A permit system that can't be cheated.

Trades & Industry · Medium App

The client.

An experienced workplace safety professional with deep knowledge of compliance and permit management across Australian and international worksites. She'd worked on large industrial sites across multiple countries and had seen firsthand what happens when safety processes rely on paper and trust.

The idea.

A SaaS platform to replace paper-based work permits in industrial, manufacturing, and construction environments. The kind of permits that cover hazardous work like welding, hot work, and system shutdowns.

The core problem is simple. On paper, a worker can tick a box saying they completed a safety check without actually doing it. Nobody knows until something goes wrong. This platform enforces compliance by design. Every step must be completed in sequence. Managers have real-time visibility. If something gets missed, the system responds automatically.

Two sides to the platform. A web-based SaaS dashboard for site managers to create and monitor permits, manage workers, and maintain compliance records. And a mobile app for workers to receive permits, complete safety checklists, and submit evidence as they go.

The challenge.

The primary user demographic still largely relies on paper. Designing a digital system that tradespeople on a factory floor would actually use, without training manuals or IT support, was the core UX challenge. Every screen had to be obvious. No ambiguity. No unnecessary steps.

The scope was also ambitious. Multiple permit types (hot work, system impairments, confined space), multi-site support with zones and areas, worker certification management, real-time escalation logic, and a full compliance audit trail. We had to prioritise hard and defer a lot of features the client cared about.

The design philosophy came from the client's own experience managing industrial operations. The dashboard should be intentionally quiet. Nothing draws attention unless something is wrong. That's a very specific design brief and it shaped every screen.

The process.

Week 1. Discovery and market research

I walked the client through a detailed market research report covering target user personas, the competitive landscape, product feature scope, monetisation models, and financial projections. The client validated and refined assumptions. We agreed on manufacturing as the first target industry and hot work permits as the priority for MVP.

Week 2. User flows and wireframes

We mapped out both sides of the platform in parallel. The worker mobile flow covered the full permit lifecycle from receipt through to completion. The manager dashboard covered permit monitoring, site management, worker profiles, and compliance records.

Weeks 3 and 4. Design and prototype

The operations-inspired visual language shaped everything. The manager dashboard is deliberately minimal. Nothing decorative. Permit states are communicated through clear status indicators. The worker-facing mobile screens are simple and sequential. You complete one step, then the next appears. No branching. No guesswork.

I built a clickable prototype early in this project, earlier than usual, because the client needed to see the compliance logic working. Being able to tap through a permit flow and experience it firsthand was more convincing than any wireframe.

Week 5. Developer handoff

I prepared annotated Figma files with developer notes on every screen, flow arrows between states, and written descriptions of the core logic. I then ran the development team through the designs directly, explaining the concept, the design philosophy, and the open technical questions.

The result.

A clickable Figma prototype covering both the worker mobile app and the manager SaaS dashboard. A comprehensive market research report. Annotated developer handoff documentation. A clear MVP scope with hot work and system impairment permits, and future permit types flagged for later versions.

The client brought a problem she'd witnessed personally on worksites around the world. The design turns that problem into something you can actually test and build. The kind of thing you can put in front of a safety manager at a manufacturing plant and have them immediately understand.

What made this project work.

• The client's real-world experience meant every design decision was grounded in how worksites actually operate.
• The operations-inspired design philosophy gave the product a clear, distinctive visual identity that also served the UX.
• Building the prototype early let the client experience the compliance logic firsthand, not just see it on paper.
• Running dev handoff sessions directly with the development team reduced misinterpretation and sped up the build.

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