Fleet Tracking for Businesses
Designing a device-agnostic platform that gave businesses across Bangladesh real-time visibility over their vehicles, freight and fuel.
- Role
- Experience Lead
- Team
- 1 embedded systems, 1 frontend and 3 full-stack engineers
- Timeline
- Continuous development (SaaS)
- Platform
- Web, iOS/Android and SMS
49
Businesses onboarded, from enterprises to car-rental SMEs
3
Enterprise clients, including Grameenphone
2020
BASIS National ICT Award, Industrial Transport
Context & Problem
Businesses that ship products nationwide depend on logistics, whether their own fleet or a partner's. What they lacked was transparency. They needed to know where a product was, whether it was delivered, whether the vehicle was on route, whether it ran into trouble, and whether fuel was being used efficiently or leaking.
The usual fix was calling the driver, which was a hassle, risky while driving, and still gave no proof of where the vehicle actually was.
Goal
A device-agnostic B2B SaaS platform that fetches and shows telemetry in real time.
- Support a wide range of devices and data types
- Sign up at least 3 businesses with the MVP
- Keep information clear and relevant to what the user is doing, so customers stay
My Role
End-to-end product design
FollowR web platform, mobile app and SMS touchpoints, from research through launch
User research
Interviews and surveys with logistics operators and businesses, both with and without an existing tracking tool
Service design
Device vendors, installation and nationwide support, working with the field-ops team
Feasibility & viability
Device reliability and cost checks, plus real-world UATs with our own cars and test users
Hardware collaboration
Worked with our embedded systems engineer on the tracking devices, including hands-on testing of AVR/ATmega parts
Design system
Modular, Material Design based system so enterprises could white-label the platform
Constraints
- Tight device budgets: 53% of users wouldn't spend more than 3,000 BDT (about 30 USD) on a tracker, so the platform had to work with low-cost devices.
- Patchy coverage: GPS and mobile data weren't reliable everywhere in Bangladesh, so location had to fall back to cell towers and SMS.
- Devices get pulled out: Trackers were sometimes removed on highways and went silent, so the system had to notice and alert quickly.
- Many vendors, many formats: Each device vendor sent telemetry in its own format, and the platform had to understand all of them.
Discovery and Research
Accurate data came first
We interviewed and surveyed logistics managers, business owners and finance officers, both people using an existing tracking tool and people using nothing, and observed how they worked day to day.
- Existing tools weren't good enough. 75% of current users were unhappy with their solution, and 95% of those without one wanted to buy something like it.
- Reliable data comes first. 100% needed accurate location and fuel efficiency data they could get to easily.
- Reports drive cost decisions. 85% needed mileage, distance and vehicle status reports for a chosen period to plan and cut transport costs.
- Devices get pulled out. On highways, trackers were sometimes removed and went silent. 56% wanted SMS or email alerts for rough driving, unplugged devices and off-route vehicles.
- Budgets split the market. 53% wouldn't spend more than 3,000 BDT (about 30 USD) on a device, while 31% wanted reliable data at any price. Smaller groups asked for cameras (22%) and remote engine shut-off (5%).
The Solution
Designing the whole service
Tracking only works if the whole chain works: the device, the network, the servers and the people who install it. So half the design work happened outside the interface.
- Device-agnostic by design. We worked with several device vendors and built adapters so the platform could understand telemetry from any of them.
- Coverage where GPS and data drop. A partnership with Grameenphone, the telecom with the widest coverage, let us locate vehicles from cell towers when GPS wasn't available. Load balancers and failover servers kept data flowing in real time.
- Installation and support nationwide. A field-ops team recruited and trained installation partners across the country.
- Modular pricing. Features and price scaled with the value of the vehicle and cargo, so a small rental firm and an enterprise could both justify it.
One platform, three touchpoints
Web platform
The main hub: live tracking, fuel, routes, alarms, driver scores and reports
Mobile app
Most web features, redesigned for small screens with navigation support
SMS
For vehicles outside data coverage: remote engine lock/unlock, location on request and SMS alerts
I designed the web platform one pain point at a time. The main features:
- Live location from GPS, with a switch between Google Maps and Dingi Map for hyperlocal detail.
- Fuel efficiency calculated from a fuel sensor, or from refuel entries when there was no sensor.
- Distance and route history for every vehicle.
- Custom alarms, including geofencing and route deviation.
- Driver scores based on speeding, harsh acceleration and harsh braking.
- Reports, maintenance logs and camera monitoring in the same place.
Built to be white-labeled
The platform followed a modular architecture on Material Design, so enterprise customers could run it under their own brand. Grameenphone's version is one example.
Outcomes & Impact
49 businesses · BASIS ICT Award
The goal was 3 businesses on the MVP, and we onboarded 49. The modular setup let us serve very different companies, from national enterprises to small rental firms.
- Enterprises: Meghna Executive Holdings, Grameenphone and Badshah Textiles
- SMEs: Quickly Global and 45 car-rental businesses
- Winner of the BASIS National ICT Award 2020, Industrial Transport category
Reflection
What went well: Modular pricing and features. The tracking market was already crowded when we entered, and that flexibility won us customers of every size.
What I'd do differently: Validate pricing earlier. Many users asked for fuel sensors in research, but the ongoing cost was too high in practice, and most customers chose manual fuel tracking instead.
What's next: A cheaper fuel sensor and a stronger distribution network, starting with onboarding FollowR partners.