Discovery

What is procurement?

The procurement department of a company is responsible for acquiring raw materials to manufacture products that will be distributed to the end consumer.

The buyers send quotes for raw materials to various suppliers and compare the conditions of price, delivery (arrival time), and quality of the materials to determine the best purchase to be made - awarding the items to be purchased based on the best offers.

Interviewing the buyers about their workflow, I created a flowchart to understand the pain points in their daily routines. It gets a little bit confusing as they often need to cross-reference multiple pieces of information just to determine where urgent action is needed.

Persona

The buyers face a range of challenges in their day-to-day work within the purchasing department. I grouped these challenges and pain points into three categories: Materials, Analysis, and Suppliers, to understand how to develop the solution.

The solution

Main features

Thinking from the operational to the strategic level, I have outlined the main features and advantages that the solution can offer for the buyers and the company:

Solution workflow

A solution workflow was designed to show where AI would assist the users, accelerating their work

Wireframing

Initially, wireframes were created to validate with stakeholders the key information on each screen at the planning level.

Once the stakeholders were providing feedback constantly it was easy to adjust the course when it came to design and product decisions.

Designing the solution

To make the project more tangible, I've established some product design guidelines. I've divided these guidelines into two categories within our design documentation: Designing Principles and Designing for Data.

Design principles

As general product guidelines, we've outlined some design principles that should be adhered to by the entire Supply Brain team. These overarching guidelines have facilitated brainstorming improvements for the product, such as implementing keyboard shortcuts to streamline workflow and continuously seeking performance enhancements to boost system speed.

Lightness

Our designs are simple and minimalist, aiming for an intuitive and lightweight user experience.

Simplicity

We build interfaces that are easily understood, using natural language and explanations for technical terms when necessary.

Just-in-time

Displaying functionality only when needed, such as hover-based tables and necessary alerts.

Speed as a value

Emphasizing speed as a product value through keyboard shortcuts, efficient information loading, and prioritizing essential user decisions.

Designing for data

As this is a system requiring intricate analyses, I've also chosen to adopt guidelines for the effective display of data. This aims to facilitate users in quickly identifying issues and focusing efficiently on their operational areas.

Colors

They highlight what is important and provide feedback. There are Main and Light alternatives for each feedback color.

Cards

Summarize important information based on the context. They change color according to the level of indicator criticality.

Charts

Designed to provide quick insights into the buyer's portfolio's evolution. They assist in analysis and decision-making.

Tables

They are pre-sorted based on the most critical to least critical data, providing hints on where the user should prioritize their actions.

User Interface

Given that this product is B2B and is protected by an NDA, its interfaces are shared privately to specific clients. If you are interested in a in-depth presentation of this case, feel free to contact me at hi@dorgibarros.com, and I'll be happy to reply you!