Ginio is a B2B online platform dedicated to daily essentials. This platform intents to help retailers by taking their business online to increase their sales and build a vast network with their counterparts.
I contributed to building this platform which allows retailers to carry out their business activities like listing their products and setting up their personalized virtual store, accepting orders and scheduling deliveries, and managing the stocks and return shipments.
Indian market is extensive. Many retailers and sellers have been in this business for generations and are comfortable doing their business in the traditional manner with zero to bare minimum use of technology. So I come up with a question
We started by conducting on-field research in the markets of Mumbai and Pune in India. I interviewed people playing various roles in their businesses and how they function and plan their day-to-day activities. I synthesized the quality data using thematic analysis to understand their Routin, Focus, Positive Points, and Pain Points.
After summarizing the information, we understood retailer's and trader's
“I am not that educated to learn and understand technology.”
After concluding the research, we got the answer to the question
Our next step was to map the real-world interaction that happens between the traders and retailers and introduce these interactions into the digital platform while making sure that all the business constraints are met while the interactions occur. Drafting a service blueprint reinforced the customer-oriented focus and gave stakeholders a holistic view of the product.
Based on the blueprint, I mapped user flow to get a clear idea of how the user would navigate among different available modules and accomplish tasks like adding products, accepting orders, scheduling deliveries, and managing returns orders.
Based on our research and inputs from the business team, I ideated sketches for the desktop site and mobile app. Our design strategy was to
Moodboard and style guide
Referring to our user interview notes and drawing inspiration from the apps that our target audience used, I complied a mood board and style guide that would resonate with our users and stakeholders.
Designs
Referring to our user interview notes and keeping in mind the target audience's technology literacy level, we strove for a user-friendly design of different modules that are consistent and accessible across the platform. I ensured that the team designed all UI states and interactions for seamless developer handoff.
Figma Prototype
Stakeholders involved in this project were optimistic about how the platform would help the retailers and traders grow their business.
"You'll have done a good design job; this will be a gamechanger in this market."
This project was exciting from the design viewpoint because we got to talk to the businesses in the FMCG sector to understand their way of doing business and pain points to craft a solution to their needs.
Designing a B2B e-commerce platform was challenging as we had to ensure that a person with primary education and basic technological literacy could use the platform without any issues.
Another challenge for me was negotiating the time for deliverables, but I learned how to make multiple screens and edits efficiently.
As the pandemic kicked in, it was not easy to switch immediately to a remote work environment, and lockdown across India made it impossible to conduct usability testing during wireframing and UI design phase. As the design team, we had to rely heavily on previously researched designs across the web. If I had to do things differently, I would have gone for doing a remote usability study of wireframes to save resources.
