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Client

LogiQ

Year

2023

Category

SAAS

Team

My role was lead product designer.

I worked with 2 other designers, product manager and developers.

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About the project

Quoting and Booking app that saved money for the company, time and gave customers real time information when buying cars internationally.

 

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Business goal

Increase revenue, Save money on shipping, Process efficiency  

User goal

Real time shipping information to know cost of purchase and shipping of cars, shipping updates and real time location of cars.

Problem

Selling cars internationally includes shipping them internationally. Company was losing money because there was no framework to quickly acquire quotes from shipping vendors to inform customers of full cost of purchasing a car internationally. There was a lot of guess work and the company lost money quoting an approximate price for shipping that involved complex routes and ports.  

 

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When designing the quoting and booking app I also had to consider containers sizes. A 20-foot container allows one or two cars or SUVs to be transported, and a 40-foot-long one allows economically to accommodate two-four mid-size vehicles. A 45-foot container will accommodate up to 5 cars.

Research insights

  • All requests for quotes and booking were accessed by all teams and working together in one space. Individuals did not work from their own accounts. Because this space was shared, name of team member had to be specified for each milestone and decision. Requests for quotes had to be prioritized and from the first step, team member name will appear on the action taken.
     

  • Search for different data points was critical at every stage of the process of the quoting and booking app. Search had to be compatible with the CRM including labels and information architecture.
     

  • All shipping vendors did not have API capabilities. Because of this lack of integration with shipping companies, quotes had to be requested manually, which meant by email.

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All requests for quotes were received and visible in the Request screen where logistic teams would select and Create a Quote. 

Detail

Teams can manage quotes and see details by clicking on each quote. In the detail section they can see shipping prices and can book or request another quote. 

After the request form is submitted all requests are logged and tracked in My Quotes 

Research methods

  • Interviews - ​I interviewed logistics team members to understand the existing process and the pain points. 
     

  • Data analysis - I explored the company CRM data base to understand how quotes, bookings and vendors can be categorized to be compatible with the CRM and also accessible as a repository of rates from different vendors to save time when in need of a quote.
     

  • User stories - Working with product manager, we identified user stories and user segments that were important in informing design decisions.
     

  • Journey mapping - I mapped out the user journey to understand the process and milestones. These documents also helped with alignment and discussions with teams and product manager.
     

  • Low fidelity prototypes - I made paper prototypes to test and validate my ideas. 
     

  • Wireframing - Once my ideas were validated I designed wireframes that were also tested before the final designs.

Teams can search active, completed and cancelled Bookings.In addition there were multiple search criteria to help with any query important for logistic teams.

Based on tech constraints of not all vendors having APIs to receive and send quotes, an email template was designed within the platform for "manual/email requests"

Ideation sketches

Ideation

  • Main categories to focus on were Requests, My Quotes, Bookings and Ratings. The home dash provided stats for logistics and clear overview of the projects and teams.
     

  • Every section had specific search data points to help teams manage projects. This feature supported project requirements and goals identified during research.
     

  • Requests form was designed to import data from CRM and for manual data entry. Teams can customize how many stops (miles) are included in the shipping of vehicles, allowing for multiple scenarios when shipping cars internationally. To reduce clutter, progressive disclosure was designed for usability.
     

  • To address the vendors that do not use API, I initially designed a form for vendors to fill out and send back. The template form was a PDF format. After many discussions with teams and product manager, it was clear that to ask vendors to fill out a form would result in very low compliance and would complicate the process. And asking each team member in logistics to send email from their business email account would hinder efficiency and bypass the one stop environment for quoting and booking. 

     

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Design

  • In order to provide accurate pricing for customers for the purchase and shipping of cars internationally and reduce costs and time for the company, logistics team needed a quoting and booking app, a hub where all members can manage quotes and shipping. This goal was achieved with the design and development if LogiQ, a quoting and booking app.
     

  • LogiQ home dash design provided the team with a quick overview of all phases of quote requisition, booking and shipping. 
     

  • UI was designed for better discoverability of all data points necessary for making decisions. The design flow reflected the already familiar pattern to logistics, starting with a quote request and then moving through the process of booking and shipping.
     

  • Clear navigation design helped teams work efficiently. Because everyone worked together in one application space, I designed very distinct elements to indicated who was working on which quote at each phase of the process. Showing the name of the team member, photo and quote IDs with dates helped keep each member on track and the team aware of the work in process.
     

  • Optimizing search results and deciding on what categories would be most valuable for logistic teams required a lot of time and testing due to so many variables that can be searched. Cars have VIN numbers, origin and destination cities, who created a quote and booking had to be organized for easy search.The final design of search categories, location and visibility improved the work flow and access to information necessary when making decisions for bookings.   

Key learnings

  • Design of a digital products should follow the natural process of work performed without the product. The digital product should simplify the process and enable a more efficient outcome.  
     

  • Adding features that are advanced to the platform may seem helpful but will hinder efficiency due to a learning curve.
     

  • Tech dependancies need to be addressed at the outset of the project.

Impact

  • Cost savings for the company due to accurate shipping quotes. (Business Goal)
     

  • Customers had access to shipping costs and could make informed decisions on the car purchase which led to more informed purchases and revenue for the company. (Business Goal)
     

  • Logistic team had tools that made their work easier and more efficient. (User Goal)

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