Faster, smarter decisions under constant disruption.
Rhein-Waal University was asked to help redesign the internal route planning system of a respected logistics company. The challenge: help route planners decide faster and better while dealing with manual processes, incomplete data and constant last-minute changes.
How might we optimise route planning to reduce LTL shipments, optimise fuel, reduce CO₂ emissions — and still meet every ETA?
Route planners: the magicians behind the board.
Professionals juggling dozens of active routes, coordinating drivers and clients, carrying the pressure of cost-efficiency and on-time delivery — usually with tools not built for that complexity.
Goals
Optimise on-time and accurate deliveries · Maximise truck load (FTL over LTL) · Reduce fuel and route costs · Propose efficient routes
Pain points
Incomplete or late shipment data · Last-minute changes and delays · Manual planning tools · Pressure to cut costs without hurting service
A design sprint, from raw insight to hi-fi.
- How Might We
- Lightning Demos
- Crazy 8’s
- Affinity Mapping
- Storyboarding
- Heat-map voting
- Speed critique
- Supervote
Four pillars of the design direction.
One unified command interface.
Three key insights from testing.
Route planning
Decisions must reach drivers. The system has to bridge that communication gap, not optimise in isolation.
On-time delivery
Companies want truck and delivery details inside their own systems. A standalone tool isn’t enough.
Factors impacting costs
Wait times, customer opening hours and tolls all shape route decisions and profitability.
- Test with actual route planners
- Collect real-time feedback from drivers
- Fuel-consumption alerts and efficiency indicators
- Turn field data into actionable intelligence