Helping 80K+ Amazon engineers visualize their work across time
I designed a timeline view for Amazon's internal project management tool, used by 80,000+ engineers. The project started as a “build Gantt charts” request — the top item on the customer wishlist — but research revealed the term meant different things to different people, and the team was headed toward replicating a tool that already wasn't working. I used that research to reframe what we built.
To comply with my non-disclosure agreement, I have omitted and obfuscated confidential information in this case study. All product names, data, and artifacts shown are representations created to illustrate the design process while protecting confidential information.
The shipped timeline view: Task hierarchy, grouping, and filtering let teams see work across workstreams without leaving the tool. Designed for the highest-impact scenario surfaced in research.
Plans change. So should the timeline.
Research participants wanted a visual way to edit work, not a form. Drag handles on estimate bars let users reschedule directly on the canvas — grab an edge to extend, grab the middle to move.
Hover to separate stacked layers
The existing system required 5 date values per task — estimated start/end, actual start/end, and need-by date — which meant up to 5 date ranges could stack on a single task row. Overlapping bars hide the layers underneath. Hover detection spreads only the colliding layers apart, so each stays reachable without disturbing the rest of the canvas.
Add tasks without leaving the timeline
Participants consistently asked to add tasks without leaving the timeline. Hover a row to reveal the add control, type into an auto-focused input, and the new task drops onto the canvas with a default estimate range.
Attributes on demand
The team wanted assignee, status, and progress on every bar. Research showed simplicity was the timeline's strength, so attributes live in toggleable columns instead — accessible when needed, out of the way when not.
The insight that reshaped the roadmap
20 interviews across 6+ roles revealed “Gantt chart” was shorthand for four distinct mental models — team, project, portfolio, and individual. Each role wanted a timeline for fundamentally different reasons. This finding reframed the product direction and shaped three new items on the 2026 roadmap: capacity planning, dependencies, and milestone views.
Research-informed implementation roadmap
Foundation
Core timeline visualization, inline editing, drag-to-edit, quick add, light and dark theme support
Impact Analysis
Dependency management (elevated from backlog), capacity planning (new from research), what-if scenario planning (new from research)
Communication
Role-based views, automated reporting, presentation tools
Advanced
Portfolio views, resource optimization, cross-org visibility
Teams could finally see and communicate project complexity without leaving the tool.
- •Launched December 2025 with positive organic Slack feedback.
- •Adoption: 118% increase in Relay MAU across 2025 features and an 18% decrease in legacy tool usage.
- •Shaped 2026 roadmap with three new items directly from research: capacity planning, dependencies, milestone views.
- •CSAT target: Launched as part of a broader initiative to move platform CSAT from 3.9 to 4.1 — a goal timeline was consistently flagged as blocking. Full results are pending, but adoption signals and organic feedback suggest it's tracking in the right direction.
What users said in Slack
Organic feedback from #relay-feedback after the December 2025 launch.
“Love it — this saves a lot of time!”
— TPM
“I have to say I love the Gantt chart view!”
— SDM