eProcure
UX Case Study of a procurement application
eProcure
UX Case Study of a procurement application
Project Overview
e-Procure is a procurement process that streamlines locating, evaluating, negotiating, and contracting with suppliers for efficient sourcing, ordering, and payment. It involves end-to-end integration with procurement systems
Team: 1 Designer, 8 Developers, 1 Business analyst, 1 QA Analyst and 1 Product manager.
Time: 5 months, full-time
Project Overview
e-Procure is a procurement process that streamlines locating, evaluating, negotiating, and contracting with suppliers for efficient sourcing, ordering, and payment. It involves end-to-end integration with procurement systems
Team: 1 Designer, 8 Developers, 1 Business analyst, and 1 Product manager.
Time: 5 months, full-time
Problem
- Currently, procurement processes are
complex and inefficient for meeting the
current demands and priorities of the
business.
- Currently, the vendor ecosystem
maintained in the company is opaque. It is
not intuitive and takes considerable time
and manual effort to query and navigate
to get valid information
- Procurement team has access to 360
degree view of all the data and the tools in
the process, which is not tapped to derive
meaningful insights into the overall
performance.
Vision
- The Procurement process to be made
simpler without compromising on the
controls over procedural, regulatory, and
contractual compliance.
- The Platform shall be easy to use, intuitive
and serve as a one stop shop providing
end to end visibility and transparency into
the procurement process for the business
users.
- The platform shall be able to aggregate
data from various tools and show a unified
view to the uses.
- The Platform shall provide powerful data
analytics to derive insights and drive
efficiencies.
Benefits
- Simplifies the Procurement process and
fuels collaboration.
- Empower end users with the right
information and technology enabling
them to deliver insights at a speed
- Boost efficiency of the Procurement team
- See higher sourcing saving through
increased visibility into procurement
- Better insight and have more accurate
forecasting.
- Improve access to intelligence, manage
spend, and maintain compliance.
Problem
- Currently, procurement
processes are complex and
inefficient for meeting the
current demands and priorities
of the business.
- Currently, the vendor
ecosystem maintained in the
company is opaque. It is not
intuitive and takes considerable
time and manual effort to
query and navigate to get valid
information
- Procurement team has access
to 360 degree view of all the
data and the tools in the
process, which is not tapped to
derive meaningful insights into
the overall performance.
- The Procurement process to be
made simpler without
compromising on the controls
over procedural, regulatory,
and contractual compliance.
- The Platform shall be easy
to use, intuitive and serve
as a one stop shop providing
end to end visibility and
transparency into the
procurement process for the
business users.
- The platform shall be able to
aggregate data from various
tools and show a unified view
to the uses.
- The Platform shall provide
powerful data analytics to
derive insights and drive
efficiencies.
Vision
- Simplifies the
Procurement process and
fuels collaboration.
- Empower end users with
the right information and
technology enabling them
to deliver insights at a
speed
- Boost efficiency of the
Procurement team
- See higher sourcing
saving through increased
visibility into procurement
- Better insight and have
more accurate forecasting.
- Improve access to
intelligence, manage
spend, and maintain
compliance.
Benefits
My role
As a UX designer, My role was to design a solution for the end user, but before that my primary goal was to
validate the problem statement and the mentioned solution!
- The role I play in this project is to create a design that prioritises the user experience by understanding
the needs and behaviours of users.
- Develop low-fidelity and high-fidelity wireframes and collaborate with the development team to
ensure implementation.
As a UX designer, My role was to design a solution for the end user, but before that my primary goal was to validate the problem
statement and the mentioned solution!
- The role I play in this project is
to create a design that
prioritises the user experience
by understanding the needs
and behaviours of users.
- Develop low-fidelity and high-
fidelity wireframes and
collaborate with the
development team to ensure
implementation.
My role
Design Process
In order to collaborate with stakeholders and users, we conducted a Design Thinking workshop. Assess the needs and pain points of each member of the group so that business challenges can be addressed. In order to explore issues more widely
Design Process
In order to collaborate with stakeholders and users, we conducted a Design Thinking workshop. Assess the needs and pain points of each member of the group so that business challenges can be addressed. In order to explore issues more widely
1. RESEARCH
1.1 Key user pain points
- Duplicate applications in the system consume a lot of time to sort.
- While processing an application, required documents are not available in the system.
- Managers do not balance the workload evenly among employees.
- We need to call the requester multiple times for missing information and documents.
1.2 Key business pain points
- There are too many applications in the backlog.
- There is no way to prioritize requests and identify critical ones.
- Due to the multiple application used by each department, maintenance cost is very high.
- Employees do not respect the SLAs.
- There is no way to analyse team performance.
1.3 My observations
- Lack of visibility and control: Confusing spreadsheets and scattered documents frequently
lead to miscommunications and delays.
- Slow processing times: Before the eProcure tool orders. Costs and precious time were
being sunk by duplicate inputs and unpredictable approval times.
- Inefficient purchasing process: Manual processes involving spreadsheets and email caused
significant delays in purchasing
- Reconciliation headaches: Accounts had to be reconciled manually using the original
purchase orders
1.1 Key user pain points
- Duplicate applications in the
system consume a lot of time to
sort.
- While processing an application,
required documents are not
available in the system.
- Managers do not balance the
workload evenly among
employees.
- We need to call the requester
multiple times for missing
information and documents.
1.2 Key business pain points
- There are too many applications
in the backlog.
- There is no way to prioritize
requests and identify critical
ones.
- Due to the multiple application
used by each department,
maintenance cost is very high.
- Employees do not respect the
SLAs.
- There is no way to analyse team
performance.
1.3 My observations
- Lack of visibility and control:
Confusing spreadsheets and
scattered documents frequently
lead to miscommunications and
delays.
- Slow processing times: Before
the eProcure tool orders. Costs
and precious time were being
sunk by duplicate inputs and
unpredictable approval times.
- Inefficient purchasing process:
Manual processes involving
spreadsheets and email caused
significant delays in purchasing
- Reconciliation headaches:
Accounts had to be reconciled
manually using the original
purchase orders
1. RESEARCH
2. DEFINE
2.1 Problem statements
- Currently, the procurement procedure is complex and insufficient to meet the business's
priorities and expectations.
- It is currently unclear how the vendor ecosystem is maintained within the organisation.
- Finding valid information requires considerable time and manual effort and does not
appear to be intuitive.
- To derive meaningful insights into the overall performance, the procurement team lacks
access to a 360- degree view of all the data and tools.
- Slow processing times and duplicate inputs and unpredictable wait times for different
approvals were sinking costs and precious time.
2.2 UX guidelines
Based on the research, we came up with the following guidelines that we referred to every
time we came up with a design or solution.
- Simplify the workflow
- Create a consistent experience across applications
- Ensure system status visibility
- Design for faster performance
- Offer users the ability to set their preferences
2. DEFINE
2.1 Problem statements
- Currently, the procurement
procedure is complex and
insufficient to meet the
business's priorities and
expectations.
- It is currently unclear how the
vendor ecosystem is maintained
within the organisation.
- Finding valid information
requires considerable time and
manual effort and does not
appear to be intuitive.
- To derive meaningful insights
into the overall performance, the
procurement team lacks access to
a 360- degree view of all the data
and tools.
- Slow processing times and
duplicate inputs and
unpredictable wait times for
different approvals were sinking
costs and precious time.
2.2 UX guidelines
Based on the research, we came up with the following guidelines that we referred to every time we came up with a design or solution.
- Simplify the workflow
- Create a consistent experience
across applications
- Ensure system status visibility
- Design for faster performance
- Offer users the ability to set their
preferences
2.3 User persona
Based on my research I have identified some user types and I have created a user persona that guided me to make better design decisions
2.3 User persona
Based on my research I have identified some user types and I have created a user persona that guided me to make better design decisions
2.4 Setting the success metrics
- Reduce the time taken to request approval and delivery
- Reduce time taken to close a request
- Reduce time spent on calls with the requester and other teams
- Reduce manager’s workload
- Increase the availability of data in the system
- Increase the number of requests processed per day
- Increase the morale of employees and managers
- Increase quantitative visibility of the team’s performance
- Increase requester happiness index
2.4 Setting the success metrics
- Reduce the time taken to request
approval and delivery
- Reduce time taken to close a
request
- Reduce time spent on calls with
the requester and other teams
- Reduce manager’s workload
- Increase the availability of data in
the system
- Increase the number of requests
processed per day
- Increase the morale of employees
and managers
- Increase quantitative visibility of
the team’s performance
- Increase requester happiness
index
3.2 User flow
User flow helps us to understand how the target user will travel through the application to complete a specific task.
3.2 User flow
User flow helps us to understand how the target user will travel through the application to complete a specific task.
3. IDEATION
3.1 Information Architecture
Information architecture aims at organising structure so that users would easily adapt to the functionality of the product and could find everything they
need without too much effort.
3. IDEATION
3.1 Information Architecture
Information architecture aims at organising structure so that users would easily adapt to the functionality of the product and could find everything they need without too much effort.
3.3 Lifecycle Journey Map
An application lifecycle journey map shows the process of the application from requirement identification to payment and delivery
3.3 Lifecycle Journey Map
An application lifecycle journey map shows the process of the application from requirement identification to payment and delivery
Key ideas to improve the employee’s productivity
- Assignment of request priority during registration (Normal, Urgent)
- Predictive scoring of approval/rejection of the request
- Inter-department request assignments and communication
- Integration of 6 application data into 1 single screen
- Dashboard key information and pending items
Key ideas to improve the leader’s productivity
- Auto assignment of request based on employee-request type configuration
- Dashboard to track team and request performance
Key ideas to improve data availability
- Special Section to manage incomplete requests
- Data partnership with vendor entities
- Image-to-text processing software integration
Key ideas to improve the employee’s productivity
- Assignment of request priority
during registration (Normal,
Urgent)
- Predictive scoring of approval/
rejection of the request
- Inter-department request
assignments and
communication
- Integration of 6 application data
into 1 single screen
- Dashboard key information and
pending items
Key ideas to improve the leader’s productivity
- Auto assignment of request
based on employee-request
type configuration
- Dashboard to track team and
request performance
Key ideas to improve data availability
- Special Section to manage
incomplete requests
- Data partnership with vendor
entities
- Image-to-text processing
software integration
4. DESIGN
4.1 Low- Fidelity Wireframe
4. DESIGN
4.1 Low-Fidelity Wireframe
4.2 High- Fidelity Wireframe
4.2 High- Fidelity Wireframe
5. TESTING
5.1 Post-design, we conducted multiple usability sessions
Few highlights of this phase:
- We scheduled a 30-minute meeting with a new employee in each department every day
to get feedback on designs.
- Immediately following the production deployment, we trained users on the new features
and workflows.
- We keep the old system running if there is a bug or something is missed in the new
system.
- After the interview, these users were recorded and played in order to pinpoint any
specific issues they encountered. The findings of the usability session were fantastic.
After this session, we got some helpful feedback and retouched the interface designs.
5.2 Evaluating the success metrics
- Reduced the time taken to respond to a requester by 40%.
- Reduced the time taken to close a request by 65%.
- Reduced time spent on calls with requester and vendor (qualitative analysis).
- Reduced the manager’s workload by automating his entire workflow.
- Increased the availability of data in the system by 94%.
- Increase the number of requests processed per day. 95% request were processed the
same day. Additionally, there was a reduction in the backlog by 10% per week.
5. TESTING
5.1 Post-design, we conducted multiple usability sessions
Few highlights of this phase:
- We scheduled a 30-minute
meeting with a new employee in
each department every day to
get feedback on designs.
- Immediately following the
production deployment, we
trained users on the new
features and workflows.
- We keep the old system running
if there is a bug or something is
missed in the new system.
- After the interview, these users
were recorded and played in
order to pinpoint any specific
issues they encountered. The
findings of the usability session
were fantastic. After this session,
we got some helpful feedback
and retouched the interface
designs.
5.2 Evaluating the success metrics
- Reduced the time taken to
respond to a requester by 40%.
- Reduced the time taken to close
a request by 65%.
- Reduced time spent on calls with
requester and vendor
(qualitative analysis).
- Reduced the manager’s
workload by automating his
entire workflow.
- Increased the availability of data
in the system by 94%.
- Increase the number of requests
processed per day. 95% request
were processed the same day.
Additionally, there was a
reduction in the backlog by 10%
per week.
Takeaways
- Make purchasing and accounts payable easier and more error-prone by automating
manual processes
- Manage spending responsibly by improving workflows and implementing structured
approvals across departments, teams, and locations
- Give your organisation real-time visibility into spending so you can make better budget
decisions
- Get a full understanding of your budget and empower your managers to understand why
each request is being made
- Get the best deals from preferred vendors by leveraging data
- Make purchasing and accounts
payable easier and more error-
prone by automating manual
processes
- Manage spending responsibly
by improving workflows and
implementing structured
approvals across departments,
teams, and locations
- Give your organisation real-
time visibility into spending so
you can make better budget
decisions
- Get a full understanding of
your budget and empower
your managers to understand
why each request is being
made
- Get the best deals from
preferred vendors by
leveraging data
Takeaways
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