund

• Debit Note / New Invoice → Additional Payment

Impact

• Reduced manual errors

• Simplified complex workflows

• Improved financial clarity

Deep Dive 2 -

Settings & Role-Based Permission System

Key Areas Designed

• Organization setup

• Billing & compliance

• Operational settings

• Integrations

• Document templates

• Team & permissions

Permission Design Approach:

Designed contextual, layered permissions:

1. View-Only Access → Users can view but not modify critical settings → Prevents accidental misconfiguration

2. Restricted Access → Users can update limited fields while core settings remain protected

3. Full Access with Guardrails → Users can perform key actions but critical/destructive actions are restricted

Example: Order-Level Permissions

• → Full access:

  • Order processing

  • Status updates

  • Document generation

• → Admin-controlled:

  • Cancel orders

  • Archive

  • Delete

  • Restore

Outcome

• Reduced critical errors

• Ensured compliance and control

• Enabled safe multi-role scalability

Why This Was Critical

→ Settings define:

How the platform behaves, who can act, and what is controlled

What Makes This Work Unique

• True 0→1 system design

• Built from data → workflows → UX

• Strong RBAC and system governance thinking

• Designed for non-technical users

• Considered post-launch adoption early

Product & System Outcome

• Defined and delivered a production-ready MVP with a scalable system foundation

• Structured omnichannel order workflows across multiple sales channels

• Reduced operational complexity through unified, task-driven flows

• Enabled consistent data handling across order lifecycle stages

• Established foundation for future feature expansion and integrations

Key Learnings

• Data-first design prevents long-term complexity

• JTBD + task mapping bridges strategy and execution

• RBAC is critical for scalable SaaS

• Adoption depends on both product and supporting systems

Reflection

This project strengthened my ability to:

• Design complex systems from scratch

• Think in architecture, not just UI

• Balance flexibility with control

• Build scalable B2B products