User Interviews/Process Mapping/Wireframes

Improvements to contracts and invoicing at an electric utility

Our primary users in supply chain, procurement, and project management needed more visibility, transparency, and better error handling to more effectively manage vendor payments. I designed a solution that adds this functionality to existing enterprise software ensuring minimal cost and development time.

Working with a research team and another UX designer, my role focused on user interviews, mapping out the process with pain points, designing a solution in wireframes, and presenting our solution to stakeholders.
Audience
Supply chain, procurement, and project management

Goals
Increase productivity, reduce time on task, and improve vendor relations

Metrics & Results
Within the first 30 days after rolling out the updates, we saw:
• 24% increase in number of contracts processed
• 18% increase in the number of invoices closed
• 32% reduction in time on task

Timeline
2 months



Research & Discovery


User Interviews:
I sat down with 5 category managers and long range planners to talk about how their workflow could be improved.

Key Insights:
• Users lack visibility of invoice activity related to corresponding purchase orders
• Users lack transparency about critical purchase order details
• Once a user approves an invoice, it disappears from their queue, leaving no way to easily locate invoice history
• New change order request process focuses on error recovery, not error prevention


Process Mapping


Our users’ workflow was documented in a process map and their pain points were added to show ares for us to focus our solutions. This was also shared with stakeholders to gain alignment.

Design Solution


Enhancements were made to the existing software that gave users easy access to information such as work order number, status, and details such as dates and dollar amounts related to the purchase order.
Filters were added to easily focus on the invoices and purchase orders that matter most.

Next Steps


These solutions were developed and rolled out to users. But this was just a first pass. After 3 months, these solutions will need to be tested again with users and iterated on.