Barcodes, without the bureaucracy.

A redesigned web platform for GS1 Egypt — the only official barcode issuing authority in the country. Built to replace phone calls, emails, and Excel chaos with a system anyone can use.

Role

UX Designer | 2 designers

Team

Tremoloo

Platforms

Web Platform

Focus

GS1 Egypt redesign

Our task was to take a process that happened almost entirely over phone and email and move it online — without losing the trust that comes with an official government-recognized authority. The new system had to be simpler than calling, clearer than any competitor, and robust enough to handle everything from a single product to an entire factory's catalog.

Our task was to take a process that happened almost entirely over phone and email and move it online — without losing the trust that comes with an official government-recognized authority. The new system had to be simpler than calling, clearer than any competitor, and robust enough to handle everything from a single product to an entire factory's catalog.

Challenges

The only official authority — but nobody used the website.

Packages nobody understood

How many barcodes do I need? What if I want more? What if I have branches? The pricing and package structure was unclear — so people either called, or worse, went to unofficial providers who issued unrecognized barcodes.

Jargon that excluded the actual user

Terms like GTIN meant nothing to a factory owner trying to register their products. The language of the platform was built for specialists, not for the businesses who needed it most.

Bulk upload that created more work

Registering multiple products meant sending an Excel sheet and waiting. Individual product entry had too many mandatory steps. The system required more effort than just picking up the phone.

My Role

I worked alongside one designer — starting with direct interviews with the GS1 Egypt team to understand the operational pain points before touching the interface. We worked within GS1's global design system, mandated across all international branches.

Discovery
Interviewed the internal team to understand which parts of the process caused the most friction — for staff and for customers

Package clarity
Redesigned the package selection experience to make pricing, quantity, and upgrade paths immediately understandable

Single product entry
Simplified the flow by separating mandatory and optional fields — register with the essentials first, complete the rest later

Bulk upload
Redesigned the Excel import flow: drop file, review flagged errors, fix inline, assign barcode bank, done

Key Design Decisions

Discovery before design. We didn't start with wireframes — we started by sitting with the GS1 Egypt team and listening. What slows them down? Where do clients get stuck? Where do they give up and call instead? The answers shaped every design decision that followed.

Option considered

Redesign based on assumption and best practices

Decision made

Internal team interviews first — design grounded in real operational pain, not guesswork

Mandatory fields first, optional later. Product registration had too many fields shown at once. We split the flow: fill in what's required to register, save, and come back to add optional details later. The barrier to completing a registration dropped immediately.

Bulk upload that fixes itself. The old flow was unforgiving — one error in your Excel sheet meant starting over. The new flow reads the file, flags exactly which products have issues, lets the user fix them inline, and only then submits. A template is available to download before upload so users start with the right structure.

One click to every authority. Registering barcodes was only part of the problem. Businesses then had to take those barcodes to Amazon, the Tax Authority, and other bodies — separately, manually, with paperwork. We integrated the most common third-party connections directly into the platform. The barcode is registered and linked in the same session.

Plain language over official jargon. GTIN, GLN, prefix — meaningful to GS1 staff, confusing to a factory owner. We replaced or explained every technical abbreviation in plain Arabic. If someone needs a barcode for their product, they shouldn't need a glossary to register it.

Option considered

Redesign based on assumption and best practices

Decision made

Internal team interviews first — design grounded in real operational pain, not guesswork

Solution

From phone call to self-service.

Clear package selection Packages now show exactly what you get: how many barcodes, at what price, with clear upgrade paths. Factory owners with multiple branches can understand their options without calling to ask.

Single product registration Mandatory fields first. Optional fields later. Users can register a product in minutes and complete the details when they're ready — without the old form blocking progress.

Bulk upload redesigned Drop an Excel file. Review flagged errors. Fix inline. Assign a barcode bank. Submit. The template is available upfront so users never upload the wrong structure. Products get assigned barcodes automatically — no back and forth with the team.

One click to every authority. Registering barcodes was only part of the problem. Businesses then had to take those barcodes to Amazon, the Tax Authority, and other bodies — separately, manually, with paperwork. We integrated the most common third-party connections directly into the platform. The barcode is registered and linked in the same session.

Outcome

Official, simple, and actually used.
A platform that replaced a manual, phone-and-email process with a self-service system anyone could use. GS1 Egypt is the only authority issuing government-recognized barcodes in the country — the new platform makes that official status feel like an advantage, not a bureaucratic hurdle.