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OrderCast – Admin Office (PLG)

Research • UX/UI Design • e-commerce • 2022/23

Overview

OrderCast is a B2B ordering solution for wholesalers, suppliers, distributors, and manufacturers. It transforms the excel sheet filled by wholesalers, with their product listings, into a private sale site. This innovative platform allows professional customers to place orders with personalised pricing, eliminating the manual re-entry of orders. OrderCast is the go-to solution for wholesalers seeking to digitise their B2B operations, making it easier than ever for their clients to place online orders efficiently.
Website:
ordercast.io
My Role:
Product Designer
Duration:
July, 2023 - Sept, 2023
Challenge:
While working on a task, I closely collaborated with Michael, who is the Marketing Director. The goal was to switch from a Sales-Led Growth (SLG) to a Product-Led Growth (PLG) strategy. We wanted to show users the product's value. We would do this through self-onboarding on OrderCast's site.

It was a valuable opportunity for me. I got to share my knowledge about the product and learn from Michael about business strategy. Together, we aligned the marketing and product teams. We also made sure the brand identity was consistent.
marketing research
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User interview
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Flow diagram
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Prototyping
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Usability study
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Accessibility evaluation
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marketing research
///
User interview
///
Flow diagram
///
Prototyping
///
Usability study
///
Accessibility evaluation
///

Design Process

– 01 –
Discover

  • User Persona
  • Secondary Research
  • Competitor Analysis

– 02 –
Define

  • Customer Journey Map

– 03 –
Ideate

  • Informational Architecture

– 04 –
Design

  • UI Design
Quote of user persona: "Hi! I’m Nick, I run a small family business. Today I gonna search for a solution that will help me to optimise and empower it! "
User persona quote: "This looks cool, but “book demo”. Seriously? Why can’t I try it now?"

01

❊

Discover

Nick's frustration is understandable. Before purchasing a car, you take it for a test drive; before buying clothes, you try them on. So, why should it be any different with software? Let's explore how we can assist Nick.

Okay, Google, how to do it better?

One insight from secondary research is that many successful companies use a Product-Led Growth (PLG) approach. It helps them improve their businesses. The core idea is to let the product sell itself. It does this by showing its value first. Then, it asks the customer to pay for this value. Statistics show that organisations using this workflow benefit from:

  • Increased user satisfaction
  • Lower customer acquisition costs
  • Reduced sales cycles
  • Increased revenue

This model has proven to be more efficient and better adapted to meet user needs. 👇

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Competitors  Analyses & Insights

With my colleague Michael, we analysed companies known for their great self-onboarding experiences. We found patterns we can use to make Nick’s onboarding at OrderCast easy and fun. Below are some insights.
Competitors. Slack.
Competitors. ClearCalc.
Competitors. Shopify.

02

❊

Define

We combine our findings to state the user's challenges and objectives. This sets the direction for specific solutions and design strategies.

How's your journey, Nick?

Customer journey mapping is powerful because it keeps everyone focused on the customer. Using the 5 E’s model (Entice, Enter, Engage, Exit, Extend) as a framework, we identified emotions and opportunities in Nick's journey.
Customer journey map

03

❊

Ideate

Now we know Nick's feelings about every step of the process. It is time to define how to make his journey more satisfying. In creating the user flow we kept in mind the following questions:

  • What steps can we avoid?
  • What steps can we delay?
  • What are the mission-critical steps?

Let's make it structured

Michael suggested grouping steps into three main parts. It helped us focus better on every stage of user flow. For me, the Designer, the flow was over, but for Michael,  the Director of marketing, it meant a lot of work ahead. He created a detailed plan of Adoption, Retention, Upsell, and future Product-Led Growth. It was a valuable experience to see what happens next behind the scenes.
Onboarding workflow.

04

❊

Design

Consider a typical day for a Product Designer. Creating designs in Figma takes only about 20-60% of the time, varying by project. So, before we made the UI beautiful, we engaged in many design activities and meetings. Now, it's time to unleash our creativity.

The Button

First, we changed the button on the OrderCast website from “Book a free demo” to “Sign up now - 14 days trial.” Next, we adjusted the header by adding “Sign In” and “Try Now” buttons. Now, OrderCast's potential customers can see product value right away. They don't need to contact the sales team.
Final UI. Website.
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Welcome Survey

We designed a few welcome survey screens, narrowing them down to four steps. We wanted to ask only the essential things to avoid overwhelming anyone.
Final UI. Welcome Survey.
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Product Onboarding

Inspired by insights from our research, we've used these elements in our design. Through interfaces, our team can communicate with users without directly speaking to them. We added progress indicators, interactive tutorials, and tooltips. Also, we added checklists and customer support. We put them in our onboarding to make the process smoother. This way we guide users through the platform, offering clear milestones. This approach ensures users feel supported and informed at every step.
Final Ui. Onboarding.
Quote of user persona: "I see the value for my business. Now, I'm ready to pay"
✳︎   ✳︎  ✳︎

Reflection

Collaborating with a marketing team has been a valuable experience for me as a Product Designer. It is no secret that salespeople are closer to the end users than the product team. By working together, I learned more about our target users' needs and preferences. This is crucial for creating user-centered designs.
‍
This partnership has enriched my role as a product designer and bridged the gap between design and business strategy. I have learned a lot from Michael, which has led to personal and professional growth. He taught me about the marketing process, different business strategies, tools, and methods that he uses in his work.

This collaboration brings value not only to me but to the business as well. As a result, our efforts are aligned, reducing the need for revisions and rework. The marketing team is also more aware of the product's features, benefits, and unique selling propositions. This knowledge helps them to craft more effective marketing campaigns.
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