Overview
U.S. Trading Company is a California-based B2B distributor that's specialized in Southeast Asian grocery and food service for 30 years. Rising order volume was outgrowing their phone-and-fax ordering process.
Problem
Customers could only place orders by phone or fax — there was no way to browse products, check inventory, or pay online as order volume grew.
What I did
- Joined at the Ideate/Prototype stage, building on research and wireframes the client's team had already completed
- Defined UX priorities: instant account access for existing customers, easy category navigation, bilingual (Chinese/English) support, and in-app customer communication
- Explored Southeast-Asian-inspired mood boards, landing on a minimalist white/black system with orange for primary actions and red accents for promotions
- Designed iOS and Android in parallel across seven screen groups — login, home, navigation/categories, ordering, payment, and account
- Balanced a client request for a navigation drawer on iOS against platform conventions, aligning on implementation plus post-launch user feedback
Outcome
iOS and Android apps shipped in March and April 2020, moving a 30-year phone-and-fax business onto self-serve digital ordering.