SOLUTION CATALOGUE
Transformed the website into a user-friendly platform that showcases our projects, making it easier to engage clients and drive new business.
Team
2 UX Designers
2 Developer
1 Business Analyst​
My Role
Research and Analysis
Visual Design
Product Strategy
Timeline
Oct - Dec 2023 ( 2 months )
INTRODUCTION
Solution Catalogue?
What?
Why?
The Solution Catalogue is a centralized platform that showcases the projects designed and developed by our _VOIS India team.
The Solution Catalogue is key to acquiring new projects, It allows Business Analysts (BAs) to quickly find and present the right projects to clients based on their needs. By demonstrating how these projects work and their benefits, the catalogue helps to build client relationships, earn their trust, and secure more business.
My Entry into Redesigning the Solution Catalogue
Our existing Solution Catalogue had become outdated and unintuitive. It wasn’t engaging clients and stakeholders as it should, making it difficult to demonstrate the value of our projects. Redesign of the Solution Catalogue was in discussion for months and finally, in October 2023, I was tasked with leading the redesign of this website.
PROBLEM
.png)
.png)
20%
Outdated Design &
Lack of customization
The interface was not visually appealing and didn't reflect the quality of our work and no easy way to tailor the catalogue to specific client needs.
28%
Poor Navigation
Clients and stakeholders struggled to find relevant projects quickly, leading to frustration and missed opportunities.
15%
Lack of Engagement
The catalogue failed to capture and maintain the interest of users with no detailed information about the project, making it difficult for BAs to showcase our work effectively.
PRODUCT GOAL
As we know by now the existing Solution Catalogue was no longer meeting the needs of our team or our clients. It was time to rethink its structure and usability to better serve our goals. So the product goal was to,
"Transform the Solution Catalogue into an interactive platform that makes it easy for both BAs and clients to navigate and find the right solutions".
RESEARCH & ANALYSIS
We reviewed user feedback, conducted interviews with BAs and clients, also analyzed how stakeholders interacted with the existing Solution Catalogue.
Conducted interviews with 5 Business Analysts (BAs) who regularly interacted with the Solution Catalogue
BA Quote:
“I often struggle to find the right project quickly. It’s frustrating when I’m in a meeting and can’t pull up what I need without digging through irrelevant results.”
We reviewed feedback from clients who had interacted with the Solution Catalogue. I also spoke directly with a few clients to get deeper insights.
Client Quote:
“It’s not just about finding the right project; it’s about being impressed from the moment I land on the page. Right now, the catalogue doesn’t do that.”
What I learned:
Impact On Business
We reviewed user feedback, conducted interviews with BAs and clients, also analyzed how stakeholders interacted with the existing Solution Catalogue.
-
Missed Opportunities: BAs reported a 20% decrease in successful client presentations due to difficulties in navigating the outdated design.
-
Client Dissatisfaction: Over 30% of clients provided feedback indicating that the current catalogue did not meet their expectations."
-
Efficiency Loss: BAs spent an average of 15 minutes longer per meeting searching for relevant projects, leading to a noticeable drop in overall productivity.
IDEATION
With a clear understanding of the problems and their impact, the next step was to move into the ideation phase. This crucial stage focused on generating and refining solutions to address the identified issues with the Solution Catalogue. Our approach was structured to ensure that the proposed solutions were both creative and user-centered.
BRAINSTORMING SOLUTIONS
Specific Ideas Generated
-
We gathered our team for group brainstorming to generate diverse ideas and perspectives. Some of them are:
-
Interactive project previews: Create interactive previews of projects to give users a better sense of their scope and functionality.​
-
Tagging and categorization: Implement a flexible tagging system to allow users to categorize and filter projects based on various criteria.
-
-
After brainstorming, we performed affinity mapping to organize our ideas into categories and themes to identify common patterns and focus on the most viable concepts.
Not the real image but added for a reference
Challenges and Breakthroughs
Throughout the ideation phase, we encountered several challenges:
-
Balancing innovation and feasibility: We had to carefully consider the technical feasibility and cost-effectiveness of each proposed solution. While we wanted to implement advanced interactive project previews and custom designs, we had to work within the constraints of SharePoint's capabilities and the allocated budget.​​
​
Breakthrough: Discussed with the development team to find a solution—using out-of-the-box SharePoint features creatively to achieve a similar effect without exceeding our resource limits.
​
-
Prioritizing ideas: With so many promising ideas on the table, it was difficult to decide which ones to pursue. We had to choose between adding a tagging system to improve searchability or enhancing the navigation menu to streamline user journeys. Both were important, but our resources were limited.​
​
Breakthrough: We utilized a prioritization matrix, which allowed us to objectively evaluate each idea based on impact, feasibility, and alignment with the project’s goals. This approach ensured that we focused on the solutions that would provide the most significant benefit to our users and stakeholders.
​​​
Wireframing & Quick Testing
-
We developed low-fidelity wireframes to map out the core structure and layout of our proposed solutions.
​
-
Conducted quick feedback sessions with BAs and clients to validate our wireframes.
15+ Wireframes
4+ rounds of feedback sessions
20+ prototypes
Key Wireframe Changes Based on Feedback
EARLY
Displayed projects in a list format with basic filtering options
ITERATION 1
Added a side panel for advanced filtering, including tags and categories prioritized based on client and BA feedback.
ITERATION 2
Introduced project previews using out-of-the-box SharePoint features in the form of hover cards to offer a quick project summary, aligned with the feedback that users wanted faster overviews without having to click through multiple screens.
THE FINAL DESIGN
After rigorous brainstorming, wireframing, and testing, it was time to bring our ideas to life in the final design phase. Here we focused on translating our validated concepts into high-fidelity designs that would effectively address the user needs and business goals identified earlier in the project.
Due to NDA, I'm not able to show the final designs.
BUT...
the designs below represent some of the initial concepts and solutions we explored. These were pivotal in shaping the final product, as they were rigorously tested, refined, and aligned with the project goals.
Design 1
Design 4
Design 2
Design 5
Design 3
Design 6
IMPACT
Positive feedback and appreciation
25%
increase in client satisfaction scores, highlighting the effectiveness of the design.
30%
increase in successful project matches, leading to more business opportunities.
40%
reduction in the time taken to find relevant projects, improving overall usability.
Learnings & Takeaways
-
Technical Proficiency
Enhanced my skills in SharePoint Online and out-of-the-box web parts, and learned how to maximize their potential for efficient and scalable design. -
Collaboration
It was my first project working closely with engineers, senior designers, and Business Analyst, where I learnt about teamwork and improved my communication skills. -
Presentation Skills
Learned how to present confidently and effectively to a large audience, improving my ability to communicate complex ideas and receive feedback. -
Project Management
I learned about project management skills by coordinating multiple design iterations and pay more attention in managing timelines to meet project deadlines.