Simplifying Complexity: Platform Redesign

A usability-focused redesign that transformed a complex sustaainability and supply chain platform into an intuitive experience - improving navigation, reporting, and workflows while making sustainability insights accessible to all users.

Role

UX/UI Design

BEFORE

AFTER

Project Overview

Problem

Makersite offers deep sustainability and supply-chain data, but complex workflows and fragmented structures made it challenging for non-technical users to extract meaningful insights.

My Role

Led the UX redesign to improve navigation, reporting, and workflows, collaborated with stakeholders on product strategy.

Business Context

To support platform scaling, stakeholders prioritized usability improvements to drive adoption, increase engagement, and strengthen Makersite’s position in sustainability intelligence.

Key Goals:

Accelerate client conversion

Reduce training costs

Enhance sales demos

Frustration-free user flows

Business Objective

UX Approach

Accelerate client conversion

🎯 Immediate insights & value through landing pages & visualizations

Reduce training costs

🎯 Simplified workflows & streamlined navigation

Enhance sales demo effectiveness

🎯 Improved data visualizations to showcase sustainability insights

Ensure frustration-free user flows

🎯 Task-oriented design for a smoother, intuitive experience

Outcomes

The redesign introduced simplified workflows, clearer navigation, and improved reporting tools, helping both technical and non-technical users access sustainability insights more effectively.

Impact:

Positive early feedback

Improved usability

Faster decision-making

Research Approach

Analyzed the platform’s structure and navigation
Conducted internal interviews (sales, implementation, experts, customer success)
Led user interviews and usability tests
Observed training sessions and sales demos

Users repeatedly voiced these frustrations, revealing key barriers to adoption.

Reframing User Roles

Rather than traditional personas, I focused on task-based user groups to optimize workflows.

This led to the identification of two primary user groups:

Technical Users

Sustainability/LCA experts

Needs:

Advanced data analysis
Reporting (external and internal)
Decision making

Non-Technical Users

Management, procurement, product designers, sales, etc.

Needs:

High-level insights
Easy navigation
Visual reports

Mapping user journeys revealed key friction points impacting efficiency.

User Flow

I mapped the existing system to identify inefficiencies in reporting, QA, and data validation that impact usability and decision-making.

The flow below illustrates the complex process users navigate after data is uploaded and mapped.

Key Research Findings

Through user research we uncovered critical pain points that impacted usability and adoption.

Navigation Overload: Disconnected workflows made it hard to find tools and data.
Reporting Inefficiencies: Users relied on external tools like Power BI due to limited visualization options.
Complexity for Non-Technical Users: Lack of clear guidance and simple pathways.
Confusing Landing Page: The generic dashboard displayed irrelevant apps instead of actionable insights.

From Research to Design

Insights from user research highlighted critical usability challenges, directly shaping navigation improvements, workflow optimizations, and a more intuitive reporting experience.

Step 1: Exploring High-Level Structures

With key pain points in mind, I brainstormed and mapped potential improvements to streamline workflows, reduce navigation friction, and enhance reporting clarity.

Modular Dashboards

Explored the concept of a customizable dashboard framework, enabling users to personalize their workspace based on role and needs. Focused on simplifying data access for non-technical users, while supporting detailed workflows for technical users.

Replacing Apps with Views

Consolidated multiple scattered apps into a structured dropdown inside the product view, streamlining navigation and eliminating the need to switch between separate applications.

Balancing Overview & Granular Data

Ensured high-level sustainability insights remain accessible, while allowing users to drill down into detailed product data, lifecycle stages, and impact hotspots without overwhelming complexity.

Enhancing Reporting & Exporting

Integrated quick reports and one-click exports to reduce reliance on Power BI, making insights more accessible directly within the platform.

Step 2: Iterating & Focusing

As we refined the direction based on stakeholder insights, we had to balance competing priorities from various teams

Sales: Pushed for more visuals and simpler reporting tools for client-facing usability.
CEO: Prioritized data and API-first principles, even if it made the product harder to sell.
PM: Focused on emphasizing the user journey and driving architectural changes.
UX: Aimed to balance user needs with technical goals, making the design accessible without overwhelming users.
Engineers: Ensured technical feasibility, scalability, and platform stability as new features were added.

We adjusted the direction based on stakeholder insights, preserving the key ideas from the initial exploration while simplifying navigation and workflows.

Key Refinements:

Dashboard Structure: Confirmed, sidebar navigation was removed to keep current navigation pattern.
QA Workflow: Dedicated space to validate results for technical and non-technical users.
Navigation Simplification: Apps remained due to CEO preference but were reduced and streamlined.
Data & Mapping Improvements: Further iterations planned for better dataset integration.

Before & After: Transforming the User Experience

We replaced the generic landing page with role-based dashboards, while also enhancing reporting, navigation, and data visualization across the platform.

Landing Page: From Generic to Role-Based Dashboards

Landing Page - before:

Landing Page (Sustainability) - after:

Direct value & key insights: Users now land on a page with relevant data instead of a generic starting point.
Streamlined navigation: Logical links replace scattered tools, making workflows faster and more intuitive.
Full portfolio view: Eliminates the need to search for products.

Corporate Landing Page: From Reports to a Dynamic Dashboard

Corporate Sustainability Dashboard - before:

Corporate Sustainability Dashboard - after:

Now acts as a landing page for corporate users, centralizing data access and sustainability targets.
Data accessibility: Previously only available in reports, now centralized in a live dashboard.
Simplified visualization for non-technical users: Key insights are now easier to understand and export.

Product & EPD: Key Dashboards for Actionable Insights

Product Dashboard: Focuses on performance insights and reporting for individual products.

EPD Dashboard: Provides lifecycle impact assessment and compliance tracking.

Previously scattered data across multiple apps, now centralized in one place
Actions and insights combined, eliminating workflow fragmentation
Integrated reporting: Users can analyze data within the platform, reducing dependency on external tools.

Reporting Flow

Challenges Before:

Reporting required navigating multiple apps and manually reselecting products.
Users relied on external tools (Power BI, Excel) due to limited in-platform visualizations.
Exported reports contained too much data without filtering options, making insights hard to extract.

Improvements After:

Reporting is now embedded within workflows, eliminating app-hopping.
Built-in visualizations reduce reliance on external tools.
One-click export options for stakeholders and clients streamline reporting.

Before:

After:

Project Impact

The Makersite redesign improved workflows, reporting, and navigation - enhancing sales impact, platform scalability, and user experience.

Stronger Sales Impact

New dashboards help sales teams showcase product impact more effectively, making sustainability data more actionable for clients and boosting user acquisition.

Scalable Navigation for Growth

The new structure supports seamless workflows and lays a foundation for scalable platform expansion.

Better User Experience & Adoption

The redesign improved user satisfaction, with early feedback indicating the new design was more intuitive, easier to navigate, and made product data more accessible.

Learnings & Next Steps

Balancing Simplicity & Depth

Making data accessible for non-technical users while preserving depth for experts required continuous iteration.

Aligning Stakeholder Priorities

Balancing the needs of technical teams, sustainability experts, business stakeholders, and users led to a scalable, user-centered solution.

Looking ahead

Expanding user coverage while enhancing accessibility for non-technical users through simplified models, mapping, and fast QA tools.