The Approach

We have kicked off the process with a series of workshops with key stakeholders, which were facilitated by Sam Hardy (Head of Design at Obodo) and myself. Based on the discovery I have started working simultaneously on key 3 aspects of the project to get our feet off the ground: Service Design of main areas of the app (which were established during the workshops), a timeline for the initial MVP release, and an early prototype to validate our hypothesis with potential users (interviews were facilitated by Laura Farrant).

Service Design

We have kicked off the process with a series of workshops with key stakeholders, which were facilitated by Sam Hardy (Head of Design at Obodo) and myself. Based on the discovery I have started working simultaneously on key 3 aspects of the project to get our feet off the ground: Service Design of main areas of the app (which were established during the workshops), a timeline for the initial MVP release, and an early prototype to validate our hypothesis with potential users (interviews were facilitated by Laura Farrant).

The client came to us with a very "high level" idea only. One of the main tasks was not only to create the best possible user journeys and UI for the users but also to imagine how each functionality should actually work - not only the user-facing key features like shipping or tracking but also internal aspects of the software: setting up pricing for hundreds of combinations (different sizes and weights for multiple carriers operating worldwide that involved maximum flexibility for the Siid team - setting up margins, discounts, etc.), handling invoices (importing invoice documents from the carriers and using the built-in tool to forward them to customers with the added margins based on a custom set of the rules), a support tool that allows the Siid team to take temporary control of client's account and resolve any issues that might occur.

WHAT WAS DONE

Main Functionalities

User facing
Registration & Self-onboarding
Orders panel (from multiple marketplaces)
Product directory (a hub for all eCommerce platforms)
Shipments request & overview app
Pick and Pack
Custom tracking
Pricing add-ons (with custom rules)
Configurator & Backoffice tool

Siid Admin tools
Pricing tool (external cost + add-ons)
Subscription bundles configurator
Control center for carriers' accounts
Invoicing
Users overview & support system
Backoffice with multiple permissions levels

& much more

Design Process

I've started the design process with a temporary by the default art direction. At this point of the project, we did not know not only what the branding would be, but even a final name was not crystalized. The initial art direction was just a driver to start visualizing what the Siid app could become and as a tool for presenting a more compelling prototype for user testing and interviews. The initial goal was to create a set of components that would later become a proper design system, so we could streamline the early design process as much as possible.

Once the brand guidelines came from the external agency I did a short week sprint to transform them into an initial set of styles for the design system as well as tweak & polish (in communication with the branding agency) to make sure everything was in sync with the accessibility guidelines. Once done, a longer workshop with all the key stakeholders was held - the art direction was approved and the fun part began…

AFTER THE USER RESEARCH

Addressing users' needs

User testing was conducted with the clients that were already lined up for the MVP release as well as some on a few people recruited specifically for this task. The overall response was overwhelmingly good, but a few potential issues were pointed: the app itself was huge - users would be potentially dealing with hundreds of thousands of orders on a daily basis. To ease their incertitude I have proposed and implemented a new component to be used across the whole app - an "Omni power button" called "Manage", which would allow them to perform key actions in the context of the current content of the app as well as their current selections.

The Design System

I've started working on the design system for Siid pretty much from the start - as soon as the user testing was conducted and the final branding was established. Siid was a huge piece of software, even at the MVP stage so consistency was one of the key must-haves. This approach also allowed me to speed up the process - instead of the typical "wireframes to UI to prototype" I was able to just sketch out ideas, talk them through with key stakeholders, quickly ideate, and present new chunks of functionalities as ready to go prototypes. Throughout the year and 3 releases, I have built a massive library of Figma's components and documentation on Notion - it was used not only for the future of the app (without my further involvement) but also as a go-to place for developers working on the project.

13 MONTHS LATER

What was achieved

Thirteen months, an MVP, and 2 releases later I have exited the project. Siid was successfully brought to market with clients using the app from Day 1. I have also left around one year of future development work to be finished and released later. With that foundation and extensive design system in place, Siid is going to strive and help small & medium eCommerce do what they do best. Without worrying too much about arranging and handling shipments. With the rates that were previously available only to the market giants.