From designing products to designing how we build them
I joined ToolsGroup to lead the design of a new product experience. Our ambition was to create modern, usable supply chain software, supported by a more user-centered design process.
A few months later, the company experienced major leadership changes. The strategy shifted from building a new product to improving and modernizing the existing portfolio.
That change created an opportunity to rethink more than interfaces.
My work began expanding into how we understand users, validate ideas, build products, and create a shared design direction across the company.
Visual Placeholder / Timeline showing the shift from new product exploration to broader product transformation.
Timeline showing the shift from new product exploration to broader product transformation. Approved project evidence to be added.
Understanding complexity
Supply chain software serves people with very different levels of experience.
Some users have spent years working with spreadsheets and complex planning systems. Others are entering the industry for the first time and need more guidance to understand and trust the results.
The challenge was not to remove complexity. It was to make complex work easier to understand and navigate without limiting expert users.
This understanding shaped the direction of our product experiences.
Visual Placeholder / Existing product interfaces, workflow analysis, and examples of complex data.
Existing product interfaces, workflow analysis, and examples of complex data. Approved project evidence to be added.
Bringing users into the process
One of my first priorities was introducing stronger user-centered practices into product development.
I worked with Product Managers and cross-functional teams to introduce user research, concept validation, heuristic evaluations, and iterative design.
As we involved users earlier, we gained a clearer understanding of their needs and could make more informed product decisions.
This helped establish a stronger foundation for product discovery.
Visual Placeholder / User research documentation, discovery workshops, and validation examples.
User research documentation, discovery workshops, and validation examples. Approved project evidence to be added.
Changing how we build products
Together with Product Governance, I helped introduce a discovery and validation process inspired by Design Thinking and the Double Diamond framework.
The objective was straightforward: understand the problem, explore possible solutions, validate with users, and continue learning throughout development.
This work helped bring design thinking into the broader product development process.
Visual Placeholder / Product Governance framework, Double Diamond diagram, and workflow documentation.
Product Governance framework, Double Diamond diagram, and workflow documentation. Approved project evidence to be added.
Modernizing enterprise experiences
I worked directly on products including Just Enough and SO99+, while supporting design across the broader product portfolio through my team.
For SO99+, I conducted UX assessments and heuristic evaluations to identify usability challenges and help prioritize opportunities.
The focus was on making complex workflows clearer, improving navigation, and helping users work more confidently with large amounts of data.
Visual Placeholder / Before-and-after product screenshots with short annotations explaining design decisions.
Before-and-after product screenshots with short annotations explaining design decisions. Approved project evidence to be added.
Wave: building a shared design language
To support consistency and scalability, I established Wave, ToolsGroup’s design system.
What started as a shared Figma component library evolved into reusable components implemented in code and adopted within products.
Wave also supports the broader challenge of bringing together products from different acquisitions under a more consistent ToolsGroup experience.
The design system continues to evolve alongside the product portfolio.
Visual Placeholder / Figma component library, coded components, and real product implementation.
Figma component library, coded components, and real product implementation. Approved project evidence to be added.
Designing for better decisions
Two major initiatives illustrate how our discovery and design practices began shaping complex product experiences.
Proposal Manager
A system designed to help users evaluate complex purchasing, assembly, and manufacturing proposals.
The experience brings calculations and recommendations into clearer workflows, supporting more informed decisions.
Visual Placeholder / Proposal Manager product interface and decision workflow.
Proposal Manager product interface and decision workflow. Approved project evidence to be added.
Sales and operations planning
For S&OP, we began with an intensive discovery process in Barcelona to understand the scope and map the experience.
We used AI-assisted prototyping to explore and validate concepts with users early.
The broader vision was then divided into smaller, manageable experiences, with continuous validation informing development.
Visual Placeholder / Discovery maps, early prototypes, and S&OP interface screenshots.
Discovery maps, early prototypes, and S&OP interface screenshots. Approved project evidence to be added.
From AI exploration to agentic experiences
In 2025, I began exploring how AI could change the way people interact with supply chain software.
The opportunity was not simply to introduce a chatbot.
It was to create experiences capable of understanding operational context, explaining information, and helping users take action.
Supply chain decisions depend on three important dimensions:
What is being planned? Where is it happening? When does it matter?
These ideas helped shape our early agentic product vision.
Visual Placeholder / Early AI concepts, agent workflows, and interaction explorations.
Early AI concepts, agent workflows, and interaction explorations. Approved project evidence to be added.
Decision & Decy: connecting intelligence across products
Our work is evolving into Decision + Decy, a cross-product agentic experience.
The vision is to help users understand data, explore recommendations, simulate decisions, and take action within their working context.
The experience is being developed using shared design system components, agent skills, security, and guardrails.
We are also exploring dynamic interfaces and ambient agents that adapt to the user’s task and context.
The goal is to bring people, information, and intelligent actions closer together.
Visual Placeholder / Agentic workspace, contextual interactions, generated UI concepts, and system architecture.
Agentic workspace, contextual interactions, generated UI concepts, and system architecture. Approved project evidence to be added.
Making customer collaboration easier
As I moved into the Director role, I identified a recurring challenge: accessing customers for validation was often difficult.
I created the Design Partnership Program in collaboration with our Legal team.
The program provides a clear way for customers and partners to participate in product research and validation.
It also gives designers and Product Managers a more direct path to learning from the people using our software.
Visual Placeholder / Design Partnership Program process and research participation workflow.
Design Partnership Program process and research participation workflow. Approved project evidence to be added.
Building the design organization
When I joined ToolsGroup, the design function relied on two external designers.
As my responsibilities grew, I began transitioning toward a smaller, directly employed team, including hiring in Colombia.
This helped create a foundation for more consistent collaboration, clearer priorities, and long-term development of our design practice.
My responsibilities expanded from leading design work to developing the people, processes, and direction behind it.
Visual Placeholder / Simple team evolution diagram or leadership principles.
Simple team evolution diagram or leadership principles. Approved project evidence to be added.
What this journey taught me
Complexity needs clarity, not simplification at any cost.
Expert users need powerful tools. Good design helps make those tools understandable.
Validation improves decisions.
Involving users earlier helps teams challenge assumptions and focus on real needs.
Design systems create shared foundations.
Consistency is not only visual. It helps teams work together across products and technologies.
AI changes how we think about interfaces.
As experiences become more dynamic, context, trust, autonomy, and human control become even more important.
Design leadership extends beyond design delivery.
It includes building teams, improving processes, creating alignment, and helping organizations make better decisions.
Looking ahead
Today, my focus is on creating product experiences that help people navigate complex supply chain decisions with greater clarity and confidence.
That means continuing to improve existing products while building the foundations for a more connected, intelligent, and user-centered product ecosystem.
