XShip + XMove
An empty warehouse, running at full speed on day one.
As Flexe’s product and design lead, I spent a month on warehouse floors, then designed XShip and XMove: the desktop system leads use to run the warehouse, and the handheld app floor workers use to do the work. An empty building could be live in about two weeks, with new hires at peak proficiency in a day and a half. It made Flexe the world’s first on-demand fulfillment platform, across more than 2,000 warehouses.
New hires were at 80% on day one and 100% by the middle of day two. A traditional system takes about three months.
XShip creates every task the moment a truck calls in or an order comes in, and sends it to the right person.
The home screen was a grid of colored apps, modeled on the apps workers already used every day.
XMove walks each worker through a task card by card, and tells them what to do when something goes wrong.
An empty building could be shipping orders in five days to two weeks, versus about four months.
Across more than 2,000 warehouses worldwide.
Problem and opportunity
There was no cost-effective way to scale an on-demand fulfillment network with existing software.
Research and discovery
Before I designed anything, I spent a whole week working in the warehouse.
I interviewed everyone from operators and managers to leads and floor workers. Then, using a jobs-to-be-done approach, I worked every task in the warehouse myself, looking for where the software got in the way and how it could help instead.
“We don’t even use 95% of this.”
“And the worst thing is when they update the software, then I have to redo all my notes.”
“The software makes my job harder, not easier.”
The software was so hard to use that people left themselves notes about which buttons to click. None of the systems were fast enough to support the on-demand model Flexe was seeking to create. What workers needed was far fewer independent functions, and more consistent, easily repeated workflows and automations that removed a lot of the busy work.
Validating our assumption
Testing on the floor showed us that a lean, tactical approach wasn’t a compromise. It was our advantage, and the only way to make on-demand work.
In about two weeks, using a jobs-to-be-done framework and lean methodology, we built a demo that proved we could build a working warehouse management system from scratch, one that worked better than systems that had been around for decades.
5warehouses
1 monthon site
Dozensof one-on-one interviews
Thousandsof boxes packed
Scope and influence
I led the effort from research to recommendation. With our engineers and tech leadership, I brought it to the rest of the business as an investment case: build a working version, and use Casper’s new sites as the base case. Casper was growing fast, and if we couldn’t scale with them, we’d lose them as a customer. One mattress in multiple sizes meant we still covered every workflow, from checking trucks in to loading them out, but only the simplest version of each.
One customer’s integration
Our first version
Design tenets
Based on my research, I created design tenets to make sure the product would succeed in our on-demand model, and to scale my expertise to the rest of the team.
On-demand space meant on-demand workers, often starting the same day they were hired. You can’t go on demand with software that requires three months of training. To be on demand, we had to be faster, more flexible, and easier to use.
Product and solution
Two apps, one system. XShip helps warehouse managers and leads run their operation, while XMove helps workers complete each task on time.
Task automation
By investing in task automation, we let leads stop handing out work and start improving it.
When every job automatically created the work that followed, leads and managers no longer had to assign tasks, chase people down, or make sure everyone had something to do. They could spend their time improving what was already happening.
Labor planning (see the work coming tomorrow, next week, next month)
Guided tasks
XMove was designed for simplicity, with no training required. We broke each task into small pieces and guided workers through them one at a time.
Beyond the pixels
Different equipment meant different workflows, even for the same customer. So I designed a pop-up fulfillment kit to give every site the same baseline, and to launch faster with less time on site.
The details
Feels like your phone. The home screen is a grid of colored apps: picking, cycle counting, moving inventory.
Every app has a color. Find an abandoned device, or help someone who’s stuck, and you instantly know which task they’re in.
Unload truck, not Receive SKUs. Human words, not machine words.
Spanish in one tap. Top right of every screen.
Badge-scan login. Shared devices, ready in a second.
Apples and zebras. Every location kept its code and got an icon, faster to spot in any language.
Gloves on. Every screen works with a keyboard, not just touch.
Actionable errors. Instead of a code like “1274971 error,” XMove says what happened and what to do next: “Go find Miguel, your outbound manager,” or “Take your cart back to your station, leave the goods in it, and notify your lead. Then start a different task.”
Faces and big progress bars. The tasking page shows workers’ faces and names, with big, bold progress bars instead of tiny ones.
Color carries over. Each app’s color is the same in XShip and XMove.
Today, not October 29. Drop-offs and pickups say Today or Tomorrow instead of a date stamp.
Prep for tomorrow in one click. Wave tomorrow’s shipments by tapping Tomorrow instead of using a date picker.
Waving by picture. Tap the UPS logo and a picture of one box instead of typing codes.
Trucks you can see coming. Each truck travels along a bar in its carrier’s color (brown for UPS) toward its arrival time.
User setup in seconds. Take a photo of each worker’s ID, and their profile is created automatically. Pick the jobs they’ll do, and the right role and permissions are assigned. Choose how long they’ll be there, so access doesn’t last longer than it should. Print their scan card; on first scan they set a four-digit PIN, then log on to any device with their card and PIN. No passwords or email addresses.
Know your best people. Each worker’s page shows time on task, accuracy, and total work done, so warehouses could retain their best temps or move them into full-time roles.
The outcome
2,000+fulfillment centers worldwide
2-weeklaunch time
99%shipped on time
80%win rate
