Dispatch App
Cents powers laundry pickup and delivery operations for hundreds of businesses across the US. The tool drivers and managers relied on every day to plan and execute their routes was holding them back — no way to visualize routes, no desktop option for managers, and a workflow too rigid for real-world operations. I redesigned it from the ground up, and expanded it to desktop for the first time.
The legacy Driver App was clunky, not visual, and limited in flexibility. Drivers had no map, no ability to plan routes in advance, and limited flexibility to adapt mid-route; the kind of product that works just well enough to ship but creates friction every day it's in use. For managers, there was no desktop option at all; a feature customers had been requesting for years. Having no map and only a mobile view made it difficult to plan or oversee routes. For the business, the stakes were clear: deliver enough value to secure Cents as the top choice for laundry PUD (pickup and delivery) operations in a competitive market.
My Role
I was the lead product designer and owner of the Driver App (internally called Dispatch) during my time at Cents. For this redesign I worked closely with a PM and engineer, conducted AI-moderated discovery research via Strella, and stayed in direct contact with customers from research through alpha and into beta.
Discovery Research
Before committing to a direction, I conducted moderated research sessions using Strella, an AI-moderated UXR platform, to answer two critical questions:
- —Is building a desktop component actually the right investment?
- —What do our customers actually need from this app day-to-day?
The Vision — Dispatch
Two big bets emerged from the research: a map-first UI and advance route planning — neither of which existed in the legacy product.
Map-first meant all workflows were built around the map visualization. A split-screen bottom sheet slides up alongside the map to show a corresponding list view — a native mobile pattern that makes route execution visual and intuitive. I had previously introduced a minimal map feature in the legacy app and it had been well received, giving me the conviction to go all-in.
The desktop component brought near-parity with mobile for the first time, designed for managers who plan routes and oversee operations from a full screen. Drivers can plan and execute on mobile; managers plan and monitor on desktop. A clean division that maps to how teams actually work.
“We're really loving the new route management!! We've always wanted to be able to easily just create these routes for his drivers so is stoked that our driver can now just open the app and choose his route that I created for them.
Concept Validation
With early concepts in hand, I brought both the desktop and mobile designs back to the same customers who participated in discovery research. Showing designs to people who had already shared their pain points created an immediate feedback loop — they could directly see whether what we were building addressed what they'd told us. The concepts were well received and validated the direction before full buildout began.
“We really love Dispatch 2.0 and the updates on the driver app.
Alpha & User Testing
We invited the same research participants into a structured alpha, running usability testing on the new workflow as part of their onboarding. Working closely with the engineer, I addressed findings and iterated on the design throughout. Then we opened it up for real day-to-day use, letting customers run actual routes with the new product.
I stayed in close contact with alpha users throughout this phase. The level of engagement was a strong signal — customers were invested, sending detailed feedback and feature requests directly.
What's Next
Dispatch is in beta and the roadmap is informed directly by what alpha participants have surfaced:
- —Route history
- —Further refinement of role-based permissions
- —Expanded messaging functionality between drivers and managers
- —Continued iteration on alpha and beta feedback
Looking Back
In hindsight I would have pushed for a more defined scope and timeline before expanding to beta. The tension between timelines and quality hits hard on a lean team with limited dev resources, onboarding new customers while still working through a significant backlog of improvements.
Dispatch is now in beta, onboarding customers one at a time with a significantly improved experience
Map-first mobile experience and desktop planning shipped for the first time in the product's history
High engagement from alpha users — detailed feedback and feature requests sent directly throughout the beta
Success measured by adoption as beta scales — early signal is strong