Business challenge
The client is a logistics company that operates in Africa, where freight costs are far higher than in more mature markets. Over 97% of a product's price is tied to transportation, compared with only about 5% in the United States. Cargo owners and midsize freight firms told the company that deliveries take too long (74% of respondents) and that goods often arrive damaged (70% of respondents).
The company already had a dispatcher terminal and a driver‑app, but it did not have a clean, client‑facing Android app. The goal was to give cargo owners real‑time visibility, improve handling practices, and increase loyalty and demand for the company's supply‑chain services.
Design challenge
The new app had to follow Google's Material Design guidelines while still looking unique and culturally relevant. It needed a visual language that felt modern and trustworthy, a logo that moved away from the generic “Musli” typeface toward a more geometric, African‑inspired mark, and a reusable component library that would work well on the dominant Android platform (about 88 % of users). At the same time, the interface had to present complex logistics data—order status, route maps, condition reports—in a way that anyone could understand, even if they were not technically savvy.
Story
I led the whole design effort and worked closely with the client to turn business goals into a concrete product roadmap. First, I conducted field research in Nigeria: I interviewed cargo owners, midsize freight firms, and the client's operations team, then ran a questionnaire to quantify the most urgent needs. The research fed a mind‑map that ordered the screens and prioritized features such as real‑time tracking, condition‑report uploads, and a searchable order list.
Mind Map
Logo
Together with another designer, I refreshed the corporate logotype. We kept the Mulish typeface but tightened the letterforms into a cleaner, more geometric shape and added a stylized African‑finch motif to the dot of the “i”. The new color palette stayed within Material's color system but introduced warm, multitone gradients that evoke an African sunrise, giving the brand a lively yet professional feel.
Colors
From the brand assets I built a full Android UI kit that includes 25 Material based components and 10 product specific patterns (order creation wizard, status badge, map overlay, condition report form). Each component respected the 14dp baseline grid, and included dark‑mode variants that the client had explicitly requested.
The UI Kit was validated, I produced high‑fidelity wireframes, interactive prototypes, and finally the production screens, including a custom splash screen.
I worked hand‑in‑hand with the front‑end developers to ensure pixel‑perfect implementation and smooth performance on low‑end Android devices.
Dark mode
Results
The Android application gave cargo owners a trustworthy, data‑rich experience, strengthened brand loyalty, and helped the logistics company move closer to its mission of lowering freight related costs across the continent.
