CASE STUDY
Tailoring Lean for the Field — Designing the Mobile Experience for Oracle Primavera Prime
Project Details
Client:
Oracle
ProdUct:
Primavera Prime (now Primavera Cloud)
Role:
Lead Mobile UX Designer
Duration:
3 Months (Ideation Phase)
Building Design That Outlasts You
Designing the first mobile experience for a complex enterprise platform taught me a foundational lesson: good UX isn’t just about elegance—it’s about meeting people where they are. In this case, “where they are” meant onsite, in motion, and sometimes offline.
My time on this project shaped my approach to leadership in early-stage UX: aligning teams, clarifying complexity, and building enough fidelity and foresight into the work that it can carry forward—even when the original designer steps away. That kind of embedded, upfront leadership is exactly what The UX Leadership Lab was created to deliver.
Background
The Problem
Primavera Prime was Oracle’s answer to the growing need for cloud-based project and portfolio management tools, targeting sectors like heavy construction, infrastructure, and utilities. As part of its launch, Oracle needed a mobile-first lean work management experience that could support the field—and scale to the enterprise.
This was the first mobile extension of the Primavera platform, and it needed to:
- Serve a mix of highly technical and minimally technical users
- Work in challenging environments (job sites, warehouses, remote offices)
- Stand up against mid-market competitors with cleaner, more intuitive interfaces
The Challenge
Our design mandate was to bring Lean Construction methodology into a robust, enterprise-grade UX system—starting with mobile. Lean emphasizes decentralization, transparency, and proactive communication across stakeholders. But the realities of onsite project work brought additional complexity:
- Many users had limited comfort with mobile technology
- Offline and on-the-go usage had to be built in
- The product had to appeal to executives and field workers alike
The product needed to reflect the UX maturity of mid-market competitors—but carry the enterprise-level power Oracle was known for.
Research & Discovery
Competitive Analysis
We examined both mainstream and construction-specific tools:
-
Excel, Pipefy, Asana, FieldLens, Mavenlink, and Airtable
We evaluated how features were grouped, surfaced, and prioritized—identifying opportunities to add value without adding complexity.
User Segmentation
We identified three key user types:
- General Contractor: Oversight, approvals, progress tracking
- Supervisor (Foreman): Task coordination, real-time issue tracking
- Contractor: Field-level task updates, documentation, and blockers
Design Sprint & Rapid Prototyping
We ran a one-week design sprint to align around core interaction flows and stakeholder goals.
- Produced low-fidelity prototypes for testing
- Validated assumptions around task flow, data needs, and simplicity of interaction
PRocess Mapping
Created detailed diagrams of the mobile workflow—mapping how tasks moved across roles and contexts. These formed the backbone of the high-fidelity flow documentation.
Design Process
WireFraming & Flow Design
Informed by user types and sprint outcomes, I created:
- High-fidelity wireframes for the Lean work board
- Interaction flows for mobile task creation, updates, and escalation
- A mobile-first framework that could scale with future development
- Improved customer satisfaction and Net Promoter Scores
Omni-Channel Design Coordination
Collaborated with the web designer to ensure that mobile and web worked together as a unified ecosystem:
- Field users could initiate and update tasks via mobile
- Office-based users could monitor and resolve issues via web
- A mobile-first framework that could scale with future development
- Shared logic and UI patterns ensured consistency between platforms
Final Deliverables
By the end of the engagement, I delivered:
- A validated mobile UX vision grounded in Lean methodology
- High-fidelity wireframes and annotated flow documentation
- Strategic recommendations for mobile-first interaction patterns
- UX documentation for handoff to Oracle’s internal development and design teams
Results & Lasting Impact
- Established the mobile UX foundation for what became Oracle Primavera Cloud
- Informed Oracle’s approach to field-first product design
- Created a system that balanced enterprise power with mobile usability
- Provided a launchpad for future internal design and development teams
- Demonstrated the value of early, embedded UX leadership in complex product environments
Final Thoughts
This project taught me that great UX emerges from strong systems thinking, collaborative environments, and an openness to unconventional contributions. That mindset—one that values integration, insight, and action—is what I carry into every client engagement today.
