Project Overview:
Project Name:
Truckly
Project Scope:
Discovery
Wireframes & UI
Prototypes
Timeframe:
2021-2022
Primary role:
Product Design Lead
Skills & Capabilities:
Product Discovery
UX Strategy
Concept Development
Product Design
Team Leadership
My Role in the Project
Throughout the project, I was responsible for:
Planning & executing market research & competitor analysis
Facilitating discovery workshops & synthesizing findings
Defining user personas, user journeys & MVP features
Delivering key design artifacts (information architecture, wireframes)
Collaborating with a UI designer to develop high-fidelity prototypes
Working closely with a Project Manager & Engineer to ensure feasibility and maintain client alignment
The Challenge
I want to start this case study by stating upfront that this project never shipped. We only delivered UI and prototypes. So why am I showcasing it? Because it provided valuable lessons, highlighted gaps in our process, and became a catalyst for refining our 0-to-1 product discovery approach. I'll focus on those lessons in the Lessons Learned section.
The client wanted to create a digital platform for scheduling and reserving large construction equipment (e.g., dump trucks, pickup trucks). Essentially, they envisioned a two-sided marketplace connecting Contractors who needed truck services with Truck Owners offering their vehicles and drivers for rent.
Their problem statement and hypothesis were:
"Currently, large equipment scheduling and reservations are handled through cold-calling. Availability fluctuates, especially in colder months, making it harder to find trucks and drivers. Prices vary widely based on demand, and there’s no visibility into availability, leading to costly construction delays. By centralizing this process, Truckly aims to create a more efficient system for both contractors and drivers."
This statement was entirely based on the client's industry experience. They had performed no validation or customer discovery and were hesitant to include it in our process. This was our first major challenge, which I'll revisit later.
The Approach: Exploring the Problem Space
Since we couldn't conduct customer discovery, we pivoted to product discovery, focusing on market and competitor research.
Research Insights
We analyzed the gig economy landscape to understand adoption rates and key challenges:
60% of gig workers use digital marketplaces.
40% of American workers earn at least 40% of their income through gig work.
We also studied industry pain points to inform our discovery workshops:
Main Pain Points in Existing Marketplaces
Unreliable suppliers – Workers could cancel at any time without penalties.
Slow confirmations – Two-way booking confirmation processes frustrated users.
Poor customer support – Many platforms lacked responsive assistance, leading to user dissatisfaction (something our client hadn’t initially considered).
Strengths of Existing Platforms (Which We Adopted)
Instant or escrowed payments to ensure trust.
Favourite & save vendor features for repeat bookings.
Live map tracking to monitor vendor arrival times.
Review & vetting system for credibility and trust.
Discovery Workshops
From our market research utilizing the domain knowledge of the client, we identified three key personas:
Contractor – Needs to find truck owners for jobs.
Truck Owner – Either an independent owner or managing a fleet.
Truck Driver – Works for a truck owner.
These represented the the usr roles for the app, all with different needs and behaviours.
To aid going from ambiguity in the problem space to clarity, we mapped out the following:
Product vision
User personas
Feature list
Main user journeys
Prioritized MVP features
Information architecture (Product mindmap)
Designing the Solution
While structurally similar to existing booking apps like Airbnb or Uber, Truckly had unique challenges:
Key UX Challenges We Addressed
Onboarding – A stepped approach to avoid overwhelming new users.
Dual roles – Users could be both a Contractor & Truck Owner, so we needed an intuitive role-switching feature.
In-app communication – Consolidating messaging to reduce reliance on phone calls, emails, and SMS.
Booking cancellations – Contractors needed the ability to cancel if a Truck Owner didn’t respond quickly.
Live tracking – A real-time map view so Contractors could monitor truck movements. (Featured below)
Final Deliverables
Information architecture
Wireframes & user flows
Prototypes & Production Ready Design Files
Quicker adoption with a quick guided onboarding experience
Ensuring all messages are in one place and communication stays in app
View jobs coming up, how many have been completed, earnings and your activity on the Truckly app dashboard
Track driver progress with the driver using the Truckly app
Testing the Product
This phase was entirely controlled by the client. They showed our prototypes to a preferred set of contacts, but rather than gathering usability insights, they focused on feature wishlist feedback.
As a result, we never received validation on whether the product was viable, a key gap in the process.
Conclusion & Final Thoughts
Due to the uncertainties around validation, we didn’t proceed beyond the design phase. We wanted to ensure we were delivering real value rather than blindly building an app.
While Truckly didn’t ship, it significantly refined our approach to product discovery. It reinforced the importance of validation, lean MVP thinking, and user-centered testing—insights that shaped future projects.
This case study is as much about what didn’t work as it is about what we learned. And that, in itself, is valuable.
Lessons Learned
Not every project is a massive success, but the ones that don’t go as planned often teach the most. Here’s what I took away from this experience:
1. Validate the Problem Before Committing to Development
Had we pushed for even light validation efforts upfront, we could have tested the demand before diving into design.
2. Keep the MVP Even Tighter
We could have simplified the product by focusing solely on Contractors and a Single Truck Owner at launch. This would have:
Helped validate user appetite before scaling.
Reduced design and development effort.
Provided better value to the client.
3. Educate Clients on Lean Product Development
The client wanted a fully-featured app at launch, but a leaner MVP approach could have:
Accelerated time to market.
Allowed real-world feedback to shape future development.
4. Control the Testing Process
User testing should be frequent and unbiased. Relying only on client-selected users delayed meaningful feedback and cost us an opportunity to pivot and refine the product.