Redesigning Haulynx
ELD App
Haulynx is an IoT-powered freight platform connecting drivers, brokers, and carriers. At the heart of daily operations sits the ELD app — the tool drivers rely on to log hours, run inspections, and stay compliant on the road. It wasn't doing any of that well.
Duration
1 year, 2 months
My role
UX Designer: end-to-end design — research, information architecture, wireframing, prototyping, developer handoff
Design team
Solo Designer
Domain
Transportation, Logistics
Traffic Jam in the App
The existing ELD app was meant to support drivers. Instead, it was slowing them down. Screens were cluttered, workflows were confusing, and even simple tasks took far longer than they should. Errors were frequent, frustration ran high.
There was a hard constraint from the start: no direct access to drivers. Security restrictions ruled out interviews, usability testing, and real user data. To understand the experience, I had to find another way in.
Navigating Blind Spots
I turned to the people closest to the work — trainers, fleet managers, and compliance officers. Rather than asking them to describe how things worked, I asked them to show me. Walk-throughs of actual tasks, not theoretical ones.
Operational logs and support tickets filled in the gaps. Patterns came through quickly:
Tasks that should be simple took far longer than expected.
Critical information was buried or hard to find.
Errors clustered around high-stakes workflows like inspections and duty logging.
One session changed the direction of the entire Load Matching redesign. I'd assumed the visual interface was the problem. The walk-through showed something different: the flow itself was broken. The order of steps didn't match how drivers actually make decisions on the road. That led to a complete rethink from scratch.
To prioritize across three features, I used an impact-effort matrix — focusing on changes that would deliver the most benefit within technical and regulatory constraints.
The Fast Lane
Rather than attempting a complete overhaul, we concentrated on the features with the most impact. This strategic focus allowed me to make meaningful improvements despite the limitations.
Hours of Service (HOS)
Duty logging was the most compliance-critical flow in the app
Load Matching
After walk-through sessions revealed the flow was broken, I redesigned it from scratch
Vehicle Inspection (DVIR)
Inspections were being rushed because the flow was too cumbersome
Mapping a Clear Path
Every design decision was validated through interactive prototypes and remote walk-through sessions with SMEs and stakeholders, simulating real driver tasks.
What kept coming up: most errors weren't caused by confusing visuals. They came from small, overlooked workflow gaps — a hidden confirmation step, inconsistent labeling. The kind of friction that quietly accumulates into support tickets.
Iterating through those sessions moved me from assumptions to solutions that were smoother and more predictable in practice.
Result: Practical Changes, Real Impact
The redesign delivered meaningful improvements across all three features, even without direct access to drivers.
Drivers could complete essential tasks more confidently, with fewer stumbling points and less reliance on support
Complex workflows were clarified so even new drivers could navigate them independently
Edge-case errors were anticipated and addressed, making compliance and inspections more reliable
MVP delivered on time, supporting business goals and operational efficiency
Shortly after, Haulynx was acquired by a major U.S. freight brokerage — a business outcome the product helped make possible.
Turning Limits Into Insights
Good design decisions don't require perfect information. They require knowing what you don't know and compensating deliberately. Every assumption was a risk. Every SME session was a way to reduce one.
Given the chance, I'd go back and complement this with usability tests with real drivers. Some things you simply can't learn secondhand.
