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B2B Order Management

Bluon web application redesign

Project Overview

My role

Product Design Lead
UX Researcher
Prototype & Testing
Design Handoff

Teams

Jr. Product Designers
Product Managers
Web Developers
C-Level Stakeholders

Duration

8 months

Overview

Bluonlive had been around long before I started at Bluon. Starting as database access tool to give suppliers a way to find cross references for commonly searched parts, it slowly evolved into an order management system. The system allowed app users to send a list of parts they needed on a job and the supplier to check the availability and pricing of those items. With this slow evolution, the product became the definition of feature creep.

Users of the platform had several complaints about the old system but the one that stood out the most was the inability to figure out what to do and when to do it. The workflow was broken up into 3 different tabs with no clear direction on where to go next. This would result in users 'punting' on doing the work in the system all together causing mass frustration amongst the mobile users sending their orders.

Challenges & Solutions

Challenge
Solution

Not sure where to find orders that had already been sent back to the field technicians

All orders, incoming requests and approved quotes, are shown on one page mitigating addressing the pain point of user not being sure where to find out what to do next.

Users were not seeing requests and orders come in.

Supply shops are chaotic places - Counter staff can't just sit at a computer all day to wait for orders to come in when they have orders right in front of them. To fix this we added visual and audible notifications when there is a new task, making it way easier for a user to identify the incoming requests and orders. .

Users would have to enter the price in their ERP system AND Bluonlive which is creating double the work.

In the previous design, users had to manually copy and paste part details into their ERP system to check stock availability. If the part wasn't in stock, they had to repeat the process until they found one they could carry. Additionally, critical information like customer pricing and invoice totals had to be entered separately into both BluonLive and their ERP system, creating inefficiencies and the risk of errors.

With the new solution, double entry is eliminated. Users simply enter the total for all quoted products, send the quote, and BluonLive parses and processes the necessary information automatically. This streamlines the workflow, saving time and reducing manual effort for the user.

Users would have to type in their name every time to claim an order.

Users now select their name at the start of each order instead of typing it manually, streamlining the process of claiming orders. To improve efficiency, the system automatically defaults to the most recent name used to process an order. Research showed that, in most cases, the same person processes consecutive orders, but this shifts when a new employee starts their shift.

While we considered eliminating the full-page selection to reduce potential friction, A/B testing revealed that users would often leave the previous user's name unchanged unless prompted directly. By placing the name selection prominently at the start of each order, we ensure accuracy without disrupting the workflow.

Key Metrics

Less confusion

finding incoming and approved orders

37% decrease

in denied availability requests

34% decrease

in average turn around time

225% increase

request to order conversions

Designs

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Final thoughts

The BluonLive redesign was a success from both a design and KPI perspective. It significantly enhanced the user experience, streamlining the request-to-order process. We received outstanding feedback from active users, and in many cases, our KPIs doubled, showcasing the impact of the improvements.

However, there is a "but" to this story. Despite the positive outcomes in design and metrics, a crucial aspect of the process was overlooked outside of the product itself: customer reactivation. Many customers were previously signed up and became users of BluonLive before the redesign but were not actively engaging with the platform. Without a strong reactivation strategy in place, the number of active users remained low, leading to operational costs exceeding the revenue generated. Ultimately, this imbalance led to the sunsetting of the product.

Let's work together

Email

brian@brianprouty.com