February 2017 - February 2022
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B-Stock is a fast growing, forward-thinking, industry changing-on-a-global-scale company. World's leader in return logistics solutions for top retailers. Online auctions for B2B liquidation, returns, and overstock inventory.
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FEATURED PROJECTS
Seller's Subsbscription
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Seller's Rating
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CS Portal - Account Approvals
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Buyer Portal - Filters
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Featured Project
Seller Subscription Management
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Role
Lead UX Designer Users SMB and Enterprise Retailers, who want to sell on B-Stock platform Problem Transitioning to a subscription-based business model was essential for monetizing the platform services. This shift ensured that sellers could autonomously manage their subscription plans, reducing dependence on the support team. Process In response to business requests and after conducting a thorough market analysis, I collaborated closely with the product manager to compile a comprehensive list of product requirements. Following the documentation phase, I shifted to in-depth research on industry standards and best practices. I meticulously examined three subscription flows within a chosen B2B SaaS application, and two other B2C flows to discern existing patterns that could be adapted for the B-Stock platform. To streamline the design process, I developed a matrix encompassing all relevant cases and user stories, pinpointing similarities or overlaps in the flow. Subsequently, I created detailed flow charts for each user story, progressing to wireframes upon receiving approval from the product team. Recognizing the project's magnitude, I structured the workload into several design tickets, aligning them with two-week agile design sprints. This entailed dedicating one sprint to preparatory work and workflow design and allocating three subsequent sprints to refine wireframes, prototyping, high-fidelity mockups, and annotations for the development team. The transition from wireframes to high-fidelity mockups was a pivotal phase, during which I also focused on fine-tuning components, their states, UX copy, and other intricate details. To gather feedback, I crafted prototypes to present to users and stakeholders. This iterative process ensured the final designs were meticulously refined and seamlessly integrated. Upon the validation and minor adjustments to the copy, I diligently annotated the designs, providing a comprehensive handoff to the development team for implementation. Solution The proposed subscription plans encompassed three tiers: small, medium, and enterprise. I orchestrated the design of multiple user flows, ensuring a seamless experience for subscribing, switching plans, canceling subscriptions, managing payment methods, accessing transaction history, and generating reports for tax purposes. To streamline certain aspects, I delegated the tasks of updating payment methods and handling account suspensions to two other designers. Furthermore, the designs included an extensive messaging and notifications framework, informing users about impending payments, recent subscription activities, and an account suspension event. Although I introduced a trial mechanism, we opted to set it aside for simplicity, intending to revisit it in later phases. Outcome ROI and customer retention metrics have seen a notable uptick, owing to the enhanced ease with which customers can manage their subscriptions independently, thereby reducing reliance on the Customer Service team. This, in turn, has led to a marked reduction in the time spent by B-Stock CS and AM teams on addressing subscription queries and account-related issues. As a result, customer satisfaction has surged, primarily attributable to the heightened level of control afforded to them. |
Featured Project
Seller’s Rating
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Role
Lead UX Designer Users SMB retailers, who are using B-Stock platform to source inventory Problem Low-quality smaller sellers on B-Stock have been contributing to a negative reputation, elevated rates of order cancellations and disputes, and a discernible decline in traffic. Additionally, there have been occasional issues with the warehouses of larger retailers. To address these challenges, how can we increase trust in our buyers, enhance relevant metrics, and empower platform users to make more informed decisions? Design Process & Solution B-Stock amassed a wealth of insights and qualitative data through extensive user research, underscoring the substantial business demand and users' imperative for a system to rate sellers and specific warehouses. This proposition resonated strongly with industry trends, a sentiment that numerous interviewed users (buyers) and stakeholders echoed. The initiative began with collecting preliminary buyer feedback, facilitated by mailing tools. Once we gathered a substantial dataset, I supervised the creation of the initial UX solution — an intuitive feedback-gathering experience designed by a junior designer I was onboarding, guiding and mentoring at that moment. Subsequently, I expanded the functionality to enable buyers to sort and filter auctions by seller rating. I incorporated the capacity to peruse ratings for warehouses specifically tailored for enterprise retailers, seamlessly integrating these add-ons into the existing flow. As the project evolved, I refined it by including features allowing buyers to monitor approval statuses and resolve problems with denied reviews. Notably, the project also encompassed the development of an internal tool to facilitate review approval and management. Each project phase underwent rigorous usability testing, complemented by comprehensive UI validation questions administered during user interviews as part of an ongoing research program to ensure optimal usability and effectiveness. The culmination of these efforts materialized over two years and five distinct project phases, culminating in the successful launch of the feature. Outcome
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Featured Project
Customer Support Portal
Account Approval
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Role
Lead UX Designer Users Internal B-Stock employees, CS team members Problem Introducing the new registration process necessitated a reconfiguration of workflows within the customer service department. As part of the project team, we successfully devised automated solutions for this process. My role involved crafting a new flow to handle manual cases and designing an interface to facilitate this transformation seamlessly. Design Process & Solution Initially, I conducted an in-depth review of existing materials and reports prepared by the product manager, who had closely observed the operational procedures of the B-Stock Customer Service team. To answer additional questions I organized a comprehensive 1-hour focus group with CS team members, leading to the incorporation of several crucial insights into the product requirements. The team's excitement was palpable as we outlined a plan to automate approximately 80% of the cases. I meticulously developed a workflow diagram. Collaborating closely with the product manager we brainstormed to identify potential enhancements to the existing process, given that some cases still necessitated manual approvals. Upon approving wireframes for the flow, I delved into crafting specific screens. The work involved identifying critical data points required for effective decision-making, categorizing them, and designing layouts that align with natural perception and object comparison models. Subsequently, I constructed a prototype and conducted independent usability tests with two CS team members, refining the design based on their feedback. Once I had meticulously annotated the designs, I handed them to the development team for implementation. Outcome Implementing auto-approval for customers led to a substantial reduction in the time required per approval and reduction of approval wait time for the platform users (buyers). Additionally, automated validation significantly enhanced the caliber of approved customers, effectively eliminating potential human errors and providing a record of approvals. The Customer Service team benefited immensely from this upgrade. They now have access to a user-friendly, contemporary interface for handling remaining cases. The new interface streamlined their workflow and reduced training time for new team members. Moreover, the interface had the advantage of readily accessing supportive documentation, further optimizing their efficiency. |
Featured Project
Filters for Buyer Portal
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Role
UX Designer Users SBM Retailers, Enterprise Sellers, B-Stock Internal Employees, 3rd Party Vendors Problem The existing solution for non-listings page filters uses outdated UI with low usability and discoverability. There is also a need to include new attributes and define a pattern for the Design System, new pages in development, and future design work. Process First, I've created a list of all pages using this type of filtering UI (UX touch-points). Then, I did reading/research related to the topic using the Baymard Institute resources. If you have never heard about it, check it out, as it's the most comprehensive guide to usability in e-commerce, and in most cases, their recommendations will work for B2B e-commerce platforms as well. Based on my findings, I drafted the solution, presented it, and discussed it with the design team to get opinions and insights. Then, I started to design components. I used a matrix for data cases, so my designs were flexible and could be applied to any page later. To suggest the initial ordering of the filters, I referenced web analytics data on the usage of existing filters; however, I recommended reviewing this for the new version, memorizing user's selection, or using AI to suggest the best ordering. While designing, I used a mobile-first approach, providing components and mockups for both narrow and wide screens. Solution The designs provided updated patterns for all relevant pages, filter sections, section options, data types, UI patterns for each data type, labeling conventions, and sorting behavior for each page. I also showcased the applied filter behavior with different variations. I included components into the B-Stock Design System and developed and documented guidelines for future work. Outcome Updated filters with improved usability and aligned with modern UX/UI standards. |