Renewing fleet software without breaking how people already work
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Internal tools and design system at Mercedes-Benz Group
Three pieces of work: the fleet planning software FEPLAS, a second-level support dashboard, and MBUI (Mercedes-Benz User Interface), the design system both are built on.
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Before: the legacy desktop tool -
After: FEPLASweb prototype on MBUI -
Static help -
Most searched topics -
Vehicle detail view -
Table view
The new screens are prototypes from the first design iteration, not the final product. The legacy screen is the original tool. Personal data removed.
Planning software that grew instead of being designed
FEPLAS is the internal name of the planning software for test-vehicle fleets at production sites. It had changed feature by feature for years, and its users, experienced test drivers, had built their workflows around it, quirks included. Workshops and a feedback round brought up the pain points: three parallel bars per booking, two of them duplicates; features hidden behind a right click; too many windows and tabs; a zoom that was hard to read.
The designers turned the findings into screen concepts on MBUI and added components the system didn’t have yet, such as a timeline. Concepts went through internal UI review, prototypes and two further rounds, then back into workshops to check them in use.
From proof of concept to MBUI
The second-level support dashboard is an internal web tool where support teams handle reports from production plants. The proof of concept put notices, KPIs and reports into dense tables. The redesign on MBUI separates them: notices and KPIs on top, the reports below in one table with a plant selector, filters, search and CSV export.
Gaps closed in
the design system
Both tools run on MBUI. Where the system lacked a component or had a bug, the fix went into MBUI itself:
- Bugfixes in the shared system
- Component extensions, such as the timeline for FEPLAS and the menu component shown here
- Ongoing maintenance of MBUI components after the redesigns
Other work