Final solution
Screenshot from the final solution
Introduction
Capmo, a leading software provider for the brewing industry in the German-speaking region, specializes in distributing a customized construction management platform for general contractors in the DACH region.
With the company's product expansion and increased construction projects from customers, a contact book was introduced to store and reuse project participants' data across multiple projects.
My role
Taking on the role of a research, UX designer and UI designer, I came up with a design solution for the contact book from 0 - 1.
Context
General contractors handle numerous construction projects over several years, and our platform has successfully managed over 40,000+ projects to date. However, a persistent issue among our clients was the need for a centralized space in Capmo to store data for subcontractors. This would enable easy reuse of subcontractor details across new projects without the need to repeatedly add their information.
Requirement gathering
Analyse feedback from product board: I consolidated feedback from actual users regarding this specific issue, compiling it into a single space for a deeper understanding and identification of the root cause.
Spoke to customer support: During a session with Customer Support and my Project Manager, we discussed the frustration of not being able to store subcontractors' information, leading to the manual addition of details for each new project—a significant challenge.
Spoke to real customers: To grasp the issue thoroughly, I engaged with real customers to comprehend their workflow in creating multiple projects. This insight will aid in crafting an effortlessly usable solution.
Challenges
Managing contact information for subcontractors across multiple projects poses a challenge for general contractors.
How can we design a solution on Capmo for general contractors to store and easily access subcontractor data, facilitating reuse?
Creating a unified contact book is the key to success
In the modern era, contact books enhance relationships, just as we manage friends’ contacts on our mobile phones. Capmo recognizes this potential and has introduced a contact book for general contractors to easily store and manage subcontractors' contact information.
To onboard contacts and companies, we needed to brainstorm ideas
In this phase, I collaborated with my PM and engineering lead to brainstorm the optimal solution for the contact book, aligning with the business goal of standardizing projects on Capmo. We devised two solutions:
Separately add contact and company in a 2-step process
Step 1 - Contact information
First name
Last name
Email address
Phone number
Company details
Notes
Step 2 - Company information
Name
Address
Phone number
Tax ID
Separately add contact and company in a 2-step process
Contact & Company information
First name
Last name
Email address
Phone number
Company address (name, address, tax ID)
Notes
An intuitive contact book where GCs can onboard subcontractors
After the brainstorming session, I came up with a userflow which was eventually reviewed together with customers and stakeholders
After review with stakeholders and customers, these insights were gotten;
Ability to add contact or company simultaneously: From different use cases gathered in customer interviews, we promptly realised that GCs may visit the contact book to either add a new contact or a new company. Thus, we needed to ensure both actions were easily accessible with one click.
Need to separate user details from contact details: The contact book serves as a contact information repository for all subcontractors and business partners of general contractors. Some subcontractors collaborate on multiple projects, while others do not. To maintain clean data and enable project participants to edit their information, we separated user details from contact details.
Limit edit rights to only Admins: General contractors frequently engage with multiple subcontractors/companies, involving handling sensitive data. Consequently, only a chosen few should have the ability to modify a contact's data.
High fidelity designs
Tested the final designs with customers and got positive feedback.
Key learnings
Continuous user feedback and iterative design are essential for optimising critical user journeys.
Make better plans for first iteration
Avoiding to re-invent the wheel that significantly improve user experience
Conclusion
So as to have a system that allows contacts to be easily reused across multiple projects, we needed to introduce a central database where contacts can be stored and managed - Contact Book. After we introduced this and launched the feature, we has 80% of new projects reusing contacts from their organisation contact book.
