CORE
Data-driven maritime decarbonisation
Core is an emissions tracking software that enables shipowners to monitor, forecast, and plan emission reducing initiatives of their fleets in order to reduce their carbon emissions and meet company and industry targets.
Client
VPS Veritas
Services
UX / UI Design
Product Discovery & Vision
Strategic Positioning
Industries
Maritime
Challenge
Maritime fuel and decarbonisation provider VPS developed the Core planning tool to support shipowners in achieving emissions transparency and compliance with IMO regulations. The focus was on ensuring excellent usability for professionals and enhancing data visualisation, making emission reduction goals actionable and facilitating future compliance.
Ensuring the tool translated complex emissions data into clear, actionable insights.
Creating a user-friendly interface for professional maritime users.
Balancing usability with the technical depth required by industry professionals.
Developing a self-serve dashboard for effortless tool navigation.
Approach
Core went through a greenfields discovery process, starting with deep engagement with shipowners, operators, and maritime professionals. Through interviews and workshops, the team explored pain points in existing emissions tracking methods, where fragmented spreadsheets, manual reporting, and expert-only tools created friction, limited insight, and slowed decision-making.
These insights shaped a discovery-led design process focused on real operational workflows, not abstract compliance requirements. By grounding the product in user needs from day one, we were able to define a new category-leading platform for emissions planning, one that balances technical accuracy with clarity, usability, and long-term decarbonisation strategy across fleets.
Product Discovery Vision
User Interviews
Discovery workshop
User journey mapping
Opportunity Solution Tree
Agile Development
UX / UI Design
High fidelity prototyping
Design / Dev Handover
Design System
User flow mapping informed by early discovery questions
Solution
Core allows simulations of results from adjustments and changes to for example, fuel usage, routes, speed, propellers, and technology implementation. By designing an efficient onboarding flow and intuitive Dashboard Design, we have ensured a good user experience with a ”self-serve” approach, where users easily and intuitively can figure out how to use the tool.
The Core project not only addressed immediate user needs but also set the stage for long-term scalability. I developed a robust design system that served as the foundation for future VPS products, ensuring consistency and flexibility as new features and tools were added. This system became a key asset for future development, streamlining the design process and ensuring a cohesive user experience across the expanding product suite.
Outcome
Standardised performance metric
Introduced a 0–100 score to support comparison and benchmarking.
Improved planning capabilities
Supports long-term emissions forecasting and scenario evaluation.
Reduced reliance on manual processes
Moves emissions tracking away from spreadsheet-based workflows.
The success and innovation of Core were recognised on a larger stage, with the project being nominated for the Danish Digital Awards in 2023, underscoring its impact and influence within the industry.
