Strapsense

Real-time cargo strap tension monitoring — a safety-critical mobile app designed to keep drivers compliant and loads secure on Australian roads.

Overview

The difference between a safe load and a disaster can be measured in millimetres.

Strapsense is an Australian safety tech company building a wireless cargo strap tension monitoring system. Their Buddy System pairs physical sensors on straps with an in-cab concentrator unit, feeding live tension data directly to the driver's phone. I was brought in to design the companion mobile app for iOS and Android.

The brief demanded clarity above everything else. Drivers check their phone at a glance — often in motion. The UI needed to communicate strap status instantly, without ambiguity, in all lighting conditions.

The Challenge

Designing for a driver who can't afford to look twice.

Glanceable safety status

Drivers need to know at a glance whether all straps are secure. Every additional second of screen time is a safety risk. The UI had to communicate pass/fail instantly.

Alert fatigue vs. missed alerts

Too many notifications and drivers ignore them. Too few and a loosened strap goes unnoticed. Alert hierarchy and notification design needed careful calibration.

Varied technical literacy

The user base spans owner-operators to large fleet managers with diverse tech experience. Setup via QR code pairing needed to work for everyone, first time, every time.

Process

Safety-first, clarity always.

Context & User Research

Spent time understanding the transport environment — cab conditions, sun glare, gloved hands, time pressure. Mapped the primary use cases: setup, live monitoring, alert response, and historical review.

Information Architecture

Defined the full app structure across four areas: strap status dashboard, device pairing via QR, alert history, and account/subscription management. Kept the primary dashboard one tap from launch.

Wireframing the Alert System

Prototyped multiple approaches to tension status visualisation — from numeric readouts to colour-coded indicators. Tested with drivers to identify the fastest comprehension model under simulated conditions.

Visual Design & Accessibility

Designed a dark-first interface with high-contrast green/red status indicators, large touch targets for gloved use, and clear typographic hierarchy. All status states designed across both light and dark modes.

QR Pairing & Onboarding

Simplified the hardware pairing flow to under 60 seconds. Designed an onboarding sequence that guides first-time users from unboxing to live monitoring with minimal cognitive load.

Outcome

A safety tool that drivers actually want to use.

The Strapsense app delivers a glanceable, high-contrast monitoring experience designed specifically for the demands of the cab environment. The QR-based pairing flow reduced setup friction significantly, and the tiered subscription model was designed to scale from independent owner-operators to large fleet management operations.

Available on the App Store and Google Play, Strapsense represents a product where the design directly impacts road safety outcomes — the kind of work that matters beyond the screen.