Gateway Supply Chain
BuildDirect Technologies
2018
Summary
Gateway Supply Chain is an extension of the BuildDirect technology platform which connects homeowners and contractors with sellers around the world through innovation and technology. The Gateway Supply Chain product was created in order to increase density of the supply chain network, which in return, will reduce shipping costs for Gateway users and shoppers on BuildDirect.com
Mission
Make it easy and affordable to ship heavyweight products from anywhere in the world, to homes across North America. With lower prices and less damage to products, customers will get better value.
My Involvement
Collaborate with logistics team, PM and developers to establish requirements, create user flows, site architecture, product branding, high-fi mockups and post launch improvements.
Target Users
Small to mid-size companies across the USA who want to ship heavyweight products across the USA. Job titles include Logistics Coordinators and Logistics Manager. BuildDirect shipping team.
Timeline
1.5 weeks design time!
Team
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Myself as solo lead UX/UI
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2x PM (1 local, one offshore)
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Supply chain manager
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Dev team (offshore)
Tools
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Sketch
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Invision
STAGE 1
Understand
To begin design for this project, I read through the requirements of the brief and attended planning meetings with the PM and logistics team to understand the scope. This was a high priority, rushed project because the budget and timelines were shrinking due to company financial challenges.
Research
STAGE 2
This project was rushed so while the high-level requirements were known, the details of what all the required fields were and flow was continuously evolving as the designs were in progress. I worked with the logistics team and Product Manager to understand the different user types needs and motivations.
Inbound or Outbound. The person/company requesting the shipment.
Shippers or Sellers
The person receiving the product. They want to know the status of the shipment.
Receivers
Primary Users
Carriers and service providers. They need to manage services available.
Carrier Providers
BuildDirect logistics team
who support and troubleshoot shipments.
Internal Logistics Team
Secondary Users
Comparables
When working on designs for this, I looked at multiple comparable companies (Transport companies shared by the logistics team, primarily European). I explored more modern step-by-step flows but user feedback from people who specialize in this space wanted to see all the form fields on a single page for easy cross-referencing and less mouse clicks.
Analyze
STAGE 3
To ensure the portal is set up for success and future growth, I created site maps and flows with the teams involvement, to aid the process. Essentially, for MVP we broke it down into 3 phases:
Phase 1: Lead generation, request to join (to verify bank details etc)
Phase 2: Complete registration and profile information
Phase 3: Request quote, accept quote and tracking
This helps understand where drop offs are happening and where to focus attention on post launch.
Prototype
STAGE 4
These mockups are what the user sees when they log into the portal. The current state allows users to request, save and order delivery quotes as well as see the status of the delivery, and manage current and past deliveries. The biggest challenge with this project was designing while requirements were still being defined by the business and tech teams. There were many iterations to get to this current state below:
Phase 2 Mockups
Phase 3 Mockups
Test
STAGE 5
This User Journey Map was designed to help illustrate the flow and its pain points. This was gathered through feedback from the users and Gateway support team. These recommendations will be used to help the product and business teams prioritize improvements.