Configure, Price, Quote
Improving the CPQ process for sales reps in a cloud computing company.
Overview
Project Role: Researcher & Service Designer
Sprint duration: 10 weeks
Client
The client is a multinational cloud computing company that provides secure server, application, desktop and networking to 98% of Fortune 500 companies worldwide. They are in the process of migrating to a SaaS model of service delivery. NDAs prevent specificity for this project but I will give a broad overview of the work entailed.
Project description
Our client wanted to uncover the impediments within their CPQ (configure, price, quote) procedures. Sales representatives at the company have voiced that their experience with the existing interface slows their process down and therefore limits sales volume.
Role Description
I was responsible for conducting competitive research and a heuristic evaluation of existing platforms, developing iterview protocols, facilitating user interviews, crafting flow maps and sample wireframes, writing user stories for JIRA, and presenting findings to stakeholders.
Methodology
competitive analysis
To better understand the CPQ process, I analyzed primary competitors in the field.
user stories
172 user stories were generated from the insights gained in interviews.
heuristic analysis
Analyzing the current system pinpointed content, system, and structural issues.
wireframes
70 + wireframes were created within the parameters of platform capabilities.
user interviews
16 users interviews confirmed preliminary findings and added new information.
user reviews
Preliminary wireframes were reviewed by users to ascertain efficacy.
Sytem map
system map
5 system flow charts visually displayed redundancies and poor sequencing
Outcome
insights
Our research and design generated these high level themes:
Classification and hierarchy of products is confusing
Product labels and desriptions are missing, incomplete or unclear.
Visual inconsistencies the interface increase cognitive load for reprentatives.
Navigation is indirect
System bugs lead to lags and crashes.
implementation
During reviews, we asked users to rank the desirability of modifications within the interface. This information was valuable in prioritizing changes. However, as the client was already using the Conga module within Salesforce and wanted to minimize the customization and maintanance efforts of implementation, we had to consider the level of effort as well. We delivered a number of demonstrations of how current capabilities could be configured to meet the needs of users.