Modernized UX turns fleet management into competitive advantage
How Digital Scientists delivered NexTraq — a Michelin Group company — a research-driven UX transformation, comprehensive style guide, and prioritized product roadmap that reduced support costs and improved customer satisfaction.
From support-dependent UX to self-service platform
NexTraq is a GPS fleet tracking and management platform serving thousands of commercial fleets across the United States. Despite strong hardware and data capabilities, an outdated and confusing user interface forced the company to maintain a large support team just to guide customers through basic tasks.
NexTraq engaged Digital Scientists to modernize the experience through user research, competitive analysis, UI design, solution architecture review, and strategic roadmapping — delivering a complete product strategy toolkit the company could invest in with confidence.
4
Competitor platforms benchmarked
5
Customer interviews conducted
7
UX improvement areas identified
3
Phase product roadmap delivered
An outdated interface masking a powerful platform
NexTraq’s fleet management platform had strong data and hardware capabilities, but its dated UI created confusion at every turn. Fleet managers spent 20–30 minutes per day on tasks that should take seconds. Setup was so confusing that NexTraq maintained a large support team just to onboard customers.
Every interviewee cited the same issues:
- Confusing vehicle and driver setup
- Unreliable data display (odometer, miles inaccurate)
- No help when problems occur
- Admin is “bulky and cumbersome”
- Screens don’t update or refresh automatically
The legacy NexTraq Metrics dashboard — functional but dated
Understanding the users NexTraq was losing
We interviewed fleet managers, operations managers, and CIOs across company sizes to map every pain point, then benchmarked NexTraq against four competitors to identify where the platform was falling behind.
User Interviews
5 in-depth interviews with fleet managers, operations managers, and CIOs across company sizes — from 2-truck maid services to 200-vehicle contractors.
Competitor Analysis
Benchmarked Verizon Connect REVEAL, Samsara, GeoTab, and Fleetio across features, UX quality, and market positioning.
Journey Mapping
Mapped current-state and future-state task flows, identifying where users got stuck and where steps could be eliminated.
Meet Mrs. Fleetaria
From our research emerged a primary persona — a fleet manager who juggles maintenance scheduling, vehicle tracking, metrics reporting, and driver management daily. She wants modern tech and reliable data, and describes the ideal experience as feeling “more like a network than Quicken.”
Age
35 – 55
Time on Platform
20 – 60 min/day
Devices
Laptop, tablet, phone
Top Goal
Reliable data & metrics
From cluttered to clear
We modernized the interface while working closely with NexTraq’s development team to ensure every design decision could be implemented efficiently. The result: a comprehensive style guide and component library built for cohesive expansion.
Before
After
A complete product strategy toolkit
Visual Desktop Designs
Modernized UI for all major views: InstaView, Dispatch, Metrics, Maintenance, Alerts, and Schedule.
UI Style Guide
Comprehensive component library with updated corporate branding, ready for development implementation.
Updated User Personas
Research-backed personas replacing outdated assumptions about customer needs, goals, and daily workflows.
Competitor Analysis
Feature-by-feature benchmarking against Verizon Connect, Samsara, GeoTab, and Fleetio.
Journey Maps
Current and future state task flows with pain points and opportunities identified at every step.
Product Roadmap
Prioritized 3-phase roadmap: Stay Competitive → Lead the Industry → Product Blueprint.
Cutting steps in half
Our task analysis revealed that common workflows like “customizing a mobile and assigning a new driver” required 20+ steps across multiple screens with redundant navigation. By redesigning the information architecture and introducing smart defaults, we reduced critical flows to under 10 steps.
20+
Steps before
<10
Steps after
Current state (top) vs. future state (bottom) — dramatically fewer steps
Three phases to competitive leadership
Stay Competitive
- UI modernization
- Navigation overhaul
- Onboarding improvement
- Dashboard redesign
- Maintenance, dispatch & alert UX
Lead the Industry
- Smart defaults
- Predictive maintenance
- Voice commands for driver safety
Product Blueprint
- Wireframes & prototypes
- User stories
- Solution architecture
- Feature estimation
- Final visual design & style guide
From reactive support to proactive product
Reduced Support Dependency
Modernized UX reduced the need for a large support team to guide customers through basic tasks — turning technology into a self-service experience.
Trusted Roadmap
Leadership had a data-driven, research-backed product roadmap they could confidently invest in — with clear phases and estimated effort.
Customer Satisfaction
Updated interface and streamlined workflows improved the daily experience for fleet managers — the people who spend hours in the platform every day.
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