Opply
Role: Senior Product Designer
25 million consumer goods brands worldwide do not have the access, knowledge or power to create effective supply chains.
Opply revolutionises how food & beverage brands find, communicate and order from suppliers by creating the world’s first personalised end-to-end supply chain platform.
As the sole Product Designer I have led the design of features on the platform from ideation to development. This case study will focus on improving the end-to-end procurement process for buyers and suppliers on Opply. This encompassed a re-design of the dashboard, aimed at improving customer satisfaction and Opply’s request to order conversion rate.
Introduction:
The Challenge:
Each business possesses unique requirements and operational methodologies dictated by their products and the ingredients they use. Designing a platform that is inclusive and seamlessly adapts to accommodate the intricate nuances of ingredient supply chain is no small feat.
An automated ingredient ordering and supply chain management platform for SME Food & Beverage brands. On Opply, buyers can easily source ingredients by getting matched with the right suppliers, communicate with them and order from them, all in one place.
The Solution:
User Research, Personas, User Journeys, Value Proposition Diagrams, Heuristic Analysis, Usability Testing, Sketches, Iterations of Wireframes, Low-Fi Prototypes, High-Fidelity Mock-Up
Deliverables:
How might we improve the end-to-end procurement experience for buyers and suppliers on Opply?
Process
User Research:
In order to understand the problem space I began conducting user interviews, I aggregated the findings alongside existing pieces of user feedback into a central repository that can be easily viewed by the wider team. This involved:
Conducting 8 moderated remote usability tests with Opply Buyers and Suppliers, 30 minutes each.
Synthesis of data and insights.
Analysis of findings and recommendations.
What People Had to Say:
Personas:
Using the new user research repository I was able to create personas, allowing me to align strategies and goals to specific user groups. Personas are a useful tool to promote customer empathy, they helped me position our team to truly understand the mindset of our buyers and suppliers. I used these personas to lead a company-wide ideation workshop, aiming to validate and challenge my own understanding, while also garnering fresh insights and ideas from the diverse viewpoints of the team.
The Problem Space:
We found a lot of problems - I collaborated closely with the product manager and overlayed all of them onto a high level user journey to begin making sense of them.
We needed a way to prioritise them. We considered the reach (amount of users the problem was affecting), the impact (of solving the unmet need) and the estimated effort. This gave us a visual frame of reference to understand where we should begin solutionising (marked in red on the diagram above).
For each of these focal points, we crafted value proposition diagrams, delineating customer tasks, benefits, and challenges.
But how do we approach these problems in the most effective way?
High Level User Journey:
Example of Value Proposition Diagram:
Buyer - Quotes Received:
The findings pointed towards the Dashboard as being the highest ticket item for us to look at when solutionising. I realised that an elegant enhancement of our current Dashboard could solve many of the most important pain points for our users in one place.
I began testing this hypothesis by creating low-fidelity mockups and a prototype, then giving users simple tasks to “complete”. The findings from these quick sessions allowed me to pivot quickly and hone in on the the most effective solution, this step instilled confidence in the user satisfaction of the solution, which ultimately de-risked the build.
The Solution
The Dashboard
The dashboard emerged as a primary obstacle hindering the smooth flow from request to order. Users encountered difficulties navigating the platform and executing essential actions for order completion. Utilizing Hotjar analytics, we discovered that Brands spent an average of 1 minute and 38 seconds on the dashboard, while Suppliers spent 1 minute and 53 seconds—highlighting a significant issue. To initiate the redesign, I conducted a comprehensive analysis of the current dashboard's usability and prioritized improvement areas. Collaborating with developers, I sketched out potential solutions and addressed any complexities upfront before progressing to design a high-fidelity prototype
Existing Dashboard:
Updated Dashboard:
Key Issues:
Non-responsive design leading to information being truncated on smaller screens
UI inconsistencies including misalignment, insufficient spacing, and inconsistent text sizing
Absence of information hierarchy contributing to user confusion
Lack of prompts guiding users through essential actions
Insufficient provision of critical information
Limited inclusivity, including the use of non-inclusive emojis
Key Improvements:
Leveraging responsive design for seamless adaptation to diverse screen sizes
Introducing clear, actionable steps to streamline the ordering process, alleviating user confusion and frustration
Offering a succinct overview of critical information to address users' difficulties in tracking new quotes effectively
Establishing a structured hierarchy of information to enhance accessibility and inclusivity
What next?
Aligning the team to promote user empathy from the beginning of the process got everyone on board with this feature. The tech lead had sight of the build complexity from an early stage and was therefore able to estimate accurately. We were able to get the stories into sprint and handover all designs and specs so that the development team could work autonomously, we utilised Figma and Zeplin to reuse common components where applicable to decrease build time and ensure the Dashboard was consistent with the rest of the platform from a UX/UI perspective.
As the Dashboard goes live, we will continue to embrace user-centered principles through the use of live data analytics to inform enhancements. I’d like to think of this iteration of the Dashboard as the beginning, and welcome any changes that will make it more useful for customers in the future!