143 real design problems to build your portfolio on.
Logistics
9 challenges
Forward shipping is priced by weight, distance and speed, but returns are often charged at flat rates or absorbed by the seller. As return volumes grow, sellers lose money on every return without a clear way to price or plan for it.
A lipstick in a shoebox-sized carton with layers of plastic air pillows is a familiar sight for online shoppers. It wastes material and shipping space, and many buyers feel bad about the waste.
Couriers give their best rates to large shippers with high volume. A home business sending 20 parcels a week pays much more per parcel than a large brand sending the same distance.
Industrial clusters in India often sit on the outer edges of cities, leaving factory workers facing long and costly commutes from residential areas. Public transit rarely matches shift timings, forcing workers to rely on expensive private autos or unsafe shared options that eat up a large slice of their monthly wages.
When a fragile shipment arrives broken, nobody can say where it happened, so sellers, couriers and buyers argue over who pays. Sensors and handover logs exist in large logistics operations but rarely reach smaller shippers.
Small sellers ship through several couriers, each with its own rate card, weight slabs, zones and surcharges. Comparing them for every parcel takes time, so most sellers stick with one courier and overpay.
Local delivery hubs in India handle immense volumes of small parcels daily, often sorting packages manually under high pressure. When items go missing or arrive smashed, regional operators absorb the financial loss while warehouse staff face the blame without clear tracking trails.
Small business owners and local manufacturers often struggle to move goods across town because freight booking still relies on shady brokers and phone calls. While passenger cabs take two taps, hiring a mini-truck involves endless negotiations, uncertain arrival times, and zero tracking after pickup. This archaic system wastes hours of productive time and forces merchants to overpay for basic transport.
Small transport operators moving goods between tier-two cities rely on fragmented phone calls and paper receipts to manage shipments. Shippers face constant delays because trucks lack GPS devices, and drivers often switch between multiple budget smartphones with spotty mobile data networks along state highways.
