Reimagine Provider Inviting Experience
Design a streamlined way for service subscribers to connect with service providers
TEAM
Product Manager, Engineer, Business Operation
MY WORK
UX Design, UX Research, Prototyping, Visual Design
BACKGROUND
This project is a part of the long-term Provider Marketplace project which creates a new platform for service subscriber (e.g. Trader Joe’s) to find, invite and manage providers (e.g. plumber).
I was fully responsible for designing the invitation module. The goal is to make invitation experience simple, intuitive, and seamlessly integrated into the new platform.
The outcome of this design not only increases the conversion rate from searching a provider to inviting a provider, but also contributes to the rapidly growth in revenue.
Design Process
The Waterfall approach is used to develop the product. We divided the project into several modules and for each release cycle, we designed new modules and improved usability of modules designed in the previous cycle based on the feedback received from release.
"As a facility manager, I want to invite providers into my provider network so that I can assign work orders to them when something is broken."
- Subscriber User Story
# THE BIGGER PICTURE
Business, Revenue, Product Vision
The whole Marketplace project is important business-wise as it creates a new revenue stream and has large potential to grow. After interviewing our Scout team, it is very clear that the following business insights will have large impact on later design.
# RESEARCH
Two types of user
Interviews
The project begins with a requirement as short as "we want to redesign the invitation flow". Not only the requirement is broad and general, but also it starts with a solution instead of a problem. My first step is to interview users and stakeholders to understand why we want to redesign this flow, who the users are, what their pain points are, etc.
Interview Findings
From interviews, we identified two main user personas and their pain points. At this step, we are looking at their general goals and pain points which are not specific to invitation experience.
Journey Mapping
To better understand why current solutions are not working and the frictions users run into in the current invitation experience, I mapped out user journeys.
Define the Problem
Combining findings from the user journey maps and the interviews, we were able to clearly define the major problems to solve during the invitation experience.
Subscriber Problem
# 1
Cold emailing a unfamiliar provider creates a lot of friction
# 2
Tracking all the invitations they send out is difficult
# 3
They may later find the new providers not capable of doing the work they asked
Provider Problem
# 1
They are so busy with on-site work that they often miss invitation messages
# 2
Sizing the business opportunity of the new customer is difficult
# 3
Tracking all the invitations they get is difficult
# The path to solution
How might we make it easy and clear for subscribers to describe their needs to the providers?
# Brainstorm
From Problem to Solution
From research insights, we created problem statements. We then use 'How might we' questions to brainstorm different ideas, prioritize them based on technical viability, product vision and business opportunity, and finally pick a few options to move forward with.
Brainstorm with paper sketches
From text description of the potential solution, I created rough sketches to visualize how it look like in the web app.
This allows wide-range exploration and iterations with little cost. From paper sketches, I moved into higher-fidelity mockups and prototypes which becomes the final solution implemented by dev team.
# Design Iteration
Streamline the invitation flow
From the brainstorm session above, we decided to design a streamlined invitation flow within our own platform. This solution mainly consist of three features: sending out invitations, accepting invitations and managing invitations.
Sending out invitation
Two goals I want to achieve when designing this flow: 1. make it as easy as possible so that users do not drop halfway 2. provide enough clear information about service requested to motivate provider users to respond and save communication time.
1 - PAPER SKETCH
Mainly three options were created. After discussing with the team, I picked the 3rd step-by-step option to move forward with.
Option 1: Click and go
PROS
Simple, with one click, users can send out the invitation
CONS
Users may miss 'More Option'
Option 2: Accordian
PROS
Visible, organized, all on the same page
CONS
Users may miss some collapsed sections
Option 3: Step by step ✅
PROS
Easy-to-follow process
Not crowded on one page
CONS
Users may drop halfway
2 - WIREFRAME
At this phase, I focused on deciding what information to ask from subscriber users. The design decision is made based on two principles:
1. Do subscriber or provider users want to know it?
2. How important this information is at the inviting phase.
Different variations of wireframes are created. The goal is to find a balance, to ask subscribers to provide just enough key information so that they are overwhelmed, but also guide them to provide useful information.
Finally we decided to include these types of information: trade, store location, planned maintenance, agreements, customized message (optional).
Based on this finding, I created wireframe flows.
3 - FINAL DESIGN
Finally visual elements are added, such as colors, fonts, spacing, etc.
Accepting invitation
This accepting function is mainly for providers to review invitations from subscribers and accept or decline the invitation. The design goal is assist providers to decide whether they are capable of doing the work.
1 - PAPER SKETCH
2 - WIREFRAME
3 - FINAL DESIGN
Managing invitation
This function provides an easy way to track all the invitations sent. Subscribers can view, revoke, extend, export or finalize the invitation.
1 - PAPER SKETCH
2 - WIREFRAME
3 - FINAL DESIGN
# Bigger Picture
Fit into the new Provider Marketplace platform
This invitation feature is a part of the MarketSearch platform, therefore it needs to fit into the bigger customer journey seamlessly. This not only requires retouch at the information architecture, but also needs to contribute to the new design system as it brings in new components and visual requirement.
Information Architecture Improvement
This invitation feature is a part of the MarketSearch platform, therefore it needs to fit into the bigger customer journey seamlessly. This not only requires retouch at the information architecture, but also needs to contribute to the new design system as it brings in new components and visual requirement.
Improve New Design System
This invitation feature is a part of the MarketSearch platform, therefore it needs to fit into the bigger customer journey seamlessly. This not only requires retouch at the information architecture, but also needs to contribute to the new design system as it brings in new components and visual requirement.
# Outcome
After Release
We released this to hundreds of customers and get very positive feedback from them. New streams of revenue has been gained from this project and it is growing rapidly. (Note: No confidential data is displayed)
Next Step
Usability improvement
A few usability issues come up after release. One example is that big subscribers may have a large number of locations which makes the experience of selecting as well as accepting locations cumbersome, so it needs improving.
New requirements
New functionalities are also brought up, such as filtering, bulk action, adding notes, using maps, etc. The goal is to further reduce the friction utilizing the data we already have and collect more useful data to understand our users' behaviors.
