This initiative was started as a partnership with FiemgLab in early 2023. The main objective was to understand the opportunities and pain points from Cement & Lime customers that could be addressed with the International Company of Refractory Products, Services and Systems. This industry has many differences in relation to steel, so a new discovery was necessary.
The UX Research Team's involvement in the project started in April 2023, initially as a support to the research activities planned by the FiemgLab Internal Startup project (due to conclude in June 2023).
The stakeholders have given us freedom to suggest new research methods and tools and to run the activities in the best way we see fit, regardless of FiemgLab's recommendations.
research goal
Map opportunities for features targeted towards Cement & Lime customers in the Customer Portal, given the relevant differences from the Steel industry needs.
company:
customer:
start:
length:
dti digital
Not available
August
3 months
Timeline
Timeline May - August
exploratory interviews
3 customer personas interviewed (Corporate Technician, Plant Technician and Corporate Purchasing), across 4 Brazilian key accounts (3 Cement and 1 Lime)
solution definition
Decision to focus on Corporate Purchasing persona (biggest ROI estimation for both internal and external customers), based on the interviews
ideation & prototyping
”My Invoices” solution was conceptualized and co-created with different customer business areas, resulting in a Figma prototype of the final solution
internal validation
Internal stakeholders provided feedback and suggestions for the feature, which were analyzed and incorporated when necessary
customer validation
Recruited and scheduled interviews for customer validation of the feature and prototype (participants were mostly in Brazil)
Problem discovery
Interview insights
Defining the solution
Insight analysis and prioritization
Upon analyzing all interviews, as well as ideating with the Cement commercial team, a decision was made to focus on a solution that would tackle pain points related to the sales flow, its organization, communication and visibility by the customer.
These pain points were mostly brought up by our corporate purchasing persona, who will be the main target audience for the proposed feature.
Additionally, we understand that addressing these pain points with a digital solution can create gains both for customer and company internally, for the commercial, financial and transportation teams.
Product discovery
Requirements were aligned with stakeholders during the internal interviews and the prototype went through a few ideation and feedback rounds, which helped us reach the finalized prototype to be used for customer validation tests.
Designing the solution
Hypotheses and pain points being tackled:
My Invoices prototype
Company's cenario
After discussing the workflows and optimizing the way tasks are currently performed, we need to prioritize our value proposition and move forward with validation from the end users.
Without this step, we run the risk that each person involved in the scenario, whether a stakeholder or a team member, has a highly misaligned view of what the solution will be like, which could have a negative impact when we begin its development.
Having decided on the ideas we will pursue, it's time to assess our level of certainty regarding the solution and whether it presents any risks that need validation.
We utilized a prototype with interactions and scheduled meetings with clients who had already been part of the previous process for validation.
overview
Test phase
Internal validation
The prototyped concepts were presented in 5 internal interviews.
These interviews were conducted in the South America, North America, and Europe regions. These meetings were conducted with internal Customer experts.
The presentation was delivered following the flow suggested by the prototype and detailing the key points.
Internal validations resulted in some changes to the prototype. These changes will be made for the future.
Customer validation
The prototyped concepts were presented in 6 customer interviews.
These interviews were conducted only with SAM (South America) customers. We had no feedback from potential customers with the European team.
The feedback collected from the clients also led to potential changes. Some naming changes, others based on processes and additional information we receive.
The visualization of a prototype generates a better understanding of a solution, thereby generating more detailed feedback about the processes.
Key validation questions
What is your initial reaction to this functionality?
Do you envision yourself using this solution?
Which part of this solution is most important to you?
Would you change anything about what you're seeing?
Do you feel that there's something relevant missing in this solution?
Is there something you feel could be improved?
Post research
Results and insights
Key findings
Internal insights
Some commented on the customer's need to know that the order has been received. This is one of the pain points that will be addressed.
They highlighted the importance of having a feature for the customer to mark paid invoices and the total amount paid.
They suggested having notifications to allow the customer to report and mark these paid orders in earlier stages.
They agreed that this would be highly beneficial for reconciliations.
They recognized the value and congratulated the project for both its concept and the way it was being presented.
Customer insights
Some customers found the prototype very intuitive, with a wide range of filters, and they could easily navigate and use it;
It would streamline day-to-day operations since many processes currently rely solely on one person;
For post-order tasks, the provided information is quite comprehensive and will simplify matters significantly.
They also saw value in the flow which they said could greatly reduce email traffic and concentrate information in one place.
Next steps
Reccomendation
We began with a foundation built from the progress made thus far. We're writing down all the details of the prototype for the feature, including important things we need to look into it more. While the modifications recommended post-prototype validation are yet to be implemented, they are comprehensively outlined within the feature documentation.
Opportunities
The users will be customer corporate procurement team as well as company employees involved on the sales flow;
Having all relevant information related to orders in one single source would optimize their time. According to our customers, the most important view is the Open Order;
The business will be able to provide more transparency of the sales process, and it might increase the relationship with customers.;
It is expected that company employees will spend less time to give key information to customers - because instead of having to send it by e-mail, WhatsApp, etc - it is available in an online platform, 24/7;
Is expected to have an improvement of the payment confirmation velocity.
MVP
In shaping the direction of our Minimum Viable Product (MVP), our focus has been to distill the essence of our project's goals. Our intention is to build something that resonates with our users while achieving tangible results.
Drawing from the insights derived from customer feedback, a distinct focal point emerges: the Open Orders feature. Beeing a potential as a quick win—a component that holds the promise of delivering immediate value to our users.
Considering the significance of this feedback, we are primed to harness it as a guiding compass for the MVP's development journey. This concentrated approach not only maximizes resources but also ensures that a core user need is adressed.
Throughout the initial construction of this feature, it's important to bear in mind that are still a few details requiring discovery. Consequently, an ongoing effort by a designer will be needed to simultaneously addressing these aspects.
Risks to address before moving forward
Usability risks: There’s problem of how the first tab to get the data from CSR input, also the validation of delivered orders and invoices payment.
Is needed both discovery and validation with users on how the information from the first tab will be input.
Technical risks: SAP integration itself and dependencies.
How they will gather and integrate this data.
Value risks: Wrong information that could lead users to bounce back to the former way.
