Building a Future-Ready User Experience for Singapore’s National Maritime API Marketplace

Building a Future-Ready User Experience for Singapore’s National Maritime API Marketplace

Building a Future-Ready User Experience for Singapore’s National Maritime API Marketplace

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PROJECT SCOPE
RESEARCH
RESEARCH
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
INTERFACE DESIGN
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
DELIVERABLES

Complete API Platform Design

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Project Overview
Client Name: MPA (Maritime Port Authority of Singapore)

Client Name: MPA (Maritime Port Authority of Singapore)

Industry: Government Digital Services · Data Infrastructure · API Platforms

Industry: Government Digital Services · Data Infrastructure · API Platforms

Key Outcome: Created the backbone powering OCEANS-X’s transition into Singapore’s flagship maritime API portal.

Key Outcome: Created the backbone powering OCEANS-X’s transition into Singapore’s flagship maritime API portal.

Building the foundation for Singapore’s Next-Generation Maritime Data Ecosystem

OCEANS-X is the Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore’s next-generation API marketplace, built to replace the existing SG-MDH platform and enable seamless G2G and G2B access to maritime datasets. I joined the project as the UX designer responsible for shaping the end-to-end experience across both the CMS information site and the underlying out-of-box API gateway solution.

From translating business goals into UX requirements, to conducting a structured heuristic review of global API marketplaces, to designing the complete onboarding, browsing and application-creation flows, I helped define a coherent, accessible and implementation-ready UX foundation for a national digital platform operating in a technically complex, security-heavy environment.



At the start of the project, I conducted a requirements-gathering interview with the Product Owner to align on:

  • Why the platform was being redesigned
    (to replace the legacy SG-MDH system and unify maritime datasets under a more scalable, user-friendly marketplace)


  • How success would be measured
    (clarity of flows, ease of onboarding, adherence to design system, alignment across CMS + gateway)


  • What constraints existed
    (strict usage of the MPA design system, and the marketplace being built on top of an out-of-the-box WSO2 solution)


  • Which reference platforms would shape our UX direction
    (RapidAPI identified early as the strongest benchmark for API marketplace UX)

This gave me a clear picture of the environment:
high-security flows, fixed technical architecture, and the need for a clean UX layer that felt unified despite living across two systems.

Research & UX Foundations

Before designing any screens, I developed a UX research plan that later became the basis for accessing the MPA design system. The plan included:

• Methodology & Mitigation Plan

How we would conduct research despite inherited personas and limited end-user access.

• Persona Review & Lean Journey Mapping

Using vendor-provided personas, I created lean journeys outlining how maritime operators, data consumers and developers would realistically interact with datasets.

• Heuristic Evaluation of API Marketplaces

I evaluated platforms such as RapidAPI, FactSet and Data.gov.sg, documenting:

  • Common UX patterns

  • How API detail pages are structured

  • How key concepts like quotas, keys, parameters and documentation are surfaced

  • What contributes to a smooth “discover → evaluate → subscribe → test” journey

This work resulted in a clear direction:
adopt the clarity, hierarchy and documentation patterns of RapidAPI while applying MPA’s design system and working within WSO2’s structural constraints.

Designing the UI Across Key Flows

Once the IA was stabilised, I moved into end-to-end UI design using the MPA design system.

1. CMS Homepage

2. Onboarding & Security Flows

3. Dataset Browsing & Discovery

4. Application & Subscription Management

5. API Detail + Try-Out Experience

  1. Implementation, QA & Developer Alignment


Outcome

OCEANS-X is now launched as Singapore’s national maritime API marketplace. The project successfully delivered:

  • A coherent end-to-end UX foundation that supports future scaling

  • A clear IA that unifies CMS content and marketplace functionality

  • A secure and understandable onboarding flow despite multi-layer authentication

  • A consistent, WCAG-aligned UI based on the MPA design system

  • Smooth developer handoff supported by detailed documentation and QA tracking

This case demonstrates my ability to design within technical constraints, make complex enterprise flows usable, and maintain quality from discovery to delivery.