Xometry
Xometry
Redesigning an old staff tool to provide a seamless experience
Internship • Tool Redesign
6 min read
Role
Product Design Intern
Redesigned 3 major pages, conducted 2 stakeholder interviews, published 1 UserTesting study
Timeline
2 months
Team
1 Designer
2 Product Managers
1 Intern Manager
6 Developers
1 Stakeholder
Tools
Figma
UserTesting
Dovetail
Context
During Summer 2023, I was a Product Design Intern at Xometry where I worked with a stakeholder, several managers, and several developers to redesign Xometry’s staff Request For Quote (RFQ) tool.
The RFQ process comprises of the Manual Quotes workflow where Xometry staff can send quote requests out to suppliers/partners on behalf of customers in order to craft a plan for optimal production.
The RFQ tool is outdated, functionally and visually.
The RFQ tool was originally customer-facing, but now it's only used by Xometry’s staff, making several features irrelevant and useless for staff users.
ORIGINAL PAGES
THE PROBLEM
IMPORTANCE
Manual Quotes bring in 46.4% of quoting revenue while only making up 6.7% of quotes.
Since the RFQ tool is the facilitator in the manual quote process, updating the RFQ interface to better serve its daily users would help increase the efficiency of this important revenue stream for Xometry.
THE SOLUTION
Consolidate pages and incorporate thoughtful functionalities to reduce the number of clicks needed for key actions.
#1
Condensed RFQ Form
Gives users more control over their files.
#3
Partner table
Key statuses for transparency throughout the entire quote lifecycle.
#2
Two-panel Overview Page
Clear organization and flow for submitting quotes.
#3
Partner table
Key statuses for transparency throughout the entire quote lifecycle.
USER INTERVIEWS
I interviewed 2 stakeholders who walked us through their typical RFQ tool experience and highlighted their pain points. The major findings were:
The RFQ tool lacks basic features which significantly worsens user satisfaction.
There are several barriers to sending RFQs to partners
Users had to manually look up approved partners, and clicking "Submit" for an RFQ form wouldn't actually send it to partners.
The post-sending RFQ experience lacks visibility
Staff didn't get any confirmation that an RFQ had been sent. They also couldn't see how partners had responded directly on the overview page.
How might we optimize the RFQ tool's staff process and keep it recognizable?
PROBLEM STATEMENT
User flows from the interviews pointed out 5 pages out of 18 that were excessive, as marked by the yellow highlights.
Gaining insight from a distance.
After synthesizing insights from the interviews, I worked with two managers to categorize each pain point on an Impact-Effort matrix to prioritize features.
Prioritizing to-do's.
SKETCHES - RFQ FORM
Consolidating everything onto 1 page.
The RFQ form was unnecessarily made of two pages, and it was easily consolidated into one page after the uploaded files were condensed to save space. This new Upload File section design also introduced more functionality like showing the total amount of files added.
HI-FI WIREFRAMES - RFQ FORM
However, my initial idea didn't perform well in the case that there were a large amount of files, so the Upload Files section was changed to a paginated table. The table allowed for much more functionality, such as selecting, deleting, and skimming through multiple files at once, all while saving so much space. Below are hi-fis of 3 slightly different forms based on which category was chosen but all with the same updated functionalities.
PROTOTYPE - FILLING OUT AN RFQ FORM
SKETCHES - RFQ OVERVIEW PAGE
Prioritizing clarity and organization.
For the RFQ Overview Page, I aimed to simplify the flow and make it more logical, so I referenced the user flows to see where steps could be consolidated. I put all the RFQ information into a panel on the left and all actionable items into a panel on the right for clear organization.
Knowing whether individuals could get access to certain RFQs or not was an important piece of information, so I incorporated a table to organize RFQ recipients' information and statuses. Upon review, we realized we needed to add even more statuses to this table, so all statuses became color-coded for easier distinction. Toasts and banners were added as confirmations when submitting information.
HI-FI WIREFRAMES - RFQ OVERVIEW PAGE
PROTOTYPE - SUBMITTING AN RFQ TO RECIPIENTS
CHALLENGES & TAKEAWAYS
Since I was the sole designer, I learned to be proactive about seeking feedback and making final design decisions. With a tight timeline, it was crucial to frequently check in with my team about any blockers I had or things I might be missing.
User research isn't perfect.
Be proactive about what I need.
I had a lot of questions come up after user interviews, so I continued to seek feedback from our stakeholder throughout wireframing. One of the interviewees also left Xometry which left a gap in knowledge. These events taught me that user research isn't always perfect, and it pops up throughout the design process, not just at the beginning.
THINGS I WOULD DO DIFFERENTLY
Get more feedback from designers and non-designers when iterating
Getting more fresh eyes, especially from non-designers, would've been helpful for spotting anything off that I initially passed over.
Conduct usability testing with RFQ users to see how the new designs could be improved
Designs can always be improved! Unfortunately, I ran out of time but would've loved to see how users actually navigated my design.
Thanks for reading!
Check out my other work ↴
Thanks for reading!
Check out my other work ↴
FindHer
|
Empowering women in India to close the gender employment gap
Klaviyo
|
Removing user error and stress from marketing campaigns
Klaviyo
|
Removing user error and stress from marketing campaigns
FindHer
|
Empowering women in India to close the gender employment gap
Xometry
Redesigning an old staff tool to provide a seamless experience
Internship • Tool Redesign
6 min read
Role
Product Design Intern
Redesigned 3 major pages, conducted 2 stakeholder interviews, published 1 UserTesting study
Timeline
2 months
Team
1 Designer
2 Product Managers
1 Intern Manager
6 Developers
1 Stakeholder
Tools
Figma
UserTesting
Dovetail
Context
During Summer 2023, I was a Product Design Intern at Xometry where I worked with a stakeholder, several managers, and several developers to redesign Xometry’s staff Request For Quote (RFQ) tool.
The RFQ process comprises of the Manual Quotes workflow where Xometry staff can send quote requests out to suppliers/partners on behalf of customers in order to craft a plan for optimal production.
The RFQ tool is outdated, functionally and visually.
The RFQ tool was originally customer-facing, but now it's only used by Xometry’s staff, making several features irrelevant and useless for staff users.
ORIGINAL PAGES
THE PROBLEM
IMPORTANCE
Manual Quotes bring in 46.4% of quoting revenue while only making up 6.7% of quotes.
Since the RFQ tool is the facilitator in the manual quote process, updating the RFQ interface to better serve its daily users would help increase the efficiency of this important revenue stream for Xometry.
THE SOLUTION
Consolidate pages and incorporate thoughtful functionalities to reduce the number of clicks needed for key actions.
#1
Condensed RFQ Form
Gives users more control over their files.
#3
Partner table
Key statuses for transparency throughout the entire quote lifecycle.
#2
Two-panel Overview Page
Clear organization and flow for submitting quotes.
#3
Partner table
Key statuses for transparency throughout the entire quote lifecycle.
USER INTERVIEWS
I interviewed 2 stakeholders who walked us through their typical RFQ tool experience and highlighted their pain points. The major findings were:
The RFQ tool lacks basic features which significantly worsens user satisfaction.
There are several barriers to sending RFQs to partners
Users had to manually look up approved partners, and clicking "Submit" for an RFQ form wouldn't actually send it to partners.
The post-sending RFQ experience lacks visibility
Staff didn't get any confirmation that an RFQ had been sent. They also couldn't see how partners had responded directly on the overview page.
How might we optimize the RFQ tool's staff process and keep it recognizable?
PROBLEM STATEMENT
User flows from the interviews pointed out 5 pages out of 18 that were excessive, as marked by the yellow highlights.
Gaining insight from a distance.
After synthesizing insights from the interviews, I worked with two managers to categorize each pain point on an Impact-Effort matrix to prioritize features.
Prioritizing to-do's.
SKETCHES - RFQ FORM
Consolidating everything onto 1 page.
The RFQ form was unnecessarily made of two pages, and it was easily consolidated into one page after the uploaded files were condensed to save space. This new Upload File section design also introduced more functionality like showing the total amount of files added.
HI-FI WIREFRAMES - RFQ FORM
However, my initial idea didn't perform well in the case that there were a large amount of files, so the Upload Files section was changed to a paginated table. The table allowed for much more functionality, such as selecting, deleting, and skimming through multiple files at once, all while saving so much space. Below are hi-fis of 3 slightly different forms based on which category was chosen but all with the same updated functionalities.
PROTOTYPE - FILLING OUT AN RFQ FORM
SKETCHES - RFQ OVERVIEW PAGE
Prioritizing clarity and organization.
For the RFQ Overview Page, I aimed to simplify the flow and make it more logical, so I referenced the user flows to see where steps could be consolidated. I put all the RFQ information into a panel on the left and all actionable items into a panel on the right for clear organization.
Knowing whether individuals could get access to certain RFQs or not was an important piece of information, so I incorporated a table to organize RFQ recipients' information and statuses. Upon review, we realized we needed to add even more statuses to this table, so all statuses became color-coded for easier distinction. Toasts and banners were added as confirmations when submitting information.
HI-FI WIREFRAMES - RFQ OVERVIEW PAGE
PROTOTYPE - SUBMITTING AN RFQ TO RECIPIENTS
CHALLENGES & TAKEAWAYS
Since I was the sole designer, I learned to be proactive about seeking feedback and making final design decisions. With a tight timeline, it was crucial to frequently check in with my team about any blockers I had or things I might be missing.
User research isn't perfect.
Be proactive about what I need.
I had a lot of questions come up after user interviews, so I continued to seek feedback from our stakeholder throughout wireframing. One of the interviewees also left Xometry which left a gap in knowledge. These events taught me that user research isn't always perfect, and it pops up throughout the design process, not just at the beginning.
THINGS I WOULD DO DIFFERENTLY
Get more feedback from designers and non-designers when iterating
Getting more fresh eyes, especially from non-designers, would've been helpful for spotting anything off that I initially passed over.
Conduct usability testing with RFQ users to see how the new designs could be improved
Designs can always be improved! Unfortunately, I ran out of time but would've loved to see how users actually navigated my design.
Thanks for reading!
Check out my other work ↴
Thanks for reading!
Check out my other work ↴
FindHer
|
Empowering women in India to close the gender employment gap
Klaviyo
|
Removing user error and stress from marketing campaigns