A platform for brands to source sustainable packaging and connect with suppliers
Introduction
Project Role
Founding Product Designer
Project Duration
December 2021 - Present
Responsibilities & Outputs
Product and User Research
Information Architecture
UX Strategy & Wireframing
Prototyping & User Testing
Visual Design
Tools Utilized
Sketch
InVision
Adobe Creative Suite
Miro
Zeplin
The process of sourcing primary packaging has historically been an archaic process of cold calling, trade shows, and endless email threads. To cut through the inefficiencies and confusion, Impacked was founded as the first digital marketplace specifically for primary packaging with a heavy emphasis on helping brands find more sustainable products.
As the founding product designer, I expanded the feature set of the beta platform with newly designed in-platform tools and improvements on the existing features to help our buyers source their packaging and work with packaging suppliers in the most efficient way possible. These areas included:
Enhanced the product browse experience and RFP submission
Created views and workspaces for tracking product requests, deliverables, and assets
Introduced in-platform message capabilities to streamline and organize conversations with suppliers
Understanding the problem space
As a newcomer to the packaging industry, I had to learn a lot about the users, the industry practices, and their problems therein quickly. Through interviews with target users, internal founders, and colleagues with experience in the industry, I identified the two primary pain points we needed to resolve:
Sourcing packaging is a daunting and complicated process with the back-and-forth of samples, quotes, and comparison of options, not to mention achieving sustainability goals of their purchase.
Communication with suppliers is extensive and primarily done via email, which has led to multiple threads that become difficult to keep track of - especially when buyers are working with multiple suppliers at once to compare options.
Improving brands’ ability to browse our catalog and submit product requests
With these insights and end user’s goals in mind, I defined the main user journey the brand user would take from identifying packaging options in the catalog and connecting to those products’ manufacturing representatives.
Revamping the search experience
When I started, I focused on speaking to our users and watching user sessions to identify gaps in the browse experience. Overall, many felt unsure of how to start their search and that the product search pages’ design did not successfully communicate available filters and allow for dynamic search.
I took three approaches to improve upon the platform’s flow:
Redesigned our homepage with original illustrated product category tiles for quicker access to catalog and entry to our RFP submission form.
Revamped the search results page structure completely by making the product cards and filters more legible and accessible.
Analyzing user search data led to understanding how users interacted with filters - which filters were used the most and which filters were used in combination most frequently.
I also added touch points throughout the page to provide brands with the ability to filter and learn more about available sustainable options.
Prioritizing the sustainability filter selection at the top led to a 70% increase in engagement with those filters. I also added ways for users to sort results by transport distance and material weight, both of which are factors in understanding environmental impact of shipping. To educate users about our rating system, I built out a key for users to learn more about our criteria and how to apply it to their search.
Enhanced our RFP entry form to break down by step and make a bit more engaging to inspire more completions, which led to a 60% increase in RFP submissions.
While the RFP form redesign was a success, due to the nature of the growing user base some buyers found the response rate to their submissions too slow for their needs.
To counter this, I introduced a new feature similar to job posting sites, where users’ RFP submissions were collected in a board visible to suppliers to browse and reach out directly to buyers if the buyers’ projects were a good fit for their business.
While these methods improved the experience for smaller sized brands, we learned our mid-market brand targets needed a more robust RFP process that allowed for product sourcing in greater varieties and quantities.
I designed a more comprehensive workflow for requesting products, including a guided and flexible form for more personalized recommendations to reduce these users’ time hunting through the catalog.
Implementing spaces to track active product requests
Through user learnings, I identified a need for progress tracking of requests placed in the platform, as well as a consolidated view of products brand users engaged with. To better serve these needs, I introduced two new features:
A request overview portal to view request details, track status, and give access to request message threads to help organize and guide our users’ progress. I also added window display of the product information, request progress, and pathway to corresponding message thread with suppliers.
After the release of the new features, I continued to talk to our users and monitor their sessions and conversations with suppliers.
I realized that these features were not allowing for the flexible nature of the users’ relationship/communication - by structuring the workflow at the level of individual requests, we were failing to streamline and organize communication and present information in a clear, concise way.
For the next iteration, I consolidated the views and interactions at the individual product level. This let users interact with product requests in one space, allowing for easier tracking and comparison between product options.
Streamlining and organizing communication with suppliers
Following our users’ behavior, I realized that most users were spending the most time in the Message Portal chatting with suppliers and sending attachments for each product. I decided to build out the features within the Message Portal to meet our users’ needs in the most active part of the platform.
I continued the steps taken in the Request Portal to consolidate message threads by product rather than at the individual request level - this way, users could have one cohesive thread for all communication related to a specific product.
I also duplicated the product window within the message portal so users could view the necessary information in the same space as the thread to prevent the need of navigating back and forth through the portals.