A new take on an existing product for a large, Chicago-based marketing/branding agency.
Overview
This was a pre-existing database with a web portal that the agency had been using for a number of years. It was used both in-house and externally for suppliers with just under 500 active users at any given time. As an ERP, a majority of their business flowed through this system.
The Problem
Originally built by a solid backend developer, they were anxious to get the system up and running and never attended much to the UI. When I came into the picture, they were habitually using a number of shortcuts and workarounds.
The Goal
To provide UI design to improve the consistency, create a streamlined workflow, and becoming an engaging piece of software for the users.
The Process
After initial interviews with key stakeholders, I conducted a user testing round to reveal usability problems beyond the obvious. This testing was accomplished remotely and revealed some key user insights:
- 70% of the users commented that the software made their job more difficult since being introduced a year earlier.
- There were missing functional dependencies from the frontend.
- In spite of alignment issues, poor navigation options, odd element placement, and overall lack of continuity, people were able to get their work completed in a timely fashion.
Design
After the discovery phase, gathering data, and collecting user feedback, I began to meticulously re-craft the entire frontend of the application. Thankfully, the backend was done beautifully, so there was no need to invest time into an ERD. I started slowly going through the application, correcting discrepancies, fixing bugs, and smoothing out the UI to render a more pleasurable user experience.
Outcome
"Night and day!", is what one excited user told me when they were able to log into the redone software.
As you can see from the screenshot, I employed user-centered design best practices, decluttering the screen and fixing all of the alignment, lack of continuity, and broken dependency issues. After full two weeks of beta testing, with zero bugs or glitches discovered along the way, the primary stakeholders informed me that they were exceedingly pleased.
The very last thing I did was to conduct a short user survey to gather feedback from the users. 425 out of 497 users completed the survey and the results were outstanding:
95% of users surveyed claimed that the new frontend finally felt like a completed solution and that they really enjoyed using it.
What I learned
- It is almost always easier to build from scratch than to 'remodel' someone else's work - but sometimes that is not a financially feasible situation.
- When people depend on tools to do their job, they expect them to work, at the very least; when you can delight them and make the experience enjoyable as well, you'll have significantly happier and more productive users.
- Just how important user flows and continuity are.