Desktop logic discovery
Existing functions and business processes had to be understood before they could be represented accurately on the web.
Anonymous EHS and sustainability case study
Moving EHS and sustainability planning to the web
An EHS advisory provider needed to move a desktop planning tool to the web so groups across an organization could define scope, assess current practices, set goals, evaluate gaps, and turn strategy into action plans.
The situation
A useful desktop assessment tool could not support the broader collaboration required for sustainability planning.
The existing MS Access application helped structure environmental, health, safety, and sustainable-business thinking, but it remained tied to a traditional desktop model.
The client wanted a web application that could guide multiple groups through the same strategic process while controlling access and preserving the business logic of the established tool.
The product challenge
Preserve domain knowledge while changing the application model and the way teams participate.
The migration required a careful understanding of the desktop tool, a clearer collaborative workflow, and an architecture suitable for a permission-controlled web product.
Guided strategy workflow
Users needed a coherent path from selecting scope to assessment, goals, gap analysis, business value, and action planning.
Shared access with control
Different groups needed web access without removing the permissions required for responsible planning.
The solution
A layered Java web application turned the desktop assessment into a guided, permission-controlled planning process.
The team studied the existing application, documented use cases, built a prototype, and implemented the web experience through distinct presentation, business, and persistence layers.
- 01
Model the planning journey
Translate the desktop processes into use cases that connect scope, assessment, goals, gaps, value, and action.
- 02
Prototype the interaction
Test an interface that explains EHS elements in context and keeps the guided workflow understandable.
- 03
Separate responsibilities
Use Struts for the web layer, EJB for persistence and transaction concerns, DB2 for data, and permission controls for access.
How we worked
Begin with the established business process, then modernize the architecture around it.
Discovery focused first on how the existing desktop application worked and why its users relied on each part of the process.
Use cases and a prototype created a shared model of the new web experience before full implementation.
The layered architecture separated interface, business, transaction, persistence, and access-control concerns so the product could remain maintainable.
01Study
Understand the desktop tool and business process.
02Model
Create use cases for the planning journey.
03Prototype
Validate the web interaction.
04Implement
Build layered services, data access, and permissions.
The result
The EHS tool became a clear, flexible web application for structured sustainability planning.
The documented outcome provided an intuitive web interface with permission control and a stable layered foundation for assessing current practices, setting targets, understanding gaps, and developing action plans.
Web-enabled planningfor organizational groups
End-to-end workflowfrom scope through action plans
Controlled accessthrough application permissions
Strategy made operational
The workflow connected broad sustainability goals to specific gaps, potential business value, and actions.
A more accessible interface
The web experience was designed to be clear and usable with minimal training.
A flexible technical foundation
Layered Java components separated web, transaction, persistence, data, and permission responsibilities.
Case taxonomy
Searchable by industry, technology, product, and business need.
Industry and product
- EHS
- Sustainability
- Environmental Health and Safety
- Strategy Planning
Technology and delivery
- Java
- Struts
- EJB
- DB2
- WebLogic
- MS Access Migration
Business need
- Web Modernization
- Permissions
- Current-state Assessment
- Gap Analysis
- Action Planning
Move domain tools to the web
Need to modernize a desktop application without losing the process knowledge inside it?
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