Designing Trustworthy Real-Time Data Visibility for FourKites
Peter Bartsch
Designing for trust when real-time data is uncertain, incomplete, or conflicting—enabling mission-critical decisions
The Strategic Problem
FourKites' core product promise was real-time visibility that customers could trust—but real-world supply chain data is messy: duplicate sources, stale GPS pings, conflicting carrier feeds, and ETAs that shift every hour.
The question wasn't "how do we show tracking?" It was: how do we design a visibility experience that customers trust enough to make million-dollar decisions?
Why This Was Hard
Trust in data products is fragile—one bad prediction can undo months of credibility:
Data quality: 10M+ daily tracking events from trucks, trains, ships, and planes—often uncertain, incomplete, or conflicting
Technical reality: GPS signals drop, carriers report late, ETAs shift constantly
User stakes: Fortune 500 logistics managers making million-dollar decisions based on this data
Competitive pressure: Needed to differentiate on trust, not just features
Hypergrowth context: Building while scaling from $3M to $100M ARR
Hiding uncertainty would have been easier. But it would have destroyed trust the moment predictions failed.
"Never hide uncertainty"
Strategy
We established "Never hide uncertainty" as the core design principle. This meant:
Confidence as First-Class Data: Show data confidence alongside status—users know when to trust and when to verify
Progressive Disclosure: Surface reliable status at a glance; reveal sources, confidence intervals, and alternatives on demand
Predictive, Not Reactive: Predict problems 6-12 hours before they happen—give users time to act, not just react
Action-First Alerts: Every notification includes recommended actions, not just status updates
Execution
Real-Time Control Tower
Designed the flagship visibility platform showing shipment status, confidence levels, and predicted exceptions. Users could drill into any data point to understand sources and reliability.
Predictive Analytics Dashboard
Built interfaces that surfaced delays 6-12 hours before traditional ETAs—turning logistics managers from firefighters into planners.
Alert System Redesign
Transformed alerts from "something happened" to "here's what happened, why, and what you should do about it."
Results
Increased customer retention by 41% YoY
Boosted average contract value by $120K annually
Predictive analytics surfaced issues 6–12 hours earlier than competitors
Enabled a real-time control tower trusted by 30+ Fortune 2000 enterprises
Made FourKites' platform a primary driver of 3× customer expansion
What This Unlocked
This work established:
A differentiated market position—trust became FourKites' competitive moat
A design principle ("Never hide uncertainty") now used across all products
The foundation for the Driver app—data trust enabled the incentive design work that followed
The real outcome was proving that transparency about uncertainty builds more trust than false confidence.
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Posted Feb 18, 2026
Designed trust-focused data visibility for FourKites, enhancing credibility and decision-making.
