CASE STUDY- 2020
Minimizing Apparel Production Lead Time
OVERVIEW
Being an apparel production platform that connects brands with manufacturers, providing real time visibility of progress reports for brands is the key functionality. Now the question was, how can we provide a better experience with visibility and tracking of orders? That’s when I stepped up to enhance our dashboard experience to resolve the issues in mind.
MY ROLE
Product Designer
TIMELINE
Dec 2020-Feb 2021
TEAM
Head of Design ( Sourav )
2 SDEs ,1 PM ,1 Tech Lead
2 SDEs ,1 PM ,1 Tech Lead
PROBLEM
The complication was that, Brands were unaware about what was going on. Too many steps and a lot of back and forth communication were needed to get to the desired piece of information on the progress of orders. The brands and Internal users weren’t able to take quick precise actions. So, how can we provide a more accessible dashboard experience?
INSIGHTS FROM BRAND INTERVIEWS AND CUSTOMER DEVELOPMENT SESSIONS
“Due to lack of end-to-end visibility, the approvals that were pending increased; routine follow-ups between Fashinza and the brands were to be set up so that both the parties involved could manage their pace. “
“There is a need for a more accessible overview of each running order. A clear distinction is required on reviewing info cards to nudge the brands to identify and take orders that require attention.”
“Giving FEEDBACK or APPROVAL at a specific step from just the universal chat was pointless as they were getting lost in the information load of multiple steps in a specified order.”
“There is a need for a more accessible overview of each running order. A clear distinction is required on reviewing info cards to nudge the brands to identify and take orders that require attention.”
“Giving FEEDBACK or APPROVAL at a specific step from just the universal chat was pointless as they were getting lost in the information load of multiple steps in a specified order.”
SOLUTION / NEW DASHBOARD SCREENS
Above shows the ability to quickly view Sub steps on hovering over a parent step of an order in production
Focused Chat
This feature was about modifying our chat assistance. Each individual step of the procedure can be remarked through this focused chat panel rather than having the universal chat for the overall order. It supports different use cases, for instance, brand users can give feedback/approval on any particular step precisely, helping multiple brand employees to monitor each individual steps with more focus.
Different status states
Quick Approval
In the exploring phase with brands, I realized the whole process of decision making solely depends on the images or files attached by the account manager while marking a step complete. It does not depend upon the content of the previous conversation between the two. Based on this we designed a faster way for brands to take actions without getting lost in conversations and insignificant data.
IMPACT
As soon as these features were launched, we witnessed a significant increase of new brands signing up with our platform which also led to increase in Brand-activity, new RFQ’s getting created and a drop of 40% production time in running orders due to better communication.
“Some Solutions Only Bring Short Lived Happiness.”
“OUR VISION IS SIMPLE AND STRIKING. We are building the future chain of supply for the apparel industry which is agile, transparent and reliable.”
BOTTLENECK
The lifecycle of production begins with creation of TNA’s (sequential manufacturing steps for an order) i.e. a proper collaboration of time and action. As opposed to our vision, the internal users (AM’s) were not completing this task for new orders in a correct manner which was resulting in poor-visibility for brands. This was interrupting the motive of our recently launched dashboard and we couldn’t afford a spread of negative word amongst the brands.
ANALYSING / RESEARCH
An extensive study with our internal users showed me that the TNA creation feature was not being utilized fully to its potential. Users were just pasting their end result using 3rd party apps which didn’t make sense. The initial design was far away from the practical conventional style of working. Through the surveys it was evident that there were massive flaws in the TNA creation flow.
1. Users had a habit of using excel sheets which made it harder for them to adapt and perform.
2. Multiple Clicks to set up dates/other information which was tiresome.
3. Because of the absence of bulk TNA processes, there was much redundancy
in steps taken to create a TNA.
1. Users had a habit of using excel sheets which made it harder for them to adapt and perform.
2. Multiple Clicks to set up dates/other information which was tiresome.
3. Because of the absence of bulk TNA processes, there was much redundancy
in steps taken to create a TNA.
OPPORTUNITIES
I figured out that if the current UI is converted to a list view which will make it similar to the conventional practices, it would increase the user engagement and enable faster TNA creations. It will also prevent users from taking 3rd party assistance.
- I prioritized a few features based on the above opportunity that would be more feasible for the new TNA flow and also make it flexible.
- The visual representation of well-defined steps in a standard form just like excel to quickly skim through a large number of TNA steps.
- Creation of TNA in bulk and being able to edit for particular styles under an order.
- Being able to instantly make changes in the TNA steps without losing context.
- More flexibility with editing or assigning dates to the respective steps.
Current UI
Standard TNA In Excel
Current Date Picker
Dates Redundancy
Setting dates is the most expandable thing in our designing procedure. Generally, in each step a user needs to set two dates: brand date and supply date. Imagine 25 Individual steps under a TNA, that means 50 clicks for setting all the dates. In order to make the process speedy, we surely needed to make it quicker and simpler.
SOLUTION
The foremost solution was to open both the supplier and brand date simultaneously in a double date modal as soon as the cursor hovers over the cell, thereby reducing one click.
Brand Buffer
On observation, it was found that there was almost every time a standard difference between the brand and supplier dates on each step. I discussed my findings with the internal merchandisers and a few outsourcers. This led to the idea of launching the brand buffer concept to avoid one more additional click by exactly reducing the clicks by 50%. Now the users only need to set a supply date and the brand date could be automatically set by using “+/-” (a few days ahead based on the input).
Creating Time &
Action Plan
The new design resembled the excel table view in which the individual steps were listed opposite to each style with a checklist that enables bulk editing. This can add a new step between any existing steps. Also, the steps can be rearranged by simply dragging.
TNA Creation interactions
Part of this project was also about taking into consideration the entire TNA creation experience and creating new steps that fit within the system. These additional designs helped me expand our existing design language and ensure that any new feature built around TNA would fit within this newly designed and upgraded framework.
Somae main TNA Cell States
OUTCOME / LEARNINGS
Not only was this project important because it was one of the top features that helped us in aligning with our vision of transparency and full visibility, but it also added tremendous value to the whole business.
We saw Internal users creating TNA’s saving time by 60%. As a result brand engagement with dashboards increased and more new RFQ and orders came in which eventually kept the sales pipelines always engaged.
Always fighting for good UX, I had to work under very strict technical constraints, but I always still fought for what I believe was worth having: a good user experience.
Choosing and deciding what we won’t do. There were many great use cases that we could tackle with a rich feature set. However, every single one was expensive or unrealistic so I had to determine where the real value lies and we did not spread ourselves too thin.
We saw Internal users creating TNA’s saving time by 60%. As a result brand engagement with dashboards increased and more new RFQ and orders came in which eventually kept the sales pipelines always engaged.
Always fighting for good UX, I had to work under very strict technical constraints, but I always still fought for what I believe was worth having: a good user experience.
Choosing and deciding what we won’t do. There were many great use cases that we could tackle with a rich feature set. However, every single one was expensive or unrealistic so I had to determine where the real value lies and we did not spread ourselves too thin.
