Researched and designed a web app to manage audit readiness in real time

Lead UX Researcher & Designer | New Product Development

MY ROLE

Lead UX Researcher

Lead UX Designer

KEY ACTIVITIES

User Interviews

Usability Testing

Journey Mapping
Wireframes
Prototyping

COMPANY

Highland Ag Solutions

INDUSTRIES

SaaS Solution

Enterprise Solution

B2B

DATE

2022-2023

Project Overview

The Challenge

Highland Ag Solutions is a subscription-based web application designed for the agricultural sector, providing digital tools for compliance, sustainability, and remote enterprise management. The business ask was to validate and develop a new tool specifically for food safety consultants, with the aim of expanding Highland's product portfolio and ultimately boosting revenue.

Methods I Used

Discovery Workshop
10 Remote Moderated Interviews
Affinity Mapping
Persona Creation
Empathy Mapping
"As Is" Customer Journey Map
Concept Testing
Prioritization Matrix Workshop
4 Rounds of Iterative Remote Moderated Usability Tests
MVP UX Research Process

My Deliverables

Research Plan/Report
User Interview Guides
User Personas
User Journey Maps
Empathy Maps
Research Findings Report
User Flows
Wireframes
Information Architecture (IA) Diagrams
Mockups
Interactive Prototypes
Annotated Designs
Final Designs (Comps)

Project Impacts

75%

Reduction time in on-site and in-person audits.

87%

Reported decreases in non-compliance issues.

15 pts

Average point increase of clients' audit scores.

Outcome

Created a web app to serve as a comprehensive tool for monitoring and notifying clients, ensuring compliance readiness.
Provided a solution, enabling them to manage compliance and regulatory requirements for vendors, clients, suppliers, etc.
The enhanced visibility and real-time updates empower businesses with continuous audit readiness, 24/7/365.

Watch the demo video below

Compliance Tracker demo video

Research

The Challenge: Discovering the Real Problems for Consultants

I started this project without knowing whether a solution was even necessary. My first step was to determine if our consultant users needed a new tool and if they would be willing to pay for it. To begin, I engaged with food safety consultants and the Highland team, all of whom were active users of the Highland Hub, to gain a deeper understanding of their needs and experiences. This foundational research was essential to shaping the direction of the project.

Research Methods: Tools to Understand Consultants Lives

Given that neither the stakeholders nor I knew whether the ask would result in a new product, feature, or perhaps just a simple widget, I began with a hypothesis. This hypothesis served as a proposed explanation based on limited evidence, intended as a starting point for further investigation. It was a potential solution to a problem that hadn't yet been validated or tested, guiding my initial exploration and discovery phase.

Research Questions Guiding My Hypothesis

These questions guided the research and development process throughout the project.

1

Do food safety consultants need a new tool to enhance their experience with the Highland Hub?

2

What specific pain points and challenges do consultants face in their current workflow?

3

Would consultants be willing to pay for a new tool designed to address these challenges?

4

How can the Highland team and consultants collaborate effectively to shape a tool that meets these needs?

User Interviews & Observations

To kick off the project, I engaged with food safety consultants and the Highland team, all active users of the Highland Hub, to understand their needs and experiences.

I conducted six 45-minute user interview sessions with food safety consultants from small, medium and large consulting firms. 
I also interviewed four internal stakeholders: Product Owner, Director of Customer Success and (2) Account Managers.
I also observed users while they interacted with Food Safety, then compared these observations with interview findings.

Screenshot of a stakeholder interview to gather requirements and insights

Pattern Recognition

I reviewed customer support tickets and my feedback repository to identify patterns or issues mentioned during interviews. These patterns help in identifying unmet needs and opportunities for innovation. 

Common Pain Points: Frequent issues or challenges reported by consultants using the Highland Hub.
Recurring Requests: Specific features or tools consistently requested by consultants.
User Frustrations: Areas where consultants express dissatisfaction or frustration with the current system.
Usage Patterns: Insights into how consultants interact with existing features or workflows.
Sentiment Analysis: Overall sentiment (positive, negative, neutral) of feedback regarding the product.

KEY FINDINGS: I Identified 3 key areas of opportunities

Time-Consuming Logins

Logging into multiple Highland Hub accounts is inefficient.

Real-Time Tracking Challenges

Overnight compliance issues make it hard to monitor all items in real-time.

Delayed Remediation

Out-of-compliance items can remain unnoticed for weeks, hindering prompt correction.

Our top 10 consultants averaged 162 operations in the Highland Hub, each requiring a separate login!

Research Challenges: Digging Deeper to Understand Needs

After organizing and clustering notes, I identified recurring themes in frustrations, processes, and motivations, reaching "data saturation." However, I realized the need to dive deeper to truly understand the consultants' perspectives.
My goal was to empathize more deeply and fully comprehend how these elements interconnected in their journey. Although I was close, I recognized the necessity for further research.
I needed to map the consultants' processes to visualize their needs, frustrations, and motivations.

After I organized notes and identified themes, then I created empathy and customer journey maps using the persona Sarah to visualize her insights, highlighting fears, obstacles, and opportunities.

Empathy map of my food safety consultant

Building upon my consultant persona, Sarah, I created a user journey map that significantly aided feature development. This map highlighted the fears and obstacles consultants encounter across various stages of their journey. I attempted to understand potential negative scenarios throughout their journey, identifying opportunities to address them by considering the unique desires, needs, and fears.

Journey map of my food safety consultant

INSIGHTS: I pinpointed 4 key areas for improving their user task flow to better address their pain points

1. Monitoring Pain Point: Spend too much time logging in to each client account.

2. Response Pain Point: Difficult to identify and resolve critical items before they get to far along and time consuming to remedy.

3. Pre-Audit Pain Point: Must leave the internal audit to see other items and to see a complete audit.

4. Post-Audit Pain Point: No aggregated data available to create reports to see trends and observations of the season.

Solutioning: Shaping the Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

Scenario: Sarah, a food safety consultant, uses the MVP to oversee food safety in the Highland Hub. She identifies non-compliant items and promptly notifies clients for rectification.

Step 1: She logs in to her account on the MVP.
Step 2: She accesses a centralized page displaying all her accounts. (Solution for monitoring)

Step 3: She identifies clients with non-compliance items, i.e. those with past due statuses. (Solution for monitoring)

Step 4: She promptly sends notifications to these clients, flagging the items for review within their Highland Hub

account. (Solution for response)

User flow for sending a notification to the client's Highland Hub account

Experiment

Design Challenges: Time and Technical Constraints

I had a technical constraint given to me by the business. I had three sprints or nine weeks for the dev team to build this before the launch deadline.
Since this was a new product, I needed to present the concept idea and MVP functionality to the Engineering Architect as early as possible in the project.

User Testing: Validating with Consultants

Concept Test

Concept test with three consultants. Following this, I met with devs to discuss feasibility. Why? The initial concept test assessed user approval of the core functionality, especially the central dashboard for monitoring all accounts.

Feedback

Consultants confirmed the importance to see all accounts in one place.

Devs recommended this was a great opportunity to build in a separate product in Angular.

Users wished they could see more details about account information.

Devs confirmed technical constraints proved this solution is not feasible for development within the sprint timeline of 3 sprints or 9 weeks.

Usability Test #1

Usability test with five consultants to test my solutions. Why? After I redesigned for Angular and included additional account details, I proceeded to conduct testing on priority features and interface updates.

Feedback

They saw value in the specific information on the dashboard page.
They liked the compliance status of "On track", "At risk" and "Overdue”.
They wanted to know exactly what line item was represented on the Account Details page.
One major friction point was the difficulties scanning the dashboard quickly in card form, monitoring time increased.

Usability Test #2

Usability test with four consultants to test updated changes. Why? I retested after I increased the ability to scan and monitor accounts.

Feedback

Consultants were able to scan all accounts, sometimes over 300.
They appreciated the easy identification of non-compliant line items.
That they could notify their customers in the Highland Hub if an item in their account was out of compliance.
They appreciated the ability to monitor everything at a glance and view real-time statuses.
They wished for a clearer distinction between the platform and the Highland Hub to prevent confusion.

Usability Test #3

Usability test with four consultants to test the new branding. Why? I retested the brand new look. I collaborated with the UX team designers to brainstorm new branding and create a new design system.

Feedback

This was a winner!

That they could notify their customers in the Highland Hub if an item in their account was out of compliance.
They loved the new and different branding to prevent the possibility of confusion with the Highland Hub.

How I Solved the Problem: Final Design Solutions

An elegant and simple solution

To address the urgent pain points and adhere to the tight development schedule, I effectively tackled the primary two issues in the consultant's journey. The remaining concerns will be addressed in future iterations during upcoming sprints.

Monitoring Pain Point Solved

The consultants can access a centralized page that shows all of their accounts.

They can then identify clients with non-compliance items, such as those with past due statuses.

Compliance Tracker homepage

DK-Account Details-CheckedIT3_edited.jpg

Account Details page

Response Pain Point Solved

Consultants can send notifications to these clients, flagging the items to take action in their Highland Hub account.

Deliver

Next Steps: Soft-launch to Market

Introducing the Compliance Tracker

Following meticulous testing, vetting, and refinement, we methodically introduced the new food safety product to consultants. Maintaining open lines of communication and fostering strong relationships with the consultants was imperative throughout the rollout process. Both consultants and customer service reps played pivotal roles in promoting the project, rallying support, and organizing informative sessions to introduce the product and address any inquiries.

Check out the official Compliance Tracker website

Outcomes: The Impact & Reflections

Impacts seen 6 months post-release

Throughout the process, I collaborated closely with food safety consultants to conduct research and refine our approach. Together, we identified and resolved key pain points. As a result, consultants observed a significant decrease in audit duration and a decrease in non-compliance issues among their clients after the product was launched. This underscores the importance and effectiveness of our solution.

75%

Reduction time in on-site and in-person audits.

87%

Reported decreases in non-compliance issues.

15 pts

Average point increase of clients' audit scores.

Feedback from Users:

“The Compliance Tracker feels like it was made just for me.” - Food Safety Consultant

"I can quickly review and identify the clients I need to contact, making it easier to plan my day." - Food Safety Consultant

Reflections:

I had a great time working on this significant project, immersing myself in the world of food safety audits and gaining insights into consultants' needs. The pilot of the web app was successful, garnering positive feedback and adding value to the Highland portfolio while also boosting revenue.

Ultimately, this will lead to an enhanced experience for consultants and their clients, improved audit preparedness, build stronger relationships between consultants and Highland, and increase time for consultants to concentrate on expanding their own businesses.

Interactive Showroom

Thanks for reading! 👏

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