Platform
SaaS
Service Design
Project Management
Enterprise Platform
Unifying shipment operations across business lines into one platform
Role
Lead UX Designer
Manager, UX Strategy
Timeframe
3 years (launch)
3 years (total time)
Team
+172
Vance Waldron
Manager, UX Strategy
Teresa Cuddy
Manager, Product Development
David Morley
Enterprise Architect
Enes Dolic
Manager, Business Analysis
Mark Neff
VP, Software Engineering
Jaime Winkler
VP, Product Development
Various Members
Across 6 organizations
11 UX Designers
107 Developers
13 Product Owners
9 Executive Leaders
6 Global Organizations
Context
After launching multiple new apps at UniGroup, coordinators still relied on a 50-year-old mainframe that couldn't handle modern data, causing miscommunications. We drafted a strategic plan to unify all shipment processes under a single platform, addressing critical inefficiencies across business lines.
Solution
Converge became the backbone for all UniGroup shipments, migrating five business lines off the mainframe, winning a $7.2 billion DOD contract, and saving an estimated $37 million in operating costs while standardizing processes enterprise-wide.
Responsibilities
Service
Design
Competitive
Analysis
Process
Management
Change Management
Vision
Articulation
Conflict Resolution
Project Management
Saved
in operating cost
7
m
$
Teams
united on vision
19
Converted
business lines
5
Awarded
in contracts
7.2
b
$
The
Major Problem
New apps and technology were all connecting to an outdated mainframe that couldn't handle modern data requirements, creating bottlenecks and miscommunications throughout the shipment process.
During our free time between meetings, my three co-workers and I recognized the mainframe's limitations were throttling innovation. We spent a month reviewing research from previous projects, creating a comprehensive service design map to understand how new products interacted with legacy systems. We identified critical integration points and drafted a strategic plan to present a clear path forward for executive leadership.
The
3 Problems
Beyond the mainframe being outdated technology requiring new app connections, we discovered three major problems hampering the innovation we were trying to accomplish with our new suite of apps.
Consistent Change Request
UniGroup and agent mainframe users were constantly requesting updates to the mainframe because they believed they had unique data needs compared to not only each other as groups, but within their individual organizations as well. In reality, they were the same, it was just how each was describing what they needed with different vocabulary and terms.
01
Difficult Onboarding
The mainframe had little to no intuitive nature to it, requiring a couple of months of training to onboard new members due to unique hidden commands and input fields throughout the system, such as having to memorize dozens of 2 to 3 letter codes just to navigate between screens.
02
Lack of Room
Screen real estate on the mainframe was extremely limited since a single screen was an entire section of the system requiring specific 2 to 4 letter codes to get to. Thus when we needed to add a new field to the screen to capture a new data point, we either had to set free space set aside or remove/reduce another field to make room.
03
The
Challenges
Though we had identified these problems, major challenges prevented us from moving forward with a solution both now and previously throughout UniGroup's history.
Challenge
Unified Process Resistance
Each business line believed their shipment process was unique and special. Office moves, household goods, industrial equipment—they all insisted their workflows couldn't possibly share a common platform. Decades of siloed operations had created tribal knowledge that resisted standardization.
Resolution
A Shipment is a Shipment
Our research revealed that all shipment types shared the same fundamental phases—they just used different terminology. We designed Converge around universal shipment phases rather than business-specific workflows, allowing each line to maintain their vocabulary while operating on unified processes.
Challenge
Mainframe Migration Risk
The mainframe handled millions of dollars in shipments daily. Any migration failure could halt operations company-wide, resulting in massive financial losses and destroyed customer relationships. The stakes were too high to accept anything less than perfect execution.
Resolution
Parallel Operations Strategy
We proposed starting with the Office & Industrial line, running Converge alongside the mainframe before full transition. This dual-system approach let us prove reliability in production while maintaining the safety net of the legacy system until confidence was established.
Challenge
Executive Buy-In
Previous attempts to modernize had failed spectacularly, burning through budgets without delivering results. Executive leadership was understandably skeptical of another "platform to rule them all" pitch. We needed to prove this wasn't just another expensive IT pipe dream but a strategic business transformation.
Resolution
Strategic Service Mapping
We spent our own time creating a comprehensive service design map that showed exactly how Converge would integrate with existing systems and new apps. We demonstrated clear ROI projections and a phased rollout plan that minimized business disruption while proving value incrementally.
First Business Line Timeline
Initial
Prototype
Initial
Request
Discovery
Research
Teams
Formed
User
Research
Ideation
Workshops
User
Testing
MDP
Prototype
Beta
Testing
MDP
Launch
May 15th
September 8th
After months of work, we presented our strategic plan to executive leadership and received approval. We conducted department and company-wide presentations to introduce Converge to the organization, then began building teams. We focused on a single business line at a time to reduce business disruption and met twice monthly with executive leadership to review progress and maintain alignment.
We used Airtable to centralize all unanswered questions, assumptions, & progress across teams for our weekly Overwatch meetings with executives.
Created service blueprints based on current flows, then would work with each team to identify gaps or pain points to resolve.
The
Pivot
We were called into the executive boardroom to discuss pivoting Converge toward an unexpected new direction that would reshape the entire project's focus and timeline.
Executive leadership informed us that UniGroup, along with five other global organizations, was forming a partnership to bid on the upcoming DOD Global Household Goods Contract worth $7.2 billion. They wanted to position UniGroup as the provider of all backstage services and technology solutions for the partnership, with our current suite and Converge serving as the centerpiece of the bid.
First Business Line Timeline
Initial
Prototype
Initial
Request
Discovery
Research
Teams
Formed
User
Research
Ideation
Workshops
User
Testing
MDP
Prototype
Beta
Testing
MDP
Launch
May 15th
September 8th
The
Outcome
How we had structured Converge around universal shipment phases rather than business-specific workflows allowed for quick addition of other business lines, enabling rapid pivots.
Principles
The Principles category established the foundational rules governing all design decisions, including Laws of UX, heuristics for interaction design, and core principles that ensured every component aligned with user-
Over the next year, the teams finalized areas of Converge while onboarding the government business line. We continued working on our original target, Office & Industrial, so if the bid failed we'd still have our original commitment completed. We met the deadline, presenting live software to DOD generals in January 2020, then waited three months for results while continuing to migrate business lines off the mainframe.
Over the next year, the teams finalized areas of Converge while onboarding the government business line. We continued working on our original target, Office & Industrial, so if the bid failed we'd still have our original commitment completed. We met the deadline, presenting live software to DOD generals in January 2020, then waited three months for results while continuing to migrate business lines off the mainframe.
Saved
in operating cost
7
m
$
Teams
united on vision
19
Converted
business lines
5
Awarded
in contracts
7.2
b
$
Want more details on Converge?
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