ROLE
User research, visual, interaction design.
TIMELINE
Q1 - Q2 2022
THE TEAM
2 designers (including the lead), 1 product manager, 1 ux researcher, 7+ engineers.
PROLOGUE
In the logistics planning process at Waresix, we utilize an end-to-end technology-driven approach, and as Waresix grows and handles more customers, certain aspects of the current process still need adjustments to ensure fairness for vendors and optimize time efficiency.
OVERVIEW
Before we dive into the nitty-gritty like problems, goals, and all that, let me give you a quick lowdown on the background.
At Waresix, our team is like a crew in an epic movie, where everyone's got a role to keep things running smoothly every day. It's not just job titles; think of them as characters shaping our story. Ready to meet some of our internal users?
👨🏻💻
Planner
This role oversees Waresix's transportation logistics, collaborating with vendors to ensure timely and efficient customer order fulfillment
🚀
Pricing
This role sets vendor prices at Waresix, involving intricate analysis of market trends, vendor performance, and industry metrics.
💰
Finance
This role oversees Waresix's finances, collaborating with teams to optimize financial performance and ensure accurate recording of transactions.
At Waresix, these roles are like the glue holding everything together. It's crucial that they team up smoothly to keep the company delivering top-notch service to our customers.
Now, let's zoom in on one of the users I work with, known as the 'Transport Ops (Planner)'. In their day-to-day, they're the go-to folks responsible for making sure our customers' trips get sorted. Currently, users handle this by reaching out to vendors manually through WhatsApp or assigning it on wOS with a direct pick – meaning they have to personally choose a vendor for the trip.
OBSERVATION
Understanding the daily workflow of Transport Ops in planning the shipment.
💬 When users need to assign an order to a vendor, they currently do it manually through WhatsApp
🔎 They are required to repeatedly manually assign the vendor if there is no response
Sorry, but I can't spill the beans on the details in this case study. It's all hush-hush... 🤫
THEIR CURRENT PROCESS
THE PROBLEMS
Challenges in the Current Vendor Management Approach.
👄 Offline Discussions
The planner needs to do an offline discussion with VM in case no vendor received the order
👀 Knowledge-Based Selection.
Vendor selection relies on the planner's knowledge or preference rather than being performance-based.
GOALS
Strategic Objectives for Vendor Management Enhancement
Streamlining Operations and Communication
Reducing manual tasks and shifting away from offline discussions.
Fortifying Security Through Role Segregation
Enhancing accountability to mitigate the risk of fraud.
OUR PROCESS AT WARESIX:
Well, we don't always go through this process, especially for small improvements. For big changes or new features, we stick to it. But for smaller tweaks, we just dive in. Do we need to start from scratch every time we have something to do?
DRAFTING PHASE
How might we support planners in efficiently assigning vendors?
Prior to tackling the UI details, the PM and I had a discussion about the flow we intend to create in our wOS system. Here's the outlined flow:
In essence, our Transport Ops can open the 'Trip Masuk' tab, click on 'Blasting,' and view the list of vendors slated to receive the order blast. Users also have the flexibility to set the blasting time before sending the order blast to vendors
HI-FI PHASE
Wireframe? ❌ | High fidelity? ✅
The starting point
To use the blasting feature, just click on the 'Tugaskan' button and then hit 'Vendor Rekomendasi' to move on to the next step.
Level and type sorting (Assignment Page)
On this page, we provide a list of vendors already collaborating with waresix. The purpose is to ensure users are aware of which vendors will receive the blasting order, and also We've sorted the levels and types based on our own logic to make the assignments more fair
Time of assignment
We sort vendors by level and type, giving Preferred Vendors the first shot at the requested trip from waresix
Monitoring the blasting
To keep tabs on the blasting, just look at the progress bar and hit the 'i' icon to see the colors that represent the vendor levels.
DESIGN REVIEW
Stakeholders are invited to convene for discussion, provide feedback, and refine the design.
After finishing up the design phase, we have a design review with key players. This ensures our design aligns with the requirements for smooth development.
Once we're all on the same page to move forward, we dive into discussions with the UX Researcher team. We share the needed background, flow, and objectives
VALIDATE STAGE
Validating the usability & gather feedback
At the start of this stage as a designer, I cooked up a draft scenario for user testing. Once we went through the flow and scenario, we thought, 'Why not toss in 5 tasks and 6 questions, complete with an opinion scale?' So, we rolled with some online usability testing for a quicker and more flexible implementation.
Here are a couple of reports I able to share:
During the testing session, most participants were able to complete the task on time. Most of them also think our website is fairly easy to use and has an attractive design.
In response to the question about how easy it was to work on this matchmaking feature, we averaged a score of 3.8 out of a possible 5.0."
ROOM OF IMPROVEMENTS
After exploring insights, we brainstormed improvements for the next sprint. Here's a sneak peek for the next UI iteration
DESIGN ITERATION
After figuring out the improvements we want, it's time for some design iteration!"
The starting point
Before
Vendor Rekomendasi' isn't a familiar term for our users
After Iteration
After chatting with our users, we opted to call this feature 'Blasting'
Level and type sorting
Before
In the previous design, we didn’t include the 'Permintaan Khusus' list that exists on the create order form page
After Iteration
We added the 'Permintaan Khusus' list so that vendors could be more aware of the required items
Monitoring the blasting
Before
Users don't understand what 'preferred,' 'priority,' and 'on call' mean
After Iteration
"We changed the names based on what our users usually use, i.e., there are: Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3
THE CHALLENGE
Aligning with the vendor squad
One of the primary challenges we face in this project revolves around the crucial aspect of ensuring alignment across different teams. Specifically, our efforts are focused on achieving synchronization with the vendor squad, which plays a pivotal role in the successful implementation of our objectives.
The key to overcoming this challenge lies in effectively conveying the importance of integrating a specific feature into their operations. Without this alignment, there's a risk that the vendor squad may not fully grasp the significance of incorporating this feature, which could potentially hinder their ability to efficiently handle blasting orders originating from our Waresix planner.
The complexity of this challenge is further compounded by the diverse perspectives and priorities that exist within the project ecosystem. Navigating through these intricacies requires careful communication and collaboration to ensure that all stakeholders are on board and working towards a common goal. As such, addressing this challenge necessitates a multifaceted approach that takes into account the varying needs and expectations of each team involved.
MEASURE THE SATISFACTION
⌛ As time passed, after the blasting release, we threw in some CSAT to check how satisfied everyone was
In evaluating the success of our design, we utilize the Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) framework as our primary metric. Our target benchmark for customer satisfaction is set at 65, aligning with industry standards in the B2B Software & SaaS sector where we provide software solutions to users. To accurately gauge users' satisfaction levels, we rely on a dedicated CSAT calculator designed specifically for this purpose
THE OBJECTIVE
Measure user satisfaction will all menus
Evaluate and assess user satisfaction across all menus to understand how well our users are content with the available options and features
Collect feedback from users on all menus
This helps us understand their preferences, pain points, and suggestions for improvements across the entire menu system.
METHODOLOGY
Survey - We asked participants to rate their satisfaction with the features using a Likert scale of 1 - 5.
THE RESULTS
Positive Progress Update, the CSAT score for the blasting feature landed at a solid 72.5 for UI/UX, with a benchmark of 6.5 for the B2B Software & SaaS industry. We're actively working to boost the Quality & Performance scores.
Quality: 62.5
Performance: 57.5
UI/UX: 72.5
Feature feedbacks (1/3)
BLASTING FEATURE ADOPTION
We set our objective at achieving a 50% blasting usage, and by November 2023, we successfully reached an adoption rate of 81.13% for vendor blasting usage.
It means that approximately 81.13% of Waresix vendors have successfully been blasted, while the remaining ones still use direct assign due to urgent target load requirements. About 69% have accepted orders through this blasting feature.
THE IMPACT
With this blasting feature, we have successfully reduced offline discussions between SVM and Planner when no vendor accepts the order. We've also minimized potential fraud risks as users no longer need to manually set the price – thanks to our logic in this feature.
Additionally, the planner can treat vendors fairly, as all vendors receive orders based on predetermined levels and rates established by the logic not solely relying on the planner's knowledge about vendors.
LESSONS LEARNED
With the increasing demand from customers for waresix, as a company, we must adapt by developing features that assist our internal users in processing orders effectively, efficiently, and fairly for the vendors who are partners with waresix. Therefore, as a designer, I have learned that learning is agile, following market needs, and fairness have been my lessons in working on this project.
👋 Thanks for checking it out!