UI Design for Sterling Commerce Multi Channel Selling and Fulfillment Suite

© 2010 Sterling Commerce. All rights reserved. Confidential and Proprietary.

ECOMMERCE CONSULTING FOR STERLING CUSTOMERS

DESIGN| USER RESEARCH | SEO | USABILITY | METRICS

Industrial Wisdom

© 2009 Sterling Commerce intellectual property. All rights reserved.

Agenda

UI design, its new challenges, and common mistakes

- Understanding your complexities- Understanding what success looks and feels like- Understanding your users and their needs

What is a modern UI? Or, the Myth of B2B usability

- Captive and “drone” users- Search engine competition and B2B- Web 2.0 look and feel

© 2009 Sterling Commerce intellectual property. All rights reserved. 3

Industrial Wisdom: Greg Laugero

President & Co-Founder of Industrial Wisdom

IW specializes in User Experience Design for complex software applications

IW has been involved in many customer implementations of Sterling Multi-Channel Selling and Fulfillment Suite

IW partnered with Sterling on creating the new UI approach of the Sterling Web application


Number of products availableNumber and types of users

Contract pricing and promotionsCross- and up-sellingAccount structuresRepetitive ordering

Sequential, non-sequential, & hybrid configSKU structure

When do you check availability?


Does everyone see the same

UOM?

Can the user view the catalog “anonymously”? If so, how are entitlements and pricing handled?Can the user “Add to Cart”? “Add to List”?What if there are multiple carts?Does this item need to be “findable” via Google, Yahoo!, or MSN?

It seems simple…Does the SKU

include multiple sizes & colors?


Biggest mistakes that we see all the time


DO YOU UNDERSTANDSUCCESS

?

How are you going to define success?

Grow revenue for a particular product line?Reduce customer churn and increase loyalty?Introduce a new product line?Reduce cost of sales?Take market share from a competitor?Launch a new business channel?Reach an under-served market niche?



DO YOU UNDERSTANDYOUR USER

?

If you want to take market share…

11

I wonder if someone else can do a better job than the company I am buying from

now?

Donna: customer of a competitorDescription• She suspects that her current distributor is charging too much• Right now, she is angry because her shipment is 2 days late• She is using a search engine to try to find alternatives• She is using a range of search terms from generic (“cleaning supplies”) to specific

(“corrugated cardboard boxes 22h x 18l x 10d”)

Pain points• Her current distributor is making her look bad

Desired Features and Functions• Find Acme site(s) via Google• Search and view catalog(s) without having a UID or PW• Will search for specific products using Google• For keyword query of a brand name, the internal search accurately displays results• For keyword query of a commodity name (such as cleaning supplies), the internal search

helps Donna figure out what she wants• Search results are formatted for easy “skimming”• Search results summarize prices and availability for known products, regardless of

catalog or URL

If you want to increase customer loyalty…

12

I just want to get in and get out.

Jolene: Procurement in Large Company

Description• Gets interrupted a lot• Someone else tells her what to order – she does not make decisions about products• Typically orders the same products repeatedly• Typically knows the item # when ordering• Less price-conscious • Does not need to know a lot about the products she orders. Seldom visits a Product

Detail page.• Heavy user of full reporting capabilities• Each month, she rolls up her website purchasing reports into a certain custom format

for her company’s internal use• On the job for 6 months, probably will leave by end of year• Heavy computer and internet user, both on the job and in her personal life

Pain points• Hates reading a lot of text or making a lot of clicks. Hates it even worse when she has to

do it for her job.• Hates figuring out words or terminology that she doesn’t know.

Desired Features and Functions• Excel, CSV, or other native spreadsheet format that Jolene can easily edit• Graceful website timeout; fast site performance; robust error handling when Jolene

makes a typo during checkout • Easy way for Jolene’s successor to get a UID and PW, because Jolene didn’t pass it on

If you want to reach an under-served market...

13

Wile E. Coyote: Engineer, Carnivore

Description• Sometimes orders the same products repeatedly• Other times, desperately searches for hard-to-find items for a very particular purpose.

Item might not be in catalog, item might be out of stock, or item # may have changed. Wants to know if Acme could get it anyway, or get a similar item.

• Often refers to his or customer’s unique item #, may not be the same as manufacturer’s item # or Acme item #.

• Not price conscious. Much more concerned with speedy delivery.• Will use search engines to search for a specific product.

Pain points• He can’t find items that he ordered before. • From reading descriptions of items he hasn’t ordered before, he can’t tell whether the

item is the right one for his specific project.

Desired Features and Functions• A way to buy repeat items without searching for them in the catalog each time• System remembers correlations between manufacturer’s item number and Wile E.’s item

number• Opt in to email notifications when frequently ordered items change, or have new related

items• Detailed product descriptions, with the type of details that he needs

Sometimes I order the same things, like dynamite, matches and rope. Sometimes I

need things I’ve never ordered before. But I always need it now!

What happens if you don’t focus on the user?

Requirements are never settledOpinion-based arguments about priorities and designDevelopers become designersBut most of all…



IT TAKES A LOT LONGER TO SUCCEED

× You might launch on time× But you won’t reach your business goals


The need for a modern UI, Or the Myth of B2B Usability


B2B is often a “relationship”

business(user as “captive”)

B2B users have lower expectations about usable sites(user as “drone”)

MYTH REALITY

Search has made it easier to shop for

alternatives

B2B users have B2C expectations about

usable sites

B2B relationships have as much

emotion as B2C. Just different emotions.

Ease of shopping online can erode loyalty.


THERE ARE CONSEQUENCES

× Your site = your service× Bad site = bad service× You have to be “findable” – search engine competition× You have to constantly adjust to competitive pressures × You have to constantly measure performance× B2C sets the expectations for B2B user experience× B2B deals with the “long tail” as much as B2C

TO BAD B2B USABILITYWe have customers; we give them a sitevs.We have a site; let’s use it to find new customers


Lots of competition for a typical B2B

product: Shipping Boxes


The need for a modern UI…

You can’t train a user you’ll never meet• The user experience becomes part of the requirements• The user’s expectations are shifting

UI’s are getting more sophisticated (Web 2.0)• Rich Internet Applications (RIA)• Mobile devices, kiosks• Mashups

We can’t ignore these trends


Web 2.0 Appearance

Prominent Buttons + Button

hierarchies(3 types here)


9.0 UI Compliments Web 2.0 Expectations

Bring greater flexibility to the look-and-feelSupport next generation interactive UI expected from Web 2.0 applications• Drag-And-Drop product comparisons• Partial screen update (e.g., Ajax)• Carousels• LayersMini CartQuick ViewAlerts

More configuration, less customization


Consistency Leads To Ease-Of-Use

Reusable Templates• Governs the layout of a page using sections• 4 templates

Reusable Patterns• Headers, footers, navigation, search, step indicators• Product promotions, special offers, product filters, carousels,

product lists and details• Cart header, detail, mini-cart, actions, coupons

IW Multi-Channel Selling Customers


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SO, WHY WOULD YOU CALL IW?

× You need to enhance your Multi-Channel Selling UI× You need to improve your site’s “findability” (SEO, SEM)× You need a metrics and measurement strategy× You need a better understanding of your users× You want to conduct usability testing on your site× You want to understand what your competition is doing

UI Design for Sterling Commerce Multi Channel Selling and Fulfillment Suite

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