Context
The weighbridge is an operational control point, not just a scale.
Sims Metal is a global metal recycler that buys, processes and sells ferrous and non-ferrous scrap. Its public-facing process describes certified scales and weighbridges as a core part of material acceptance. In that operational setting, one transaction links a physical vehicle to driver identity, material classification, gross and tare weights, photographs, pricing, compliance evidence and payment. The project focused on turning that fragmented journey into one continuous digital record.
Challenge
Replace fragmented SAI workflows, paper tickets and manual hand-offs with a clearer end-to-end process.
Users
Weighbridge operators, pallet-scale and non-ferrous inspectors, cashiers, suppliers and peddlers.
My role
As Ux / UI designer. I led workflow definition, interaction design, high-fidelity UI, prototyping and usability-focused validation for the PoC.
Scope
Vehicle and driver ID, weighing, material capture, photos, pricing, exceptions, payment and reporting.
The challenge
Legacy SAI forced operators to hold too much context in their heads.
The existing process crossed the main weighbridge, a non-ferrous shed and a cashier office. Each hand-off added another place where the operator had to identify the right vehicle, remember what had happened, or reconcile paper, radio instructions and system data.
Manual identity
Unscheduled peddlers often had no account or vehicle match, so staff used generic accounts and manually created descriptive vehicle IDs.
Fragmented hand-offs
Inbound weighing, material inspection, outbound weighing and payment happened in different locations and were bridged by paper and radio.
Error-prone controls
Operators selected a physical scale manually and then visually checked the on-screen reading against the scale indicator before submitting.
Exceptions arrived late
Large gross, tare and material-weight differences could surface near payment and trigger calls back to the warehouse for explanation.
Regional variation
ID capture, photographs, payment methods and retention rules varied by site and jurisdiction, so one rigid workflow could not serve every location.
High task density
Legacy screens mixed many transaction types, small controls and deeply nested actions, increasing scanning and memory demands in a fast field environment.
Legacy workflow
A task began as a menu of transaction types, then moved through multiple specialised screens.
Vehicle matching, ticket state and scale selection depended heavily on operator knowledge. The same process then continued in other physical locations before payment.
DISCOVERY → DEFINITION → DESIGN → VALIDATION
Start with the physical operation, then design the interface.
The project used the existing operation as the primary research surface. Workshops, workflow reviews, task analysis and scenario walk-throughs exposed how the same ticket moved across roles, buildings, scales and payment steps. North American and ANZ input also made regional variation visible early.
01 DISCOVER
Observe the real workflow
Review legacy screens, operator procedures, current pain points, role hand-offs and physical weighbridge constraints.
02 DEFINE
Map one transaction
Turn vehicle, driver, material, weighing and payment activities into a shared end-to-end state model.
03 DESIGN
Reduce decisions per step
Create touch-first screens that keep identity, ticket state and scale context visible while users complete focused tasks.
04 VALIDATE
Test the operational logic
Walk through peddler and exception scenarios with stakeholders and refine the flow for regional and compliance variation.
Researche evidence
The PoC agenda explicitly focused on current-system review, pain points, success criteria and the preferred operational scenario.
• Four operational roles mapped: supplier, scale operator, pallet-scale / NF operator and cashier
• Unscheduled peddlers and unknown vehicles treated as normal, not edge cases
• Material hierarchy, ID verification, weight variance and payment methods captured as core requirements
• Glove-friendly controls and site-specific compliance rules shaped the interaction model
Problem definition
How might we turn one physical vehicle journey into one continuous digital record that every role can trust?
The product needed to preserve operational continuity while reducing manual entry, making exceptions visible, and remaining flexible enough for different sites, regulations and payment practices.
Make state visible
Keep vehicle, ticket and workflow status visible so operators do not need to remember the previous hand-off.
Automate, but allow override
Read data from scales, scanners and systems where possible, while preserving controlled manual entry for real-world exceptions.
Design for the yard
Large touch targets, clear hierarchy and minimal navigation support fast use on field devices and while wearing gloves.
Surface exceptions early
Weight differences, missing ID and unmatched vehicles should appear at the point where the user can act.
End-to-end product flow
One ticket follows the vehicle from arrival to payment.
The information architecture was organised around the transaction lifecycle rather than around separate legacy modules.
01
Arrive and identify
02
Gross weigh-in
03
Open same ticket
04
Verify driver
05
Classify materials
06
Weigh and price
07
Tare and reconcile
08
Pay and close
Connected operations
The interface sits inside a physical and enterprise system.
The future-state vision connected yard hardware, the operator workflow and enterprise systems. That meant the UX had to make machine-generated data understandable and recoverable when hardware, network or identification was imperfect.
PHYSICAL YARD
Capture
Certified weighbridges and pallet scales
ANPR, cameras and ID scanning
Traffic lights, barriers and sensors
WEIGHBRIDGE PLATFORM
Orchestrate
Vehicle, driver and ticket state
Materials, photos, weights and pricing
Exceptions, offline queue and role controls
ENTERPRISE
Complete
SAP / Waste & Recycling work orders
Billing, reporting and audit records
Compliance and transaction notifications
Design implication: automation should remove repeated entry without hiding where the data came from or preventing a safe manual recovery path.
The solution
A task-focused interface built around one shared ticket state.
Instead of recreating every legacy screen, the redesign grouped work around the questions operators actually needed to answer: Which vehicle is this? Who is the driver? What material is here? What does the scale say? Is the transaction safe to complete?
Design solution - identification signals
Find the right vehicle faster.
The redesigned onsite view brings the key identification signals into one readable table, helping operators locate the correct live transaction without relying on memorised descriptions or paginated legacy lists.
Design solution - licence information
Verify identity without breaking the workflow.
Driver evidence and structured licence information are brought into the same ticket experience. The operator can check what was captured, see verification status and continue without moving into a disconnected identity utility.
Evidence beside data
ID images and captured licence details are presented together so the operator can compare rather than remember.
Visible verification state
A clear status makes missing or unverified identity information difficult to overlook before the transaction progresses.
Supports regional rules
The pattern can retain or omit specific evidence according to local compliance requirements instead of forcing one global rule.
Design solution - material selection
Turn material hierarchy into a touch-first workspace.
Material selection was redesigned as a large, grouped visual surface. The hierarchy distinguishes shred, ferrous non-shred, non-ferrous and non-metallic materials while keeping the most common options immediately reachable.
Large targets for field use
The tile size supports quick selection on touch devices and reflects the explicit requirement for glove-friendly operation.
Colour reinforces categories
Category bands create a second recognition cue, reducing the need to repeatedly read dense material codes.
Hierarchy without deep menus
Operators see the breadth of the material model while staying on one task-focused screen.
Design solution - weighing workspace
Keep scale data beside the material decision.
The weighing workspace keeps the active ticket, material lines, weight capture and photographic evidence in one flow. Operators can rely on connected scale readings while retaining a clear manual path for approved exceptions.
Connected readings
Scale values are captured in the task rather than retyped into a separate transaction screen.
Manual recovery remains explicit
When real-world conditions require an override, it is presented as a deliberate alternative rather than a hidden workaround.
Evidence travels with the line item
Photos, material choice and weight stay attached to the same transaction context for later review.
Design solution - ticket progresses
Review the transaction before it becomes a payment problem.
A clear summary gives the operator a final opportunity to inspect weights, quantities and pricing before the ticket progresses. This moves verification earlier and reduces the chance that the cashier becomes the first person to discover an inconsistency.
Line-level transparency
Material, weight, unit price and extended value remain visible together rather than being split across screens.
Exception-first review
The summary supports a final confidence check before completion, especially when gross, tare and pallet-scale totals do not align.
Clear completion state
The workflow makes the transition from operational capture to a payable ticket more explicit for the next role.
Designed for operational reality
The product had to work when the environment was imperfect.
A weighbridge product sits between people, heavy equipment, peripheral hardware and enterprise systems. The design therefore treated resilience as part of usability, not as a technical afterthought.
Touch and gloves
Large controls and short navigation paths support fast field interaction.
Weak connectivity
Mobile and tablet workflows were designed to continue offline and synchronise when connectivity returns.
Hardware variation
Connected scales, cameras, scanners and ANPR can automate capture, while controlled manual paths remain available.
Local compliance
Role access, ID evidence, payment options and reporting can vary by site or jurisdiction.
Before → After
From disconnected screens to one operational story.
| LEGACY OPERATION | REDESIGNED EXPERIENCE |
|---|---|
| Generic accounts and manually invented vehicle descriptions | Persistent vehicle and ticket context with a clearer onsite list |
| Paper and radio connect separate physical locations | The same transaction state follows the vehicle across roles |
| Scale choice and values require repeated visual cross-checking | Connected readings are placed directly in the weighing task with controlled manual override |
| ID, material, weight and payment live in different utilities | Identity, material, evidence, pricing and completion are organised around one ticket |
| Weight discrepancies often become a cashier-stage investigation | Review and exception visibility are brought closer to the point of capture |
Outcomes
A stronger operational foundation, without inventing certainty.
The available project material supports qualitative outcomes rather than audited performance metrics. The case study therefore focuses on the operational improvements the redesign was intended to create and the positive usability direction reported during the project.
Less manual re-entry
Automation and shared ticket context reduce repeated transcription across weighing, inspection and payment steps.
Faster operational decisions
Vehicle, material, identity and weight information are easier to locate and review in context.
Earlier exception visibility
Weight differences and missing evidence can be handled before they become a late-stage payment issue.
More consistent workflows
A reusable interaction model supports desktop, tablet and site-specific variations without copying the legacy system.
Improved usability
The redesign shifts from small, dense legacy controls towards clearer hierarchy, large targets and task-focused screens.
Stronger compliance support
Identity evidence, photographs, role controls and audit-friendly transaction data can be handled as part of the operational flow.
Better reporting foundation
Structured real-time transaction data supports faster reporting, billing and downstream analysis.
Scalable integration model
The platform can connect physical yard hardware with SAP / ERP processes, notifications and broader business systems.
Key Takeaway
Good enterprise field UX reduces operational risk.
The most important shift was not the visual refresh. It was replacing a chain of isolated screens and human memory with one continuous transaction state that could move safely from weigh-in, through inspection and material capture, to payment.
