Flow Kana
Goal:
Update and improve the wholesale order experience for sales team and buyers.
Methods:
One-on-one interviews, Contextual Inquiry, Sales pipeline research, Journey Mapping, Usability testing
Role:
UX Designer
4 Months
Challenge
With government regulations constantly changing the way cannabis is sold, Flow Kana needed to update their Wholesale Ordering process and online system to accommodate and scale with these changes.
The original system was outdated and features were hastily added rather than thoughtfully crafted to create a cohesive flow.
Solution
Create a new wholesale order system with discount and accounting features.
Update all pages to be aligned with Flow Kana’s new design system and remove unnecessary steps from the order process to improve ordering efficiency.
Research
The goal of the research was to understand our Sales Team and Buyer journey through our supply chain and identify areas of opportunity where we can turn a negative experience into a positive one. Conducted over a three week period.
Service blueprint
With the methodologies described below, a service blueprint was created to document the journey and early findings.
Methodologies
One-on-one interviews
Contextual research
Personal investigations
Traditional Sales pipeline research
User Interviews
4 Account Managers
4 Inside Sales Reps
2 Regional Sales Managers
Insights Summary
After synthesizing all the data from the service blueprint, I mapped the insights to find major themes and problems we could tackle.
Data Driven:
“I want Sell Through Data! No way for me to know how a product is performing and how to identify the needs of a buyer”
Automation:
“After an arbitrary amount of time, I feel a tingly feeling in the back of my neck to know when to reach back out about a product.”
Customization:
“Personal relationships are really important in this industry”
Solutions Prioritization
Next, I mapped the solutions from my insight summary. There were quite a few quick solutions I could take action on or share with the sales/communications team without engineering support.
I worked with my product manager on the longer-term digital solutions to improve and update the wholesale ordering system.
Immediate Actionable Solutions:
Update pdf invoices
Add all store locations to “Find Our Products” page
Communications strategy for varying customer needs
Longer-Term Digital Solutions:
Update Wholesale order list with new filtering and sorting
Update the Add Products feature to include more inventory data
Finish building discounts and sample features
Designs
Data Driven
New wholesale ordering list with added sorting and filters for:
Harvest date
Order status
THC / CBD potency percentages
Testing results
Automation
Accounting tab with invoices and payment details tied to customer accounts:
Summary of balances
Schedule and receive payments
Customer details
Customization
Managers can now create and apply discounts:
Quick form to create payment or percentage discounts
Selection of product types
Apply at order level or account level
Usability Testing & Beta Versions
After prototype testing with our sales team on a test site, we published our new designs while continuing to validate and gather feedback without interrupting sales.
We created a “Beta” version that was live on the site running concurrently with the legacy order system. The idea was that the sales team could have time to adjust to the new system and give feedback without causing a slowdown in sales.
