Streamlining Multi-User Shopping in B2B Industrial Supply Procurement
Overview
A lot of business customers were reaching out to customer service, being unable to efficiently track their order and delivery status on the website. Multiple users being involved in industrial procurement further complicated the challenge.
I led the exploratory research with design and product teams to map online and offline touchpoints in MSC service ecosystem. Using the insights, I helped prototype a streamlined information and notification flow, which contributed to in 11% reduction in customer service calls in the next two quarters.
METHODS
In-depth User Interviews
Jobs to be Done Framework
Empathy Mapping
User Flow
Analysis & Insights
MY ROLE
UX Researcher
CONTRIBUTION
UX Research
UX Design (Wire Framing & Prototyping)
Baymard UX Audit
TOOLS
Figma
CONTEXT
Industrial procurement can involve up to 4 user types in one order
Industrial procurement is a complex process that involves input, evaluation, and approval of multiple users from various departments within the same company, when ordering products, from selection of products to completion of order. Also, There are multiple channels of purchase and related touchpoints.
How might we help our users efficiently find products, make purchase decisions and track information so that they can maintain their supplies well-stocked?
RESEARCH SETUP
PROBLEM FRAMING
There was no system in place to facilitate the communication and decision-making across these stakeholders involved in procurement. Every user had their own ad hoc system for communicating with others related to order, where a lot of important information was getting lost.
"As a machinist I still use pen and paper to list items that are required for a metal working job and give it to the buyer to place the order on mscdirect.com"
The conventional, linear representation of user journey proved to be misleading: We needed to capture the multiple cycles of decision making where information moved between the different users involved.
The existing segmentation of users was outdated and based on solely on company size. We reframed segmentation by identifying:
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different roles of users in their organizations (plant manager, CNC Operator, IT Executive),
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core needs of organizations (cost-effective solutions for small segment vs. innovative optimization for the large segment),
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specific purchasing channels that they use (Website, phone call, and onsite associate).
Segmentation: Updating segmentation based on user needs
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Segmentation workshop with customer service and product teams
Updated segmentation based on user roles in procurement
INTERVIEWS: Purposive Sampling
Carried out purposive sampling to represent different industries and selected five companies from Medium and Large segments.
Sampling Participants with Adobe Analytics
INTERVIEWS: Recruitment Strategy
A challenge of UXR in B2B services is recruiting users, who are often busy and not motivated by financial incentives. Instead of directly contacting users, I involved MSC representatives in research, who connected us to potential participants, while providing tremendous insights about challenges that our users face.
Conducted 25 interviews with the participation of one observer, and sometimes the account manager who already has relation with the customer.
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This research became a gateway to establish standardized research protocols at the company, in order to streamline interviews by different researchers.
ANALYSIS: Job-To-Be-Done
We analyzed interview transcripts using the JTBD framework in order to capture the task-based flow of users' actions. We repeated the analysis until we reached data saturation to frame a generic purchase pathway that shows the roles of requisitioners and buyers.
INSIGHTS: User experience delays due to missing notifications
DESIGN RECOMMENDATIONS
WIRE-FRAMING AND PROTOYPING
We began this design exercise to streamline notifications preferences, redesign the Email Template UI categorize the content in existing emails, and add suggestions for improvement.
Post-Transaction Email Notification Prototype
Old Email
Order Received Email Notification Prototype
STREAMLINED COMMUNICATION IN MULTI-USER SHOPPING
We established a consistent and formalized structure for all customer communications throughout their procurement journeys including with a focus on email correspondence and streamlined notifications.
This resulted in an 11% reduction in customer service calls for order tracking in large and medium segments over the 2 quarters.
