The first module of a completely new software generation for LogicTrade. From 11 locked-down tabs to a quote that can go out the door in under a minute — without losing the complexity of the furniture industry.
Outdated software, renewed module by module
LogicTrade's ERP software for the furniture industry had grown organically for years, module after module, without a central design vision. The result: every module with its own logic, locked-down forms, and an interface that betrayed its age. As the only designer at LogicTrade, the responsibility for the full redesign — module by module — was mine. Quote was the first.
11 tabs to create one quote
The old quote module consisted of 11 tabs, each filled with fields without a clear hierarchy. Putting together a simple quote meant a long trek through fields that were more often empty or irrelevant than useful. That costs time — and time is exactly what a salesperson at the counter, with a customer standing in front of them, doesn't have.
Fast to build, fast to share — without losing functionality
The brief wasn't to "cross out fields". The furniture industry is complex — delivery terms, margins, delivery addresses, payment terms — and that complexity doesn't just disappear. The goal was being able to build a quote super fast and share it with the customer, fresh and modern, without losing functionality: hiding complexity smartly behind good defaults and a natural flow.
The obstacles along the way
The data needed for a quote in the furniture industry can't simply be reduced — it had to live somewhere, just not all visible at once.
Quote is the first of 10+ modules still to come. Every choice also had to work for Service, Planning, and everything after — not just for this screen.
Taking internal convictions into account in the process, without letting them overshadow user needs — by backing choices with concrete prototypes instead of pitting opinions against each other.
From shop staff who've worked with the system for 20 years, to students with a part-time job of 2-3 days a week. Both need to be able to use it without training.
The starting point: an A4 quote, but digital
"A route list on a memo board, translated digitally — that paper feel kept the flow low-effort instead of form-like."
That "paper feel" wasn't an aesthetic choice but a guiding principle: every decision was tested against the question of whether the screen still felt like something you could "just read and fill in", rather than a system you have to navigate through. That also made the concept the answer to the wide range of users: an A4 sheet or a route list on a memo board is familiar and almost intuitively understandable, for everyone — whether you have 20 years of experience or just work two days a week. By taking that offline familiarity as a starting point, the design naturally carried along the largest group of users, without separate training paths or simplified modes. That concept then became the guiding thread for three principles that drove every design decision.
The user thinks about the quote, not about the system around it.
Complexity still exists, but is never all shown at once.
This first flow determines how future modules — sales orders, purchasing — will behave later.
From sketch to system
The first sketch didn't define a quote screen but a framework: where does an entity's identity belong, where does the main content go, and what moves to the side panel. That same framework had to work for Service and Planning too. The finished screen follows the zones one-to-one.
Old vs. new
Drag the handle to slide the old screen away. Two spots in the software, shown twice: the overview where a salesperson lands, and the detail screen where the quote gets built.
From eleven columns that all carry equal weight, to five plus KPIs that summarize the day
The quote comes out from behind the tabs and sits on screen as an A4 sheet
Drag the handle to compare, or click either half to open that screen at full size. With the keyboard: tab to the slider and use the arrow keys.
From design to ongoing iteration
Measured: from 3:20 to 0:55
Same test scenario, old vs. new flow: creating a new quote for a new customer, adding the same item, and sending the quote.
MAY '26
What I take from this
You won't win over a stakeholder without a design background but with a strong opinion through discussion — but you can if you let them feel the proposal. With Claude Code I didn't build wireframes but fully worked-out prototypes that simulated the new software down to the detail, every choice backed by a UX principle: cognitive load when shielding complexity, Hick's Law when reducing choice stress, Jakob's Law when matching familiar patterns. That shifted the conversation from "I think this works" to "look, this is how it feels — and this is why". It's been my way of working ever since.
The organization had little room for extensive testing upfront — the priority was on designing and launching. I compensated with a fallback feature: beta and live users could always switch back to the old module, with a single question asking why. That prevented change shock and delivered continuous "free" feedback, without needing dedicated test time. That's exactly why the iteration since May has been ongoing. The takeaway: testing makes a product better, and if there's no room for it upfront, you build that effect in some other way.
As a solo designer, I found sounding boards in a marketing and a dev colleague with a feel for design, in Claude, and in people from my own network in the home furnishings industry.