Summary of My Role
I partnered with Concrete's head of design and head of research to lead a nationwide study of DAT's load board - a platform where truckers find loads to haul and brokers find trucks to move their freight. A key aspect of our engagement was mentoring DAT's internal research team, bringing them along on field visits across the country to build their user research capabilities.
Research Objectives:
Understanding Different User Groups Learn how brokers, dispatchers, and truckers each use the load board in their daily work and how their needs intersect.
Mapping Business Relationships Investigate how load board participants build and maintain the business relationships that keep freight moving efficiently.
Journey Mapping the Broke Experience We mapped their experiences from sourcing and pricing loads, matching loads and carriers, negotiation, onboarding, picking, tracking, and finally delivery.
Feature Development Identify opportunities to support these relationships through new premium features and tools.
Strategic Evolution Create a roadmap for evolving the platform from a simple marketplace into a robust business networking tool.
Research Activities
- Office Visits Spent time in broker offices observing their daily workflow and listening to their phone negotiations with truckers and shippers.
- Dispatcher Interviews Met with dispatchers at their workplaces to understand how they coordinate between brokers and the truckers they manage.
- Collaborative Analysis Facilitated working sessions with DAT team members to analyze findings and build internal support for our design direction.
- Prototype Development Created and tested prototypes that explored new ways for load board participants to maintain their business networks.