UX / UI / Product / Industrial / Furniture / Process Design
BrandCloud Retailer App
2017 - 2018
Worked with software engineers from Prophet Digits Ltd.
BrandCloud is a unified "SaaS" Omni-Channel commerce platform for brands or manufacturers, importers and retailers to operate a global commerce network across available sales channels. Brands or manufacturers use BrandCloud as their core sales system in which an unlimited amount of physical retailers, distributors, sales-intermediates, online shops, and marketplaces can be fed simultaneously. Retailers use BrandCloud to be part of a brands digital but hybrid commerce world in which physical touch-points become more and more critical.
The BrandCloud retailer app I was redesigning, is the tool for retailers to sell products for partner brands.
*If you are interested in BrandCloud, please check www.brand-cloud.com for more information.
My Role
I led the BrandCloud retailer app redesign team.
Restructuring the information architecture
I reframed the product structure with the product manager of BrandCloud to build a better information architecture.
Creating better user flow
I partnered with three software engineers to generate screen flowcharts, wireframes and prototypes for a better user experience and content strategy.
Designing for retailers
I worked with some retailers and designed the interface that meets their needs.
The Challenge & Approach
To understand the whole selling process and a brand new business model for a designer like me is a challenge at the beginning. Therefore, I spent a lot of time talking to some brand founders and retailers to understand the full journey of a product from development to market, as well as the business game played by all parties involved through the selling process and every problem that comes with it.
Next, I did some studies to have a grasp of the core value and the solution BrandCloud can provide, and then maximized the effect by integrating it with the new information structure, user flow, and design.
The Vision
An ultimate retailing tool
The vision for the BrandCloud retailer app is to make it an ultimate retailing tool. It is an information center, a product checking tool, a purchase order tool and a cash desk in the pocket.
It is a tool to leverage the skills of retailers and to create the best shopping experience for consumers shopping in-store.
The Discovery
After interviewing a handful of users, I found two main problems in the original app.
1. Who am I?
Having multiple roles for one user in the retailer app is acceptable and convenient. However, operating the app in the wrong role can lead to undesirable consequences. In the original app, on the main page, a user can only know the products from which brand he/she is looking at, but not in which shop he/she is at. For a retailer who has multiple shops, this may lead to some lost sales opportunities as a result of the app showing the wrong information.
The BrandCloud original app
2. Too powerful to handle
BrandCloud system treats every product item as a one-and-only unique piece. It also has lots of functions such as looking up the details of a specific item or checking out products and so on. Thus the system contains a bucketload of information and features. In the original app, a user can easily get lost in the app and can not quickly reach a specific page or function.
The BrandCloud original app
The Wireframe
To solve the problems, I first came up with new ideas about the structure and content strategy. Then I partnered with three other software engineers to create wireframes. Gradually, the abstract concepts start to have a concrete look.
The following picture shows one of the wireframes.
The purchase order wireframe
Key Design Details
1. Always play the right role
I have designed it in a way that a retailer can know in which shop he/she is at and what role he/she is playing anytime when navigating the new retailer app.
2. Follow the breadcrumb
To allow a user quickly and correctly get the right information without getting lost in the app, I have designed clear and consistent navigating functions and added a breadcrumb menu right beneath the navigation bar.
3. Lift the weight
I have redesigned a "lighter" interface to balance against a bucketload of retail information, using only vivid colors on essential buttons and functions as a guide to speed up and smooth the whole selling process.
The gallery
The following gallery shows some of the designs for IOS mobile.
