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Creating an Online User Interface: Not a Numbers Game
Making corporate information accessible is a small part of Business to Buisness success. Making it useable is the key.
The problem:
A large corporate was using an old supplier management system, the design of which was driven by data, rather than user tasks. The system housed all the transactional information for over 30,000 suppliers.
The client interface presented too much unfocussed data, and as a result was unusable. There was a consequent low uptake by suppliers - they relied on printed invoices and statements to keep track of their current position re accounts and forward bookings. This resulted in lost time, poor supplier relations, and a prohibitive (non-environmentally friendly) cost structure based on mailing out a paper record of each transaction.
The solution:
Wired’s solution started by identifying the key information types and the tasks that they supported. They then accessed the old database and harvested this key data to form the core of the new system. The key data was identified through interviews with key stakeholders and users – including those suppliers who had made good use of the existing system (to find what worked well), and also reluctant adopters (to discover what they found unusable).
Using this knowledge, a redesigned interface was built around the required information to support users’ needs. Additional planning tools were provided to give suppliers enhanced reasons to use the system.
The goals of the new interface were to provide information that is:
- complete and continually up to date
- tailored to the needs of individual suppliers as well as giving an overall picture of market trends
- able to be configured easily by suppliers into a range of useful reports.
The interface also provided the suppliers with a profile of their agent to enhance the relationship and the agent is able to view all his clients’ accounts. Wired and their client then developed a strategy to encourage uptake of the new system, while creating key metrics and reports to measure and manage the performance of the new system.
Success was measured by increased uptake by suppliers and a decrease in supplier management costs for the company.
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