CAterpillar: Designing the future
of electrified construction
CAterpillar: Designing the future
of electrified construction
As the world's largest construction equipment manufacturer shifts to electrification, site managers need a fundamentally new way to monitor, manage, and optimize energy across their fleets. Legacy diesel workflows don't translate — you can't just glance at a fuel gauge anymore.
As the world's largest construction equipment manufacturer shifts to electrification, site managers need a fundamentally new way to monitor, manage, and optimize energy across their fleets. Legacy diesel workflows don't translate — you can't just glance at a fuel gauge anymore.
COMPANY
COMPANY
Caterpillar Inc.
Caterpillar Inc.
ROLE
ROLE
Senior Product Designer
Senior Product Designer
TEAM
TEAM
2 PMs, 8 Engineers, Data Science
2 PMs, 8 Engineers, Data Science
FOCUS
FOCUS
0→1, Data Viz, Al
0→1, Data Viz, Al
SaaS
B2B
AI
Industrial / Energy
Overview
Caterpillar is building the electric future of heavy machinery
Caterpillar is building the electric future of heavy machinery
As the world's largest construction equipment manufacturer shifts to electrification, site managers need a fundamentally new way to monitor, manage, and optimize energy across their fleets. Legacy diesel workflows don't translate — you can't just glance at a fuel gauge anymore.
As the world's largest construction equipment manufacturer shifts to electrification, site managers need a fundamentally new way to monitor, manage, and optimize energy across their fleets. Legacy diesel workflows don't translate — you can't just glance at a fuel gauge anymore.
THE CHALLENGE
As the world's largest construction equipment manufacturer shifts to electrification, site managers need a fundamentally new way to monitor, manage, and optimize energy across their fleets. Legacy diesel workflows don't translate — you can't just glance at a fuel gauge anymore.
As the world's largest construction equipment manufacturer shifts to electrification, site managers need a fundamentally new way to monitor, manage, and optimize energy across their fleets. Legacy diesel workflows don't translate — you can't just glance at a fuel gauge anymore.
The Problem:
The Problem:
Construction site operators had zero visibility into the energy state of their electric and hybrid equipment. They couldn't track battery levels, energy consumption patterns, or predict when machines would need charging — leading to costly downtime and inefficient operations across multi-million dollar job sites.
Construction site operators had zero visibility into the energy state of their electric and hybrid equipment. They couldn't track battery levels, energy consumption patterns, or predict when machines would need charging — leading to costly downtime and inefficient operations across multi-million dollar job sites.
My Role:
My Role:
As the lead product designer, I owned the end-to-end design across eFlow and multiple sub-products. I worked closely with product managers, engineers, data scientists, and field teams. I built and maintained the design system, created high-fidelity prototypes in Figma, and shipped production-ready specs across 6+ product streams in one year.
As the lead product designer, I owned the end-to-end design across eFlow and multiple sub-products. I worked closely with product managers, engineers, data scientists, and field teams. I built and maintained the design system, created high-fidelity prototypes in Figma, and shipped production-ready specs across 6+ product streams in one year.
Problem Space:
No visibility. No control. No playbook.
No visibility. No control. No playbook.
Through stakeholder interviews and field research, I mapped out the core pain points facing construction site managers during the electrification transition.
Through stakeholder interviews and field research, I mapped out the core pain points facing construction site managers during the electrification transition.
The Problem:
The Problem:
Operators couldn't see real-time energy levels across MEC and ESS batteries, leading to unexpected machine shutdowns mid-task.
Operators couldn't see real-time energy levels across MEC and ESS batteries, leading to unexpected machine shutdowns mid-task.
Live battery monitoring
Live battery monitoring
Operators couldn't see real-time energy levels across MEC and ESS batteries, leading to unexpected machine shutdowns mid-task.
Operators couldn't see real-time energy levels across MEC and ESS batteries, leading to unexpected machine shutdowns mid-task.
No spatial awareness
No spatial awareness
Site managers had no way to see where electric equipment was located or navigate between machines across large construction sites.
Site managers had no way to see where electric equipment was located or navigate between machines across large construction sites.
Interactive map navigation
Interactive map navigation
Built a live map view with machine locations, status indicators, and click-to-detail navigation across the full fleet.
Built a live map view with machine locations, status indicators, and click-to-detail navigation across the full fleet.
No spatial awareness
No spatial awareness
Site managers had no way to see where electric equipment was located or navigate between machines across large construction sites.
Site managers had no way to see where electric equipment was located or navigate between machines across large construction sites.
Interactive map navigation
Interactive map navigation
Built a live map view with machine locations, status indicators, and click-to-detail navigation across the full fleet.
Built a live map view with machine locations, status indicators, and click-to-detail navigation across the full fleet.
Data overload, no insights
Data overload, no insights
Raw telemetry data was available but impossible for non-technical users to interpret or act on meaningfully.
Raw telemetry data was available but impossible for non-technical users to interpret or act on meaningfully.
AI-powered Insight (EFlow)
AI-powered Insight (EFlow)
Created a natural-language interface where users write prompts to generate tables, charts, and actionable insights from complex data.
Created a natural-language interface where users write prompts to generate tables, charts, and actionable insights from complex data.
Charging chaos
Charging chaos
No centralized way to manage charger availability, schedule sessions, or compare connector types across equipment.
No centralized way to manage charger availability, schedule sessions, or compare connector types across equipment.
ESS Charging Dashboard
ESS Charging Dashboard
Designed scheduling, start/stop controls, connector comparison, and charger compatibility views for streamlined operations.
Designed scheduling, start/stop controls, connector comparison, and charger compatibility views for streamlined operations.
Design Process
From field research to shipped product
From field research to shipped product
Working within Caterpillar's enterprise ecosystem, I established a repeatable design process that balanced speed with thoroughness across multiple product streams.
Working within Caterpillar's enterprise ecosystem, I established a repeatable design process that balanced speed with thoroughness across multiple product streams.
Discovery
Discovery
Stakeholder interviews, field visits to construction sites, competitive analysis, and data audit of existing telemetry systems
Stakeholder interviews, field visits to construction sites, competitive analysis, and data audit of existing telemetry systems
Define
Define
User personas, journey maps, information architecture, and feature prioritization with product and engineering leads
User personas, journey maps, information architecture, and feature prioritization with product and engineering leads
Design
Design
Wireframes, user flows, high-fidelity mockups in Figma, interactive prototypes, and design system components
Wireframes, user flows, high-fidelity mockups in Figma, interactive prototypes, and design system components
Validate
Validate
Usability testing with site managers, stakeholder review sessions, engineering feasibility check, and iteration cycles
Usability testing with site managers, stakeholder review sessions, engineering feasibility check, and iteration cycles
Ship
Ship
Dev handoff with detailed specs, QA support, post-launch monitoring, and continuous iteration based on analytics
Dev handoff with detailed specs, QA support, post-launch monitoring, and continuous iteration based on analytics
Core Solution
eFlow: The live energy intelligence dashboard
eFlow: The live energy intelligence dashboard
The heart of the platform — a real-time dashboard that gives construction site managers complete visibility into the energy state of every piece of electric equipment on their site.
The heart of the platform — a real-time dashboard that gives construction site managers complete visibility into the energy state of every piece of electric equipment on their site.
Live Energy Monitoring
Real-time Energy In and Energy Out tracking for MEC and ESS batteries with detailed charts showing consumption patterns, charge cycles, and efficiency metrics over time.
Interactive Map View
GPS-powered map interface showing all excavators and equipment across the construction site with status indicators, allowing click-to-navigate between machines for quick fleet overview.
Machine Detail Pages
Deep-dive views for individual machines showing comprehensive battery data, energy history, maintenance schedules, operational hours, and performance analytics.
Product Ecosystem
Beyond the dashboard: a suite of energy tools
Beyond the dashboard: a suite of energy tools
Over the year, the platform expanded into multiple interconnected products. I led design across all of them, maintaining consistency through a shared design system.
Over the year, the platform expanded into multiple interconnected products. I led design across all of them, maintaining consistency through a shared design system.
Impact & Results
Measurable outcomes, shipped at scale
Measurable outcomes, shipped at scale
In one year, I shipped design across 6+ product streams, building from zero to a fully operational energy management platform used by Caterpillar's electrification division.
In one year, I shipped design across 6+ product streams, building from zero to a fully operational energy management platform used by Caterpillar's electrification division.
Reduction in morning check time
task success rate
Products shipped in 12 months
Reflection
What I learned designing for electrification
What I learned designing for electrification
Designing AI features requires designing for failure
Designing for construction workers, site managers, and fleet operators pushed me to think beyond pixel-perfect aesthetics. The real challenge was making complex energy data actionable in dusty, noisy, high-stakes environments — and proving that enterprise products deserve the same design rigor as consumer apps.
Designing for construction workers, site managers, and fleet operators pushed me to think beyond pixel-perfect aesthetics. The real challenge was making complex energy data actionable in dusty, noisy, high-stakes environments — and proving that enterprise products deserve the same design rigor as consumer apps.
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