Compare Freight Delivery Quotes
Design a quote comparison workspace for a small business shipping a pallet across several carrier services.
The brief
Understand the problem
Background
The lowest freight quote is not always the best choice. Transit time, accessorial fees, insurance, pickup requirements, and carrier reliability can change the actual cost and risk.
User context
Marta runs a furniture workshop and needs to send a pallet to a retailer 900 kilometres away. The destination has no loading dock, and delivery must arrive within a three-day window.
Product problem
Quotes use different assumptions and service terms, making direct comparison difficult. Missing shipment details can also produce costly adjustments after booking.
Objective
Create a freight quote and booking workflow that makes total cost, service differences, and shipment assumptions easy to compare.
What to design
Define the experience
Required experience
- Shipment specification with packaging and access details
- Normalized carrier quote comparison
- Booking review with declared value and documents
- Post-booking shipment status
Screens and states
- Shipment form
- Quote comparison
- Quote detail
- Booking review
- Tracking detail
Core user flow
Follow the critical path
- 01
Marta enters origin, destination, pallet dimensions, and access conditions
- 02
She receives quotes and compares total expected cost and delivery windows
- 03
She inspects exclusions and carrier performance for one option
- 04
She adds declared value and confirms pickup details
- 05
She monitors a delay that threatens the required arrival window
Product rules
Requirements and constraints
Requirements
- Normalize price components without hiding carrier-specific terms
- Flag assumptions likely to cause adjustment fees
- Show transit estimates separately from guaranteed service
- Include insurance or liability coverage context
- Support quote expiry and refresh
- Provide shipment documents after booking
Constraints
- Carrier quotes expire quickly
- Rates depend on accurate dimensions and freight classification
- Some fees are only known after pickup or delivery
- The user may compare more than twenty quotes
Reality check
States worth considering
Finish line
What to deliver
- Design five desktop screens with a dense comparison table, booking review, and delayed shipment state.
Optional direction
Visual resources
Use these as a starting constraint if you want one. They are not part of the required solution.