Pipeline

Product Designer

In my role at Simfoni, I led the uplift of five key products; Pipeline, eSourcing, Analytics, BuyDesk, and Terminal, within an impressive four-month timeframe.

To keep this case study simple, I will only include the process for one of Simfoni’s products, Pipeline.

Product Strategy & Brand, Discovery, User Research, Interaction Design, Prototyping, Testing, Information Architecture

Simfoni, a leader in spend intelligence software, provides businesses with tools to track and optimise their expenditures. Simfoni’s goal is to empower businesses with advanced spend intelligence and procurement solutions that enable them to track, analyse, and optimize their expenditures by providing actionable insights, AI and automation tools.

Pipeline helps procurement teams easily manage their sourcing projects by keeping all spend info and progress in one place. It makes tracking, decision-making, and saving money easier and faster. In Pipeline, users can see their baseline, budget and forecasted savings, alongside any deadlines for their sourcing projects. Pipeline has lots of large capabilities, but has faced several usability challenges.

I joined the company with some knowledge of the industry from my previous company, but of course, every product is different and it was crucial I understood how Pipeline worked. So, I participated in various activities including:

This helped me to understand the product from a user’s perspective and informed the design process.

Securing budget for product development
I developed a business case highlighting the project’s needs and goals. This included estimates of project hours, costs, and potential ROI. I employed the Why, What, and How method to communicate the benefits of a user-centric UX approach to stakeholders.

Stakeholder aims
I took part in regular meetings with Senior Management, Customer Success, Development, and Marketing Teams, to make sure the project aligned with business objectives and user needs.

Stakeholders wanted to
Make Pipeline product more intuitive and user-friendly, Increase the adoption rate among existing and new clients, Provide more actionable insights for better decision-making in procurement, Ensure that users fully leveraged all the features and AI tools, Help clients achieve significant cost savings through better spend management, and make the product scalable.

I started by understanding what customers value in Pipeline. My aim? To refine its value proposition by highlighting its tangible benefits for businesses and individuals.

By engaging closely with the frontline expertise of the sales and customer success teams, I gained invaluable first-hand knowledge of the features and functionalities that resonate the most with our customers. The involvement of the Senior Management Team (SMT) ensured that strategic perspectives seamlessly merged into the refinement process, aligning product enhancements with the overarching goals and vision of the organisation.

Software benefits
Pipeline simplifies the management of sourcing projects, helps businesses identify and engage with the best suppliers, tailors project stages to fit unique needs, centralises all project-related information, and scales to meet your needs.

Human benefits
Pipeline frees up time for procurement managers to focus on strategic decision-making, it saves time & reduces stress, it enables users to work more effectively together regardless of location, and the efficiencies gained translate into long-term savings & a more competitive business.

I did a competitive benchmarking exercise to identify best practices for project management tools.

This involved examining various tools designed by competitors (and non-competitors) to draw inspiration.
I gained inspiration from Jira and Monday.com, although they aren’t direct competitors, they had similar user experiences.

Data from the help centre highlighted common user issues and confusion points, guiding my focus areas.

Using Heap, I examined user behaviour to identify the user journey, areas of interest, issues and drop-off points. This analysis helped me understand areas needing improvement.

Heat maps and user recordings revealed where users clicked, scrolled, and engaged. This provided insight into user behaviour and user journeys.

To gain a deep understanding of how our software was used in real-world scenarios, I organised user testing sessions with existing customers who were using Pipeline daily.

Companies such as Sony, IKEA, Visa, and DocuSign participated in these sessions, providing insights into their experiences and challenges.

Based on the research findings, I developed user personas representing key user groups (e.g., procurement managers). I created scenarios outlining their typical interactions with Pipeline to outline their real user needs.

I did a second round of competitive benchmarking here, but more of an analysis/inspiration step. I managed to get onto a demo with a competitor (SpendHQ) who had a great way of showing different project views. This gave me some ideas for areas of improvement, and also helped me find ways we could improve upon our competitors.

I organised user feedback and research into an affinity diagram to identify patterns and key areas of focus.
I then used the ‘task criticality x impact x frequency = severity’ method to organise all user feedback with severity scores, allowing me to focus on the most important pieces of feedback.

We diligently sifted through the 150+ pain points we uncovered using the ‘criticality x impact x frequency = severity’ method.

Task criticality – how important is the task to the user? (1 = low, 5 = critical)
Impact – how much of an impact does this issue have on the user’s task? (1 = suggestion, 5 = blocker)
Frequency (%) – how many times does this come up out of total participants?

I did a review of all my research to identify key issues impacting user experience. This involved finding the most severe pain points, I narrowed down these to a list of 3:

I mapped out user journeys to visualise the steps users take to complete tasks within Pipeline, and understand key touchpoints and pain points. This helped identify pain points and inefficiencies in the current navigation and project creation and management processes.

Initial Sketches
These wireframes served as the first step in visualising the solutions to our navigation and project management issues.

User Feedback
Conducted initial testing sessions with low-fidelity wireframes to gather feedback.

Positives:

Pain Points:

SMT requested to transition directly from low fidelity to high fidelity wireframes to accelerate the time to market.

The high-fidelity wireframes for Pipeline provided an accurate representation of the refined user interface, incorporating precise elements, interactions, and visual details tailored to the improved navigation and project management features.

This stage was crucial for validating the design decisions and ensuring that each component aligned with user needs and business objectives, ultimately setting the stage for a seamless and intuitive experience for Pipeline users.

Further improvements

Designing prototypes for Pipeline was a critical step in bringing the refined high-fidelity wireframes to life.

Interactive Prototypes
Developed interactive prototypes using high-fidelity wireframes. These prototypes allowed us to simulate real user interactions and gather more detailed feedback.

User Testing
Conducted extensive user testing sessions with interactive prototypes. Participants were asked to complete tasks using the new navigation and project management features.

Iterative Refinement
Based on user feedback, we iteratively refined the prototypes. This involved tweaking visual elements, adjusting interactions, and fine-tuning the overall flow

Navigation
The final design features a stepper interface, accordion dropdowns, and a simpler flow. Now, users can easily see their progress and know what steps to take next.

Project Management
Enhanced project overview with status indicators, colour-coded tags, and customisable aging features. The new design allows users to manage projects more effectively and stay on top of deadlines.

Efficiency Tools
The AI Assistant and “Copy from Template” features significantly reduce the time required to set up and manage projects, making Pipeline a more efficient tool for users.

As we approached the launch of the enhanced Pipeline, we prepared for a focused two-week sprint to finalise the implementation and ensure a smooth rollout.

This sprint was designed to address any last-minute adjustments, conduct final testing, and ensure that all enhancements were fully integrated and functioning as intended. The intensive, short-term effort was crucial for refining the product and making sure it met both user expectations and business goals before going live.

Pipeline is now a gamechanger for busy procurement teams, a tool they rely on daily, not just to track projects, but to drive smarter spend decisions.