UI/UX design
PORTFOLIO /2025

AVAILABLE FOR FREELANCE
PROJECTS

Alaa.ahmad.agha@gmail.com
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COLEDGER

Community for engineering and digital platform

Overview

COLEDGER is a digital platform designed to connect architects, civil engineers, interior designers, and construction professionals with contracting companies. It enables companies to create and manage projects by adding team members, sharing files, and collaborating effectively. Each company can build and manage a dedicated portfolio for every project, providing tools for communication, file management, timelines, and problem-solving to ensure seamless teamwork and project execution.

  • My Contribution:I checkout Through user research, user center Design
  • Primary Role: UX/UI Design UX Research
  • Key Action: User Research, Design thinking

Client

Sweeden

Main Goal

To design an engaging, educational, and interactive experience that supports children’s speech development while empowering parents to track progress and gain valuable insights into their child’s growth, interests, and engagement with their environment.

Key Features:

  • Centralized Project Dashboard: A single view for managing multiple projects, tracking milestones, and monitoring progress in real-time.
  • Seamless File Management: Secure, version-controlled storage for large files, including blueprints, schematics, and design documents.
  • Real-Time Communication: Integrated messaging and notification systems to ensure quick updates and alignment across teams.
  • Customizable Spaces: Dedicated collaboration areas for teams to share updates, discuss issues, and resolve tasks efficiently.
  • Scalability for Growth: A platform designed to manage multiple large-scale projects simultaneously, adapting to the needs of growing companies.
  •  

Outcome

COLEDGER successfully addresses the pain points of contracting companies and multidisciplinary teams by:

  • Reducing Project Delays: Through streamlined communication and real-time updates, projects are delivered more efficiently.
  • Improving Collaboration: Centralized tools enhance team alignment and reduce miscommunication.
  • Enhancing Productivity: Simplified workflows and task management ensure teams focus on delivering results rather than troubleshooting inefficiencies.
  • Facilitating Growth: The platform’s scalable design supports companies as they expand, ensuring long-term usability and effectiveness.

Define Problem

Defining the problem is one of the most critical steps for a UI/UX designer because it provides a clear, focused direction for your work and showcases your design thinking skills.

Problem Definition

What user really need ??

Through stakeholder and user research, it became clear that contracting companies and engineers face significant challenges in managing complex construction projects. The key needs identified are as follows:

Problem Statement

Though project managers of contracting companies are in charge of a number of projects, they’d face a challenge uniting inter-disciplinary teams. There is no single platform connecting architects, engineers, and designers for ongoing collaboration. Other issues include the absence of real-time communication features such as team chats, further isolating team members. Additionally, there is no system by which ongoing work across projects can be tracked, causing engineers and other stakeholders to miss updates. Therefore, no useful means exist for sharing project-specific information, keeping teams updated, or monitoring project work; these lead to inefficiencies, delays, and a lack of transparency.

The problem I solved

COLEDGER was born as an all-in-one solution to solving the fragmented nature of construction project management and the problems associated with communication, file sharing, and team coordination. The platform allows contracting companies to create projects, assign teams, and manage all aspects of a project from a single, unified workspace. Each project has a shared working area where team members can share files, assign tasks, communicate in real-time, and share project progress.

COLEDGER brings together all project information into one repository that helps teams stay aligned and allows easy access to critical updates of all members of the team. It enhances collaboration and communication, bringing everyone up to speed and connected by eliminating the twin inefficiencies of using some stand-alone tools for different functionalities. In the end, this allows project teams to realize on-time delivery, under-budget performance, and increased openness.

Target Audience

The target audience for this UX design case study includes professionals in the architecture, civil engineering, interior design, and construction industries. It focuses on users within contracting companies who need streamlined collaboration tools for managing projects and teams. The design aims to meet the needs of both project managers and engineers, ensuring seamless project oversight and communication.

Contracting Companies

  1. Contracting firms managing large construction projects with the involvement of various engineers and designers.
  2. They require a robust platform where they can efficiently manage multiple projects, team communications, timelines, and document sharing in one central place.
  3. The companies want this solution to be scalable, allowing the management of multiple projects at the same time and keeping project-specific details organized and accessible.
  4. Decision-makers at these companies look for tools that increase operational efficiency, improve team collaboration, and will cause a reduction in project delays or miscommunication.

Engineers (Architects, Civil Engineers, Interior Designers)

  1. Engineers from various disciplines (architecture, civil engineering, interior design, and construction) working on large construction sites require constant collaboration and exchange of information.
  2. These professionals need a common platform to enable file sharing and updates by team members, track project progress, and allow each other to communicate easily.
  3. They need a system that allows for managing detailed project data on plans, schematics, and notes, integrated into their workflows to facilitate better and faster collaboration.
  4. Engineers want updates to monitor project completion, discover potential problems, and implement changes so they can take swift actions to mitigate any problems.

Research Methods

Objective:
To identify the needs, goals, and pain points of contracting companies and engineers managing complex construction projects, ensuring COLEDGER provides effective solutions.

Stakeholder Interviews

Participants: Decision-makers, project managers, and team leads from contracting companies.

    Key Questions Asked

    Key Questions Asked:

    • What are the biggest challenges in managing multidisciplinary teams?
    • How do you currently track project progress and milestones?
    • What features would you prioritize in a project management platform?

     

    User Interviews

    Participants: Architects, civil engineers, interior designers, and site managers.

      Key Questions Asked

      • What tools do you currently use for collaboration and project tracking?
      • What frustrates you most about your current workflow?
      • How do you share files and communicate with team members?
      • What would an ideal collaboration platform look like for you?

      Key Insights

      Stakeholder Interviews

      • Need for Efficiency: Reducing delays caused by fragmented communication was a top priority.
      • Transparency: Companies wanted real-time project updates and clear timelines.
      • Scalability: The solution needed to handle multiple teams and projects seamlessly.

      User Interviews

      • Communication Challenges: Scattered channels led to frequent misalignments.
      • File Management Issues: Sharing and version control of large files were cumbersome.
      • Simplicity Over Complexity: Users preferred intuitive tools with minimal learning curves.
      • Real-Time Notifications: Engineers and site managers emphasized the need for immediate updates on project changes.
      • Accountability: A lack of task ownership led to delays; users needed clearer task tracking and assignment systems.
      • Workflow Integration: Compatibility with existing tools like CAD software was crucial to avoid disrupting current workflows.

      For Decision-Makers, Project Managers, and Team Leads

      1. Inefficient Communication: Difficulty in ensuring seamless communication across multidisciplinary teams.

      2. Lack of Transparency: Challenges in getting a clear overview of project progress and identifying bottlenecks in real time.

      3. Scattered Tools: Using multiple disconnected tools for project management, leading to inefficiencies and data silos.

      4. Resource Allocation: Struggles with effectively assigning tasks and resources across various teams and projects.

      5. Delay in Updates: Inconsistent or delayed updates on project milestones, causing delays in decision-making.

      6. Scalability Issues: Current systems unable to manage the complexities of multiple large-scale projects.

      For Architects, Civil Engineers, Interior Designers, and Site Managers

      1. Fragmented Communication Channels: Difficulty coordinating with other team members and stakeholders, leading to misalignments.

      2. File Management Problems: Challenges in sharing, updating, and maintaining version control for large files such as schematics and blueprints.

      3. Lack of Real-Time Updates: Delays in receiving critical information about project changes or progress.

      4. Task Ambiguity: Unclear task assignments and responsibilities, leading to confusion and duplication of efforts.

      5. Incompatibility with Existing Tools: Existing project management tools do not integrate well with specialized software like CAD.

      6. Limited Collaboration Spaces: No dedicated areas to share updates, discuss tasks, or resolve issues collaboratively.

       

      Pain Point

      These points highlight the distinct challenges faced by each user group, helping to clarify how COLEDGER is uniquely positioned to address their specific needs.

      Ideation and Solution

      Brainstorming Process

      After gathering insights from stakeholder and user interviews, I moved on to the ideation phase, where the focus was on creating solutions to the identified problems. To generate effective solutions, I conducted a series of brainstorming sessions  These collaborative sessions helped the team and I develop a range of ideas, from low-fidelity sketches to more refined concepts.

      Affinity Mapping: To structure my ideas and ensure they align with user pain points, used affinity mapping. This technique allowed me to group related insights into categories, 

      Brainstorming Process

      • Centralized communication center: a unified platform for group discussion, communication and instant updates, reducing fragmented communication.
      • File Management: A secure system for uploading, sharing and managing large files, easily accessible to all team members.
      • Real-time progress tracking: Interactive dashboards showing project milestones, timelines, and work levels for increased transparency.
      • Task Ownership and Responsibility: Tools for assigning tasks to specific team members, with clear deadlines and messaging to ensure accountability.
      • Basic Project Management: Features designed to manage multiple projects simultaneously, with separate areas for each project to avoid confusion.
      • Private team spaces: Dedicated spaces for teams to collaborate on specific tasks, share updates, and efficiently resolve issues.

      Wireframes & Prototypes

      During the ideation phase, I created lo-fi and Hi-Fi to visualize the proposed solutions. These sketches included:

      Welcome home page

      COLEDGER

      The COLEDGER platform is designed to serve as a comprehensive collaboration hub for professionals in architecture, civil engineering, interior design, and construction. It connects contracting companies with engineers, architects, and other professionals to streamline the project management process. Here’s an overview of the website:

      • User-Friendly Interface
      • Project Creation and Management
      • Team Collaboration Tools
      • Portfolio and File Sharing
      • Multiple Projects Support

      Add Project

      The primary goal of the “Add Project” feature is to allow contracting companies to easily create and manage multiple construction projects within the COLEDGER platform. It serves as the initial step for creating a collaborative space for all project stakeholders, including architects, engineers, designers, and construction managers.

      • The “Add Project” feature is intuitive and user-friendly, allowing contracting companies to quickly set up projects, assign teams, and begin collaboration without delays.
      • The ability to manage multiple projects from a single dashboard enhances efficiency and organization for users, allowing them to focus on the project’s success.

      Start Managing the Project: Once the project is created, you can begin adding tasks, setting deadlines, sharing files, and using communication tools like chat spaces and messaging to collaborate with your team.

      Project Page

      The Project Page in COLEDGER serves as a central hub for all project-related activities and information. It provides easy access to essential details about the project, team members, files, and communication channels, streamlining collaboration among contracting companies and their teams.

      Project name, team , location , date

      Project Name: Prominently displayed at the top, making it easy for users to identify the project.
      Members: A list of all project members,
      Location: The physical location of the project or the construction site.
      Date: Display of the project start and end dates, ensuring that timelines are visible at a glance.

      overview ,member, project, file, massage

      Full Overview: A comprehensive view of the project’s status, including timelines, milestones, and overall progress.
      Members: A list of all project members with their roles, responsibilities, and current activities.
      All Files: A section to view, download, or manage all uploaded project files.
      Messages: A communication hub where users can send and receive messages regarding the project.
      Archive: A space to store completed or outdated project files for record-keeping.
      Delete: An option for project managers to delete the project if it’s no longer needed or if it’s been completed.

      File sharing

      File Upload Options: Users can upload files directly from their computer, Google Drive, or via a link.

      file sharing , attachemnt

      Add File: Allows users to add new files. This feature supports a variety of file types, from documents to design plans, and integrates cloud storage for easy access.
      File Management: The files are organized and can be downloaded or viewed, ensuring easy access and version control.

      member discussion and comment

      A dedicated section where team members can comment and communicate about the project. This fosters collaboration by allowing members to ask questions, give feedback, and share important updates. Comments are threaded, allowing users to reply directly to specific messages for organized discussions.

      manage member & team

      The Manage Team and Member page is designed to simplify team management within COLEDGER. It allows contracting companies to create, organize, and assign teams for specific projects, ensuring that collaboration starts smoothly and team roles are clearly defined.

      Create Team

      • Team Creation: Users need a straightforward way to create teams by selecting from a pool of members within the organization.
      • Role Assignment: The ability to assign roles and responsibilities to team members to avoid confusion and ensure accountability.