CASE STUDY / SELF-INITIATED PRODUCT
PortCost
Auditor.
Designing a clearer workflow concept for invoice review and port-cost auditing—where dense financial information needs to be understandable and actionable.
Invoice overview
Illustrative UI preview only. The numbers are sample content used to show layout—not validated customer data, measured results or claims about a released product.
01 / OVERVIEW
Make the next step obvious.
PortCost Auditor is a self-initiated product project connected to a practical operational challenge: port-area businesses may need to manage invoices, compare line items, track review status and keep supporting information organized. The portfolio project explores how a focused workspace could bring these tasks together.
This case study describes product direction and design intent. Validate the workflow with real users before presenting it as research-backed or production-proven.
02 / PROBLEM FRAMING
Dense information can hide the action.
For the concept, the central design challenge is to help a user understand what needs attention without forcing them to inspect every record one by one. The following are hypotheses to validate, not findings from completed user research.
Visibility
Users need a quick view of work waiting for review.
Comparison
Users need a consistent way to inspect charges and supporting details.
Traceability
Users need clear status and context for follow-up decisions.
03 / DESIGN APPROACH
Start with the workflow.
The proposed workflow is intentionally organized around the task a user is trying to complete, rather than around a collection of unrelated screens.
This is a proposed workflow for the concept, not a claim that all steps are currently implemented.
04 / PROPOSED SOLUTION
One workspace, clear priorities.
At-a-glance overview
Use summary cards and status grouping to make workload and review queues easier to scan.
Readable record details
Keep essential invoice information, line items and supporting context organized in a predictable hierarchy.
Meaningful states
Differentiate draft, in-review, completed and follow-up states with both labels and visual cues.
Role-aware navigation
Make account and organization context visible while keeping access rules enforced by the application, not merely hidden in the UI.
05 / REFLECTION & NEXT STEPS
What I would validate next.
- Interview port agents, operations teams or finance users to understand actual invoice-review practices.
- Map real exceptions, terminology, permissions and handoffs before locking the information architecture.
- Test a clickable prototype on common tasks such as finding a record, comparing charges and recording a review note.
- Validate table density, keyboard accessibility, error handling and small-screen behavior.
- Measure task completion and error rates only after testing with a defined sample and method.
This project is an opportunity to show systems thinking, workflow design and honest product development—not to claim unverified savings or customer outcomes.