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Trace Management System (Purchase & Tracing)

Enabling blockchain in the is simply put as a trading activity between a buyer and a supplier

Role

UX Research, Product Design, UI Design, User Testing

Industries

Fisheries, Blockchain, Web3, Supply Chain

Duration

Q3 2023 - Q1 2024

Overview

Trace Management System was designed to support purchase records and seafood traceability within FishLog’s supply chain ecosystem.

The product had two main areas. The first focused on purchase activities, where blockchain was explored as a way to record purchase agreements and transaction events. The second focused on traceability, helping users track seafood product information through a QR-based experience.

The goal was to create a more transparent and accountable seafood supply chain, while introducing blockchain in a practical and controlled product scope.

The Problem

Seafood supply chains often face challenges around transparency, product quality, and trust. Buyers and stakeholders need better visibility into product origin, transaction records, and the lifecycle of seafood products.

From the business side, FishLog wanted to explore blockchain implementation in a smaller scope before expanding it further across the ecosystem.

From the user side, the challenge was making a complex blockchain-based system understandable and usable for different stakeholders.

User Problems

Users needed a clearer way to:

- Track seafood product information.
- Understand purchase and transaction records.
- Verify product-related data.
- Build confidence in the quality and origin of seafood products.
- Access traceability information without dealing with unnecessary complexity.

Business Problems

The business needed a system that could:

- Record purchase agreements between buyers and suppliers.
- Support traceable transaction activities.
- Improve transparency across the seafood supply chain.
- Prepare a foundation for broader blockchain implementation.
- Help stakeholders validate transaction records and product lifecycle information.

My Role

I was responsible for research, product design, interface exploration, and user testing support.

My contributions included:

- Understanding the business requirements from stakeholders.
- Benchmarking Web3 and blockchain-related product flows.
- Translating complex blockchain concepts into usable interface structures.
- Designing purchase and traceability-related screens.
- Exploring dashboard, activity history, and contract-related flows.
- Supporting user testing and design iteration.

Process

1. Understanding the Product Scope

The first step was understanding how blockchain would be introduced into FishLog’s purchase and traceability workflow.

The team decided to start with a smaller purchase scope, so the product could validate how blockchain records might support real supply chain activities before being expanded into a larger ecosystem.

2. Benchmarking Web3 Products

Since blockchain was still a new context for the fisheries industry, I benchmarked several Web3 and crypto-related products to understand common patterns, terminology, and interaction flows.

The goal was not to copy Web3 interfaces directly, but to understand how complex transaction records could be presented in a clearer and more familiar way.

3. Mapping Core Activities

The product was planned to support several key activities:

- Capturing purchase agreements between buyers and suppliers.
- Recording purchase events through blockchain.
- Making purchase activities trackable based on user access level.
- Supporting verification, authentication, and authorization.
- Displaying activity history and transaction status clearly.

4. Interface Exploration

I explored several interface structures for the dashboard, traceability page, activity history, and contract-related screens.

Key Design Decisions

Keep Blockchain in the Background

The interface should not force users to understand blockchain technically. Instead, blockchain should support verification and traceability in the background while the UI focuses on clarity and task completion.

Use Familiar Dashboard Patterns

Because the product involved transaction records and activity tracking, I used familiar dashboard patterns such as tables, status labels, filters, and detail views.

Make Status Easy to Scan

Traceability and purchase events needed to be readable at a glance. Status labels and structured tables helped users understand what had happened, what was verified, and what required action.

Support Different Access Levels

Since blockchain records and purchase activities may involve different stakeholders, the system needed to consider access based on user level.

Outcome

This project helped the team explore how blockchain could be introduced into FishLog’s product ecosystem through a practical purchase and traceability use case.

The design provided an early structure for tracking purchase events, viewing activity history, and supporting transparency in seafood supply chain transactions.

Challenges & Learnings

One of the biggest challenges was translating blockchain concepts into a product experience that could be understood by users in the fisheries industry.

Another challenge was limited clarity around user behavior, because blockchain-based workflows were still new in this context. This required more stakeholder discussion, benchmarking, and iteration.

Time constraints and technical communication with the engineering team also affected the design process.

This project taught me that new technology should not make the user experience more complicated. When introducing blockchain into a traditional industry, the interface needs to feel familiar, clear, and guided.

I also learned that complex products require stronger collaboration between design, business, and engineering teams. A good interface is not enough if the product logic is still unclear.