SHIPPED
Digitalizing the QA Process for a Trillion-Dollar Automobile Manufacturer
My role was to drive the research, product vision, UX strategy, and interface design basically taking the product from a messy manual workflow to a clear, efficient digital experience.
PRODUCT
LMS
TIMELINE
Q2 2023 - Q2 2024
MY ROLE
Sole Designer
Product Design
Product Design
Product Design
Product Design
ARR
10,000,00 RPS
ARR
10,000,00 RPS
STUDENTS ENROLLED
100+
PLACEMENT RATE
90%
Why This Project Started
These pain points became the foundation for everything that followed.
Stakeholder Alignment
The project started with a kickoff workshop to align the business, tech, and design teams.
We defined the vision, success metrics, and constraints. The key questions were:
Vision Statement
Success Metrics
Deliverables: Vision statement, success metrics, stakeholder map.
Persona Development
We interviewed over 20 QA engineers, managers, suppliers, and auditors to understand how they work day to day.
We asked about their responsibilities, frustrations, and current tools.
The result was a set of personas that represented the core users of the system: QA Engineers (who execute), Managers (who monitor), and Auditors (who verify)
Empathy Map
Persona Profile
Deliverables: Persona profiles and empathy maps
Questions and User Persona
As-Is Journey Mapping
We mapped the existing QA process step-by-step from inspection to reporting to approval. It was a patchwork of emails, Excel files, and physical documents.
We identified bottlenecks like unclear communication, broken handoffs, and repeated manual work
Mapping the As-Is Journey
Annotated Pain Points
As-Is Journey Maps
Deliverables: As-Is Journey Maps and Annotated Pain Points.
Research and Competitor Analysis
To ground our solution, we shadowed the QA teams and benchmarked competitor platforms in manufacturing and logistics.
We noted how other tools handled data tracking, reporting, and communication.
Indirect Similar Pattern Flow Mapping
Observation Notes
Competitor
Benchmarking Deck
Deliverables: Observation Notes and Competitor Benchmarking Deck.
Insights and Pain Points
After synthesizing all the research, we found a few core pain points driving most of the inefficiencies:
Communication gaps between teams caused long approval cycles.
Communication gaps between teams caused long approval cycles.
Communication gaps between teams caused long approval cycles.
Communication gaps between teams caused long approval cycles.
Affinity Diagrams
Insights Summary
Deliverables: Affinity Diagrams and Insights Summary.
Tools used to Conduct Research and Documentation
Use Case Analysis
We listed every possible user action.. submitting reports, approving, tracking, commenting and prioritized them by frequency and importance.
High Level Use Cases
Use Case Catalog
Prioritized Task List
Deliverables: Use Case Catalog and Prioritized Task List.
To-Be Journey Mapping
Using insights and use cases, we designed the ideal digital workflow. This included reducing handoffs, adding automated alerts, and improving visibility into status tracking.
We validated it through co-creation workshops with the QA team to ensure it aligned with real needs
To-Be Journey Maps
Gap Analysis
Deliverables: To-Be Journey Maps and Gap Analysis.
Very high Level As -Is-Journey Mapping
Feature Prioritization and MVP Scope
We plotted features on a Value vs Effort matrix to decide what to build first.
ACTIVITY
Activity 1
Activity 2
Activity 3
EPICS
Real-time QA Visbility
Role Based Permissions
Simplified Defect Report
USER STORIES
Story 1
Story 2
Story 3
MVP Scoping
To-Be Journey Maps
Gap Analysis
Deliverables: MVP Feature List and Prioritization Matrix.
Information Architecture
After validating the use cases, I clustered them into core modules: Dashboard, Workflows, Reports, and Settings.
Sitemap Diagram
IA Documentation
Deliverables: Sitemap Diagram and IA Documentation.
Legend
Most Important
Important
Less Important
Least Important
Dashboard
Workflows
Reports
Settings
Information Architecture
Reflection and Learnings
Designer & Product Owner
This project taught me how to think like both a designer and a product manager. I had to manage stakeholders, align business goals, and translate user research into tangible features.
Manual to Digital <> 0 - 1
The biggest win was watching a manual, fragmented workflow evolve into a connected digital product that could actually scale across plants.
Holistic Visiblity
The redesigned QA system didn’t just reduce errors and turnaround time it also gave leadership real-time visibility, which was previously impossible.
