Project
Redefining Supplier Assessments: Efficient Data Collection for Better Decisions
Led the UX design for a sustainability platform's buyer experience, enabling buyers to efficiently gather supplier product information. Digitalized manual processes, improved user navigation, and introduced progress tracking features, resulting in a 25% increase in buyer participation, a 20% improvement in assessment completion rates, and a 30% reduction in the time required to send assessments.
Info
Company
Sphera
Scope:
0:1 (Redesign)
Duration
Two months
My role
Lead Product Designer
Team
4 engineers, 2PMs, Implementation team
Impact
Increase in competitions
20%
Increase in buyer participation
25%
Reduction in task completion time
30%
Business problem
Revenue Loss Due to Inefficient Workflows
The current buyer engagement process is slow and heavily dependent on manual support, leading to inefficiencies that result in lost revenue opportunities. This bottleneck in scaling the platform has led to a 15% decrease in renewal contracts, costing the company over $1.5 million annually in potential recurring revenue.
People problem
Cumbersome User Experience for Buyers
Buyers face challenges in collecting supplier data efficiently, with unclear workflows and fragmented communication. This disorganized experience delays decision-making and makes it difficult for buyers to manage the data collection process effectively.
Internal problem
Aligning Teams for a Unified User Experience
Current internal processes for understanding customer interactions are fragmented, leading to misalignment among teams and a lack of shared insight into user needs. Teams struggle to maintain a consistent mental model without a unified approach, resulting in missed opportunities to address pain points and enhance the user experience. To address this, I have hosted workshops to build user journey maps among internal teams, including sales, implementation, customer success, and product managers. These collaborative efforts foster alignment, facilitate shared understanding through tangible artifacts, and highlight areas where customer frustrations can be alleviated, ultimately driving a more cohesive and user-centered experience across the organization.
User journey map
User persona
Alligning team on user needs
As a UX designer, I have collaborated closely with teams to gather insights and conduct workshops focused on creating user personas for our target buyers. This process has been instrumental in aligning our team around user needs. By collecting information from various stakeholders and facilitating discussions, we’ve developed detailed personas that capture the motivations, pain points, and behaviors of our customers. This shared understanding ensures that every team member is focused on addressing user needs and prioritizing features and initiatives that truly resonate with our audience. Engaging cross-functional teams in this effort not only fosters collaboration but also cultivates a sense of shared ownership, leading to more informed decisions and a product that effectively meets user expectations.
.png)
Collaborating with devs early
Simplifying complex user flow
In my role as a UX designer, I prioritized collaboration by involving developers early in the design process. This approach allowed us to identify technical constraints upfront, ensuring that our designs were feasible and aligned with the existing technology stack. By fostering open communication, we could streamline user flows and simplify interactions, ultimately enhancing the user experience. This collaborative effort not only minimized potential roadblocks down the line but also ensured that the final product was both user-friendly and technically sound, reflecting a holistic understanding of user needs and technical realities.
Design process
Data-Driven Solutions for Real User Impact
I design with data, work cross-functionally, and move fast. I believe design should go beyond visuals and screens. Engaging with real customers and experimenting based on their feedback and data is essential to drive user-centered design.
Exploring solutions
Brainstorm sessions & User testings
I led a collaborative UX brainstorming session with developers, PMs, and the Implementation team, where we explored multiple design directions for enhancing the supplier assessment flow. One key solution was adding a stepper to the process, offering clear visibility into the suppliers' progress through each step. After presenting these concepts, I tested a lo-fi prototype with real customers to gather feedback. I iterated on the design, refining it based on their insights to ensure a more user-friendly and efficient submission experience.
The final product
Through initial user research and stakeholder interviews, we identified a critical assumption: buyers are often unaware of the specific products that suppliers offer, leading to confusion and inefficiencies in the assessment process. This not only creates additional workload for suppliers, who must repeatedly define and clarify their products, but also hinders buyers from accurately assessing the available products.
To validate this assumption, I conducted extensive interviews with both buyers and suppliers, as well as gathered insights from our support and implementation teams. The findings revealed that the lack of clarity and visibility around product definitions was a significant pain point. Suppliers struggled with the repetitive task of defining products for each assessment, and buyers faced difficulties in understanding and navigating the product offerings.
Buyers can take control of creating and defining products for suppliers to use in assessments. This approach reduces the workload for suppliers by eliminating the need for them to add and select the correct products, streamlining the assessment process.
Previously, buyers lacked a straightforward way to access submitted products on the platform. Now, buyers can easily review all products received from suppliers, enabling them to group and analyze the data more efficiently for further insights.
We also discovered instances where buyers acted as suppliers simultaneously. To address this, we created filters to help differentiate between the various types of products, making it easier for users to manage and work with the products effectively.
Key takeaways
Streamlined Assessment Process
By enabling buyers to create and define products for assessments, we significantly reduced the workload for suppliers. This led to a more efficient and streamlined assessment process, improving overall user satisfaction.
Enhanced Data Accessibility and Analysis
Providing buyers with an easy way to access and review submitted products allowed for better organization, grouping, and extraction of data. This enhancement facilitated more effective analysis and informed decision-making.
Improved User Experience for Dual Roles
Addressing the needs of users who act as both buyers and suppliers, we introduced filters to differentiate between product types. This improvement enhanced usability and made it easier for users to manage their dual roles within the platform.