As Lead UX Designer at Amazon, I redesigned the operational tools thousands of associates use across the global fulfillment network, collapsing four disconnected tools into three that talk to each other.
Amazon, Sortation Services · Lead UX Designer · 14 months
Mis-sort & pallet errors
Configuration time
CSAT at launch for STEM
Sort Center teams juggled four disconnected tools and fell back on manual spreadsheets with no validation. Managers spent 20 to 30 minutes walking the floor just to coordinate one change, driving high error rates, long training, and missed SLAs.
"I have 25 tabs. By the time I'm done, half my rules are stale."
Collapse the silos into three purpose-built products that stay in sync: all configuration in one place, capacity edits without context-switching, step-by-step guidance on the handheld, and hand-offs that flow automatically from planning to execution.
COVID made site visits impossible, so I ran the research remotely: live camera walkthroughs of choke-points, weekly prototype sessions with clerks and associates, and archival field studies from NA and EU to fill the gaps. When restrictions eased, I spent two days a month at the Kent Sort Center shadowing associates. Watching a water-spider use directed-work on SAM in real time drove critical changes to our task-assignment logic.
"By the time you make that edit, it's 20 or 30 minutes later and you can't even address it."
Over six weeks I ran cohort workshops across NA and EU pilot sites, mapping every pain point into one journey map, then a North Star workshop to define success: fewer clicks, inline validation, streamlined hand-offs. That groundwork is what got us to a 95% adoption rate at launch.
Each tool started in its own silo with a different UI and mental model. I drew flow and decision maps that became the team's single source of truth, then designed three event-driven products that hand off to each other: STEM for configuration, embedded COS for planning, and SAM/DCM for execution.
Associates used to wander the floor hunting for full containers, like taxis waiting at busy corners. SAM's DCM brain now assigns each associate their next highest-priority container with clear on-device instructions, cutting idle time and walking.
"Associates guessed which chute to clear; managers had to verify in person."
| Metric | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Package recirculation | 48% | 26% |
| Configuration time | 2 hrs | 15 mins |
| Associate training | 40 hrs | 35 hrs |
| Mis-sort & pallet errors | 65% | 10% |
| CSAT for STEM | — | 95% |
The work saved $3.5M/yr on training and $2M/yr on exceptions, and SAM's accessible, fully localized redesign was featured at Amazon All-Hands as a model for inclusive, region-adaptable operations tools.
"No more guessing where to place packages. I get clear instructions now."
By tying clear configuration, in-context planning, and guided role-based execution together with real-time event flows, we eliminated spreadsheets, manual walks, and guesswork, and lifted efficiency, accuracy, and satisfaction across Amazon's global sortation network.