Light+: Modernizing a Legacy GIS Platform for Grid Operations

Turning a 40+ feature operational platform into a phased modernization strategy.

This case study shows how I brought UX structure into a low-design-maturity environment while helping a technical team modernize a complex operational platform — without forcing a risky all-at-once migration.

<aside>

🔒 NDA-protected work. All visuals are recreated portfolio artifacts. No proprietary data, real screenshots, or operational labels are included.

</aside>

Impact at a glance

Screenshot 2026-06-28 at 9.03.54 PM.png

Headline outcomes for anyone skimming the page. Recreated and anonymized for portfolio purposes.


Company context	Enterprise energy / power delivery IT
Project	Light+ — GIS-based situational awareness platform
Role	Sr UX/Product Designer
Team	Product Owner · BA · Engineering · API/data · Architecture · Business partners · Users
Status	Modernization in progress through phased capability delivery

What I contributed:

Reframed inherited research into a modernization strategy
Mapped 40+ legacy features into phased capability slices
Created wireframes and high-fidelity mockups across the modernized feature set
Built the team's first Figma-based design foundation and reusable UX patterns
Designed representative interaction improvements across search, pins, map browsing, and filtering
Helped shift the team from downstream UI requests toward earlier user-centered discovery
Earned a seat at the table as the team's UI/UX expert during requirements, planning, and stakeholder reviews

The Challenge

Two challenges defined this work — one product, one organizational.

Product challenge. Light+ was a legacy GIS platform with 40+ features serving multiple operational user groups. A full-app cutover would have been risky. The team needed a phased modernization that let users transition gradually while preserving familiar workflows.