Process
Excel & email-based
Requests lived in spreadsheets, email threads, and tribal knowledge. Nothing was centralized or trackable.
SODA — Signage Ordering & Design Application
400+ stores. One fragmented process. I designed the platform that replaced it — bringing ordering, design, vendors, and budgets into a single system of record.
65%
Faster order submission
400+
Stores onboarded
2–3d
Faster turnaround
12→5
Steps to order
The Problem
Signage was a manual chaos across 400 stores
Every store had a different way to request signage. Some emailed. Some used spreadsheets. Most didn't know where their request was or how much budget remained. The result: delays, duplicates, brand drift, and a support team drowning in follow-up emails.
"We don't know where our request is. By the time it's printed, the promotion is over."
— Store Manager, Whole Foods MarketBudget
Zero visibility
Stores had no real-time view of remaining budget. Overspend was only caught after the fact — often at month-end.
Brand
Inconsistent output
Without locked templates, stores improvised. Signage looked different across regions, undermining brand standards.
Speed
Too slow for promos
Urgent promotions required 2–3 days of manual coordination. By the time signs printed, the window had closed.
Before SODA
The 12-step signage request
Email regional coordinator
Wait for acknowledgment
Fill in Excel template
Check budget manually
Get approval via email
Forward to vendor
No trackingManual budgetingBrand risk
After SODA
The 5-step self-serve flow
Select → Customize
Preview → Review
Confirm → Auto-routes to vendor
Budget updates instantly
Track status in real time
Live trackingAuto-budgetBrand-safe
Research & Discovery
What the data — and the people — revealed
Methods
12 Store Manager interviews. 3 Signage Coordinator sessions. Direct observation of real request workflows. Stakeholder alignment workshops. Shadow sessions with regional managers tracking approvals.
Key Question
We weren't just fixing a form. We were asking: how much autonomy can stores have before it creates brand and budget risk? That tension shaped every design decision that followed.
"
Budget tracking is manual. I find out I'm over at the end of the month.
Whole Foods Market, West Region
"
For urgent promotions, I start printing myself — the vendor process takes too long.
Whole Foods Market, Northeast
"
I get the same request twice because no one knows who already submitted it.
Regional Operations
Users we designed for
Super Admin
- Full system access
- User management
- Budget control
- Vendor assignments
Regional Manager
- Multi-store oversight
- Budget monitoring
- Reporting & approvals
Store Manager
- Orders signage
- Print on Demand
- Orders kits & hardware
- Tracks store budget
Vendor
- Receives assignments
- Prints & fulfills orders
- Updates delivery status
Ideation & Strategy
One framing question that unlocked everything
"How might we give stores more autonomy while maintaining operational and brand control?"
— Design challenge framing, Week 2The answer wasn't a single feature — it was a set of design principles that governed every decision across the platform.
Pillar 01
Centralized visibility
Every request, order, budget, and status visible in one place. No more email-based status checks. Managers see the full picture without chasing anyone.
Pillar 02
Controlled flexibility
Stores can customize within locked brand parameters. Templates enforce consistency. Freedom within structure — not freedom from it.
Pillar 03
Budget transparency
Real-time budget display at every step. Orders deduct automatically. Stores always know where they stand before they submit.
Information Architecture
Navigation built for role-based reality
The IA wasn't just a sitemap — it was a permission model. Each nav item maps to a role, a task, and a level of access. I defined what each user type sees, can do, and is protected from.
01
Dashboard
Role-aware home. Store Managers see orders + budget. Admins see system-wide activity.
02
Budgets
Real-time store and regional budget allocation with program-level spend tracking.
03
Programs
Campaign and promotion-based groupings that tie signage orders to business initiatives.
04
Estimates
Pre-submission cost estimates before orders are finalized or approved.
05
Existing Signs
Catalog of pre-approved signage available for reorder — hardware, frames, accessories.
06
Print on Demand
Self-serve template editor. Brand-locked. Instant preview. Store-level autonomy.
07
Orders
Unified order tracking across all signage types with vendor status visibility.
08
Reports
Spend, order volume, turnaround times — aggregated for regional and admin review.
09
Vendor Network
Vendor assignment, capacity management, and centralized communication hub.
4
User roles with distinct permission sets
9
Navigation modules in the platform
12→5
Order flow steps after simplification
The simplified order flow
1
Select
Choose template or existing sign
2
Customize
Edit within brand-locked parameters
3
Review
Preview + see real-time budget impact
4
Confirm
Submit — auto-routed to vendor
5
Track
Live status from print to delivery
Feature Spotlight
Three features that solved the hardest problems
Print on Demand
Brand-safe self-service at store level
The most urgent pain point: stores needed to print fast without waiting for vendor turnaround. Print on Demand gave them that speed — within guardrails.
- Approved templates with locked layouts
- Editable text zones — nothing else moves
- Instant preview before ordering
- Local print for urgent needs
- Brand consistency preserved at scale
Existing Signs & Kits
Hardware ordering without the back-and-forth
Stores needed frames, holders, clips, and accessories — but the ordering process was fragmented across vendors and emails. We unified it.
- Catalog of approved hardware items
- Bundle ordering for complete kits
- Budget deducts on submission
- Vendor fulfillment tracked in-system
- Reorder with one click
Budget Management
No more end-of-month surprises
Budget overruns were a recurring issue. The solution wasn't a report — it was making budget visible at every step of the ordering flow.
- Real-time balance shown throughout checkout
- Store-level allocation with regional oversight
- Program-based spend tracking
- Automatic deduction on order confirmation
- Budget warnings before submission
Role-Based Access
The right tools for the right people
A platform used by 400+ stores across 4 different roles needed permissions that were invisible to the user but airtight in the system.
- Store Managers: order, customize, track
- Regional Managers: approve, monitor, report
- Vendors: receive, fulfill, update status
- Super Admins: configure, assign, control
Usability Testing
What users changed — and what we learned
Two rounds of usability testing with Store Managers surfaced issues we hadn't anticipated. The biggest: navigation labels that made sense internally didn't match how store managers thought about their work.
Finding 01
Budget visibility too late
Users didn't see remaining budget until the review step. We moved it to the catalog browse step — before they selected anything. Anxiety dropped immediately.
Finding 02
"Print on Demand" confused new users
The label was industry-standard but unfamiliar to store managers. We added a one-line descriptor under every nav item. Confusion resolved in round 2.
Finding 03
Hardware kits needed grouping
Frames, holders, and clips felt like separate decisions. Bundling them as "kits" with common combinations pre-assembled reduced selection time by 40%.
The most important usability finding wasn't a usability issue — it was a mental model mismatch. Store Managers thought in promotions, not sign types. Rethinking the entry point around programs changed everything.
Impact & Outcome
A platform that changed how 400 stores operate
SODA replaced a fragmented, email-driven process with a single system of record. The numbers reflect the shift — but the real impact was giving store managers the confidence to act fast without waiting for anyone.
65%
Faster order submission
2–3d
Faster turnaround time
400+
Stores onboarded
Order accuracy
↑sig
Duplicate requests eliminated
Budget overruns
↓%
Real-time visibility removed surprises
Brand consistency
✓100%
Locked templates enforced across all stores
What I learned
Enterprise insight
Permissions are a design surface
Role-based access isn't just a technical requirement. It's one of the most important UX decisions in enterprise design — it defines what users see, trust, and feel empowered to do.
Process insight
Shadow the workflow, not just the user
The real discovery came from watching the full signage process — not just the digital one. The broken parts were all offline. That's where the design had the most leverage.
Design principle
Constraints are a feature
Locked templates felt like restrictions. But store managers loved them — they removed decision fatigue and made brand compliance automatic. The best designs don't remove constraints, they make them invisible.
Enterprise Signage.
Centralized. Controlled. Finally Fast.
A platform that replaced spreadsheets and email chains with a single system trusted by 400+ stores.