SISCOG
Services
Web App
Design Systems
Location
Lisbon, Portugal
Year
2022–2025
Info
SISCOG develops optimisation software used by railway operators worldwide to plan, schedule, and manage complex rail operations. As part of the product design team, I contributed to the redesign of multiple enterprise applications, focusing on modernising the user experience, improving accessibility, and building a scalable design system capable of supporting an extensive suite of operational tools.
Product thinking
Designing for railway planning is fundamentally different from designing consumer products. Users spend entire working days interacting with highly complex interfaces where speed, accuracy, and clarity directly impact operational efficiency.
Rather than redesigning isolated screens, our work focused on creating a consistent design language across the platform. We developed a comprehensive design system covering reusable components, interaction patterns, iconography, colour tokens, notifications, navigation, and accessibility guidelines, allowing different products within the ecosystem to share a unified experience while remaining flexible enough for specialised workflows.
Accessibility became one of the project’s biggest priorities. We completely redesigned the application’s visual themes, introducing three carefully crafted accessibility modes, including dedicated themes for users with different forms of colour vision deficiency. These themes were refined through continuous testing with colour-blind participants, ensuring critical operational information could be understood regardless of visual limitations without compromising usability or efficiency.
Working alongside developers, testers, and product stakeholders, every component was validated not only for visual consistency but also for technical feasibility, scalability, and long-term maintenance.
Target Users
Railway planners and schedulers.
Operations controllers managing rail networks.
Transport companies operating complex railway systems.
Internal teams configuring operational planning software.
Personal Reflection
SISCOG fundamentally changed the way I approach product design. It taught me that great enterprise software isn’t about making interfaces look simpler—it’s about helping experts make complex decisions with confidence.
Working on accessibility at this scale was particularly rewarding. Designing and validating three complete interface themes alongside colour-blind users reinforced that accessibility should never be treated as an afterthought, but as a core part of the product experience. Combined with the challenge of building a reusable design system across multiple applications, this project shaped my understanding of scalable product design, cross-functional collaboration, and designing for real-world operational impact.
