Operations Platform Cut Scope by 40% by Designing UX First and Building Backend in Parallel

The Challenge

A manufacturing operations group wanted a new multi-team application and initially requested an immediate microservices rewrite. The issue: no agreed workflow design, no final screen definitions, and conflicting assumptions between operations, product, and engineering. Jumping directly into full development would have locked in technical decisions before the business process was clear.

What We Didn't Do

We did not approve a big-bang rewrite or attempt to build every service up front. We avoided architecture complexity that did not yet map to validated user workflows.

The SenseSys Approach

We ran a step-by-step delivery plan: process mapping workshops, user role definition, clickable prototypes, and usability sign-off for critical journeys. During this design phase, engineering executed a limited parallel track for backend readiness: identity and access controls, service templates, infrastructure-as-code, event model standards, and API contract definitions. After workflow validation, we implemented features in priority order with strict dependency control between frontend flows and backend services.

The Results

• Reduced projected microservices implementation scope by 40%
• Delivered a production pilot in 12 weeks
• Cut first-quarter support tickets by 31% due to clearer UX flows
• Reached 99.95% service uptime after go-live
• Achieved 92% adoption across target operational teams in the first 60 days

Backend parallelization works best when it supports validated UX, not when it tries to outrun it.