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Transit SIOP App

An internal web application created to enhance the tracking and forecasting of Wabtec’s Transit Sales, Inventory, and Operations Planning (SIOP) processes. It allows company leaders to anticipate the volume and value of future tenders (bids or proposals) that they can expect to receive or submit. This project was the winner of the Summer 2023 Intern Tech Challenge at Wabtec!

Project Role(s)

UX Designer
Front End Developer

Skills

User Research
Wireframing
Prototyping
UX Engineering
Agile Methodology

Toolkit

🎨Figma
Angular
😺GitLab
PowerBI
💻VS Code

The Problem

The existing Wabtec Transit SIOP app is hosted through Microsoft Access, disallowing concurrent users or real-time collaboration and overwhelming users with more functionality than needed.

The Solution

An enterprise web application built using the Angular framework and hosted on a SQL Server, which allows for the collaboration of 255 concurrent users and which includes a limited set of features as required by the userbase.

Key Takeaways

  • Scalability is Key: Migrating from MS Access to an AWS SQL server transformed performance, proving that a solid backend foundation can make or break an application.
  • Angular’s Flexibility Stood Out: Its component-based structure and nesting properties will allow for seamless modifications and future enhancements to the app.
  • User Experience is Much More Than UI: High-contrast, accessible, and responsive design improve usability for all users.
  • Balancing Technical and Business Needs: Optimizing query performance while maintaining core functionalities required constant trade-offs between speed, usability, and scalability.
  • Future-Proofing Matters: Designing with future integrations in mind (Okta identity management, Power BI, AWS Secrets Manager) reinforced the importance of designing and developing with a long-term vision.
  • Smooth Developer Handoff is Essential: A well-structured Angular framework and highly-detailed written documentation guide make ongoing improvements and team transitions much easier.