Building a Software issue tracker
Designed and prototyped a software issue tracker, using wireframes to explore workflows, data hierarchy, and accessibility. The tool helped product and engineering teams monitor, prioritize, and triage bugs across multiple builds.
Childfree Connection Inc
2021
Tech
Headquaters
Remote
5
Challenge
The team needed a way to release reliable software and stay on top of bugs across multiple builds. Without a centralized system, tracking, prioritizing, and triaging issues was time-consuming and error-prone, making release planning difficult. The issue tracker was created to give visibility into active and known bugs, streamline triage, and support more confident, efficient release decisions.
Results
The issue tracker improved the team’s ability to prioritize and resolve bugs efficiently, leading to more reliable software releases. By surfacing critical issues and streamlining triage, it enabled the product team to rework features based on actual defects and feedback, resulting in noticeable enhancements for end users. These improvements contributed to higher user satisfaction and retention, as customers experienced more stable, polished releases.
3 meetings
To review the wireframes and agree to the user flows
10 days
To complete the user flow analysis and develop the final designs
Hundreds
Of new software bugs tracked in a clean flow for the developers
Process
Research & Analysis: The project began by identifying the team’s pain points in monitoring and triaging bugs across multiple software builds. Interviews with product, engineering, and support teams revealed that tracking issues was inconsistent, time-consuming, and prone to oversight. Special attention was given to the support team member with physical disabilities, highlighting constraints like limited scrolling and the need for keyboard-first navigation.
Information Architecture: Using insights from research, the information architecture was designed to prioritize critical data such as bug severity, status, and software version. The structure minimized visual clutter and organized workflows for triage, prioritization, and cross-version tracking, ensuring that all essential information was accessible without requiring complex navigation or scrolling.
Wireframing & Prototyping: Wireframing was the core of this project. Multiple low-fidelity layouts were created to explore hierarchy, workflow clarity, and accessibility patterns. Iterative prototypes incorporated alternative navigation methods and interaction designs to accommodate physical limitations, ensuring users could perform all key actions efficiently. These wireframes allowed early validation with stakeholders and the support team before moving into high-fidelity design.
Usability Testing: Prototypes were tested with team members, including the support team member with accessibility needs. Feedback focused on ease of scanning information, minimizing interactions, and confirming that keyboard navigation was fully functional. Testing cycles highlighted improvements in layout, button placement, and workflow efficiency, ensuring that the final design was both usable and inclusive.
Development planning and design review: Validated wireframes and prototypes were handed off to development with detailed annotations for layout, interactions, and accessibility considerations. Design reviews ensured that developers implemented the intended workflows and accessibility features correctly. The process reduced iteration time during development, resulting in a tool that improved bug triage efficiency and ultimately supported higher-quality software releases.
“The color scheme and layout really looks and feels great, the ease of navigation and information layout really help show the bugs clearly. I am also super grateful I don't need to constantly scroll to find/ append an issue”
Jessica Adams
Lead software tester | Childfree Connection Inc.
Conclusion
This project demonstrates how thoughtful wireframing and prototyping can drive both usability and accessibility in complex tools. By prioritizing early exploration of workflows, information hierarchy, and physical accessibility needs, I was able to validate solutions before development, reduce rework, and deliver a tool that improved efficiency and clarity for the team. The success of this issue tracker highlights my ability to translate research insights into intuitive, inclusive designs that support real-world user goals.