From outdated to award-winning SaaS application
iTradeNetwork
About
iTradeNetwork is the digital backbone of the food supply chain in the US and Canada
iTradeNetwork connects the world's largest retailers, distributors, and suppliers through a unified platform that brings order management, procurement, logistics, and traceability into one seamless system. In an industry where speed, freshness, and accuracy are non-negotiable, we help our partners reduce waste, cut costs, and make smarter decisions faster.
The Problem
Obsolete, fragmented, and misaligned
Until recently, iTradeNetwork faced a strategic risk hiding in plain sight: a fragmented product experience that was silently eroding customer trust and lifetime value. The platform had grown through years of modular development, but without a unified design or user experience strategy. Each module operated independently, with its own interface, logic, and workflows. To our customers, this wasn't a platform — it was a disconnected collection of tools.
More critically, the organization lacked access to its users. Beyond the sales cycle, there were no structured feedback loops, no direct user research, and no visibility into the day-to-day realities of those running complex, time-sensitive supply chains. We were shipping features without understanding the jobs our users were hiring us to do.
This disconnect had real financial consequences. Churn climbed to 8%, a clear signal of product-market misalignment in a space where retention should be a strength.
Neglected
Poor user experience on outdated tech stack with no innovation in years.
Suppliers felt forced
Supplier users felt forced to use OMS because their trading partners required it.
Angry clients
Growing frustration with the state of the platform resulted in 8% attrition rate.
Minimal time-in-app
Due to a lack of analytics, users were exporting data to do their own analyses.
The Research
User-validated research led to feature innovation
When I began designing for OMS in 2022, I immediately began to analyze user feedback and performed a heuristic evaluation of the application. I shared my analysis with the broader product team and began to modernize the UI, with a focus on information architecture and UX best practices.
I was encouraged to visit several clients for contextual inquiries. This research led to the development of several new features that none of us had envisioned prior, which addressed critical gaps, strengthened client appreciation and renewed their trust in iTradeNetwork.
Contextual Inquiry Highlights
Research Artifacts
The Design Solution
Creating a first-in-class SaaS experience
We started reimagining the iTradeNetwork platform based on our research findings, involving several major clients along the way for validation.
We didn't stop there. With AI on the horizon, the team moved quickly to provide additional value across our platform, making us the industry's first supply chain SaaS company to provide automated AI tasks. A period of innovation began that continues to this day.
Data analytics streamlined for busy users
Our users juggle multiple applications, devices, and modes of communication throughout the day, with little to no time to invest in data analysis. So we packaged several data insights, highlighting the KPIs they're responsible for right in the portal.
Modernizing the way supplier users get paid in OMS
The traditional process of invoicing and payment can take up to 30 days, which means suppliers are losing critical income that could be invested in growing their business. More importantly, adding Payments created an entirely new revenue stream for the company, whose profits are transactionally based.
Agents, automated orders, and customized data analysis
Across the platform, we found areas where we could responsibly use AI to provide value to our users, making iTradeNetwork the industry's first supply chain SaaS company to offer automated AI tasks.
Ensuring visual consistency
After performing heuristic evaluations and user feedback sessions, product designers created a unified library of reusable components, styles, and patterns for use across the platform. We partnered with our marketing team to ensure color palettes, typography, and imagery were supporting our newly redesigned branding. This transformation not only improved accessibility and user experience, but also expedited design and development exponentially for the organization.
Before and After
Side by side: legacy and new
The Transformation
Watch the transformation
The Outcome
Decreased time on task, increased user satisfaction
User testing allowed us to set benchmarks that clearly showcased the impact of our UX improvements in the redesigned OMS application.
Beyond modernizing the platform with a complete UX overhaul and a fresh design system, our goal was to position iTradeNetwork as a tech leader in the industry. We focused on leveraging cutting-edge technology to harness the valuable data generated from millions of transactions across the platform.
Ultimately, we won two awards for our work.
Based on 30+ UserTesting responses from two groups of users who tested either the Legacy or the New OMS.