Ariba Spend Management
Ariba Spend Management is a suite of Software-as-a-service (SaaS) products that helps organizations manage their procurement processes, supplier relationships, and overall spend effectively. It encompasses various tools and functionalities that facilitate end-to-end spend management, from sourcing and procurement to invoicing and payments.
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
Procurement Specialists (AKA “Buyers”) complained about the process of ordering goods and services. The current process was not intuitive and took a long time to complete. We wanted to improve the user experience.
PROBLEM TO SOLVE
I was tasked with discovering user pain points with the current product and informing the design direction through multiple user engagement activities.
Time line | 10 months for iterative design work and usability studies
SOLUTION
I was the only UX researcher on this project. I conducted all user research and led all UX meetings with stakeholders. I reported all findings and provided recommendations to the designers, product managers, and engineers via reports and presentations. I also presented results throughout to the executives.
MY RESPONSIBILITIES
UX Researcher
Product Designer
Product Manager
Engineering team
TEAM
Heuristic evaluation and comparative research
Onsite contextual inquiries
Customer walkthroughs
Rapid Iteration Testing and Evaluation (RITE)
RESEARCH METHODS
Team had never worked with UX before, so the process involved educating them and convincing them it would improve the user experience.
CHALLENGES
PHASE 1 - INITIAL RESEARCH
I first conducted a heuristic evaluation of the product by shopping for office supplies for myself and others. I also reviewed what other products did for their procurement processes and noted pain points and features that would delight users.
I also discussed pain points with Customer Care reps and customers during several field studies. I conducted a comparative study using Ariba Procurement and 2 of its top competitors. I rated all the products across multiple variables, such as navigation, number of steps to complete a task, and “wow” features that would delight users.
Finally, I conducted user studies with customers who currently used the product, as well as with potential users who used a competitor product. I noted both quantitative and qualitative results, as well as issues and missing features and functionality
I shared my with stakeholders through reports and presentations. I worked closely with the designer to create an updated design.
Top Results
Wizard was too long
Users could not figure out how to return to Catalog Home page
Too many items were returned so users could not quickly find what they needed
There was no functionality to see “related items”
User ratings were very low
Over 20 clicks just to purchase a single item made the process seem too lengthy
PHASE 2 - RITE (RAPID ITERATION TESTING)
I conducted multiple rapid iterative testing and evaluation (RITE) on the design updates. I conducted these once per week using participants from a subject pool I created with help from the Product Manager and an external staffing agency. I brainstormed ideas with the designer and led the stakeholder meetings to discuss the design updates. The designer used a “demo shell” to rapidly create prototypes that were functional with sample data, so I was able to analyze click rates, time on task, and qualitative measures in a real world simulation. I provided design recommendations to the designer and stakeholders for improvement every week throughout this phase.
Top Results
Users still could not return to Catalog Home page
Advanced search options were not utilized
Thumbnails and comparison feature were requested
Number of steps and click count was still above what users considered to be tolerable
User ratings were slightly higher, but still below the “acceptable” threshold
PHASE 3 - FINAL DESIGNS
Once the newest design updates were completed, they were pushed to production and implemented. Following this update, I visited a large customer site and observed multiple Buyers while they purchased office supplies and services with their own catalogs while using the newly updated product. I also used WebEx to remotely observe other large customers while they purchased supplies and services with their own catalogs.
Quantitative and qualitative measures were taken and compared with prior studies. Overall, users rated the product higher than during prior studies.
In addition, measures such as click and error counts went down, and success rate went up compared to prior studies. Here is screen from the final implemented design.
Top Updates
No more wizard!
Catalog Home link easy to find
Filters added
Thumbnails added
Comparison feature added
“Related items” feature added
User ratings were above the threshold for the new design
IMPACT ON USERS
Since I led the UX efforts across multiple products for multiple teams, it forced the teams to come together to create a unified experience. For many of the meetings I scheduled, it was the 1st time stakeholders across multiple teams met and worked together. The research I conducted helped make the purchasing product, as well as many other spend management products so intuitive, quick, and easy to use that it actually saved customers a lot of time and money.
One example customer is Disney, which saved over a billion dollars using the products I helped design, test, and improve. I was told by my Disney contact that the updated Ariba Procurement and Sourcing solution saved them enough money to create a new theme park. I attended an Ariba customer event at Disney World and I felt like a celebrity, since the work I did was so instrumental to the money saved by Disney, as well as multiple other customers who attended the event. Also, several of my design partners attended, and many other customers approached me to ask how they could partner with me. I was even invited to attend the “new and improved” Ariba roll-out parties that a few customers did when rolling out the new improved version of Ariba.