Uber Freight unveils industry-first design partners program at Deliver

At our annual Deliver conference, the Uber Freight team unveiled exciting updates to our key products including Insights AI, Uber Freight Exchange, and Uber Freight TMS. These developments—and the larger, innovative product roadmaps they’re part of—are not only the result of the hard work of our world-class technology team. They’re also the result of close, thoughtful collaboration with our customers.

We’ve always had a bold, innovative vision for logistics at Uber Freight. As we continue to drive the industry forward, one of our greatest assets to charting a path forward is our customers. We work with companies of all sizes and across industries, including some of the largest, most complex shipping operations in the world. Their perspectives are a critical piece of the product design and development process, helping us choose the right areas of focus, and deliver both immediate and lasting value. 

That’s why we created the Design Partners program and unveiled it on the Deliver 2024 stage. This unique, industry-first initiative creates opportunities for customers to collaborate deeply with our team on products that influence how goods will move today and tomorrow. Our program is the only formal product innovation program in the freight industry that employs research-backed design methodology and has a broad participation scope. It also captures research outputs through short, focused research engagements that are conducted with the same design partners who are also engaged in long-term research initiatives. Doing so enables our team to capture outputs needed to quickly build and iterate on product features and to build full-fledged, future-looking products and solutions.

To date, nearly 40 Design Partners have played an instrumental role in shaping the development of next-generation solutions, providing critical insights and feedback that guide the innovation process.

Inside the design partner program

When companies join us as a design partner, they’re added to one in a series of our product development and enhancement initiatives. We match products with businesses based on company priorities, operations, unique needs, size, and more. Once involved in the program, our Design Partners can do everything from weigh in on our product roadmap, test-drive new features, and share continuous feedback about their experience. 

At Deliver, Uber Freight’s Head of Design and Research Suzanne Ginsburg took the stage to hear directly from two active design partners: Robert Chase, Director, Transportation and Inbound Logistics from packaging and container manufacturing company Tosca, and Daniel Moran, Corporate Logistics Manager from manufacturing firm Meridian Adhesives. They discussed their experience as Design Partners. 

Chase says the great thing about being a design partner is that the Uber Freight team is getting to share feedback—and see it implemented.

“When we started with Control Tower, it was just bringing our team in and giving a little bit of feedback,” he said. “When we moved to the Dock Scheduler, we actually brought in some suggestions. Uber Freight took our suggestions and implemented them, making it great for everybody—not only for Tosca but also for Uber Freight and also for the other shippers.” 

“We have a small organization, we only have three people,” he added. “It helps us really get our ideas out there and put them into action.”

Moran echoed a similar sentiment: 

“We are a smaller company, so for me personally it’s been great to have Uber Freight’s team to lean on, maximize the technologies and services Uber Freight has to offer.” 

Advancements across Uber Freight Exchange, the Uber Freight TMS, and Insights AI were all made possible through invaluable collaboration with Design Partners like Tosca and Meridian Adhesives, as well as Charter Next Generation. This collaborative approach to product development ensures Uber Freight solutions are tailored to meet real-world logistics challenges and deliver exceptional value well into the future.

Diving deep and getting involved

In addition to unveiling Design Partners at Deliver, we also gave customers who aren’t yet part of the program a sense of what it’s like to participate through the tech showcase experience and an innovation workshop focused specifically on our work in AI.

During the innovator’s workshop, the group discussed some of the different questions they have around AI, challenges their teams face that AI might solve, and what the future of AI might bring. The conversation spanned everything from the importance of data cleanliness to so-called “dark” warehouses that are entirely automated thanks to AI. In true Design Partners fashion, all of the insights gathered from the group will be shared with the technology team. 

There’s no substitute for the insights we gain working directly with our customers. Our iterative process allows us to continuously innovate, ensuring our products in turn meet customer needs and exceed industry standards. As we move forward from Deliver 2024, we hope to add more customers to our Design Partners program, where we have many active projects—including work on our Insights AI platform—that we are excited to get more input around.

Interested in learning more or joining the program? Sign up here.