Background

After years of helping our customers have great purchasing power, we conducted in-depth product analysis to identify potential product offerings that would differentiate us from competitors and drive substantial growth.

  • UX Designer and Lead UX Researcher. 
I was responsible for starting research initiatives at Raiven--learn more.

    My role encompasses conducting in-depth user research, synthesizing findings, and translating insights into actionable design improvements. 



    • UX Research

    • Data Synthesizing

    • Generative Research

    • A/B Research

    • Surveys

    • Usability Testing

    • Research Reports

    • Affinity Diagramming

    • Creating Insights

    • Reporting to C-Suite Executives

    • Sitemapping

    • Prototyping

    • Product Ideation and Iteration

    • Presentations on progress across various teams

  • Conduct 20 to 30 interviews by the end of each quarter, per product in our suite, to understand the needs of contractors to determine if Raiven has an offering that meets their needs.

  • We performed a combination of generative research, qualitative, and quantitative--conducting 20 interviews per product in order to discover contractors’ pain points.

Hypothesis

Contractors in the HVAC, plumbing, electrical, residential, and commercial sectors experience significant challenges in procuring supplies at the most competitive prices. By providing a comprehensive platform that offers a streamlined purchasing experience and access to the lowest possible prices, Raiven can become the preferred solution for these contractors, driving increased user adoption and engagement.

Business Question

Can Raiven develop and deliver a platform that effectively addresses the pain points of HVAC, plumbing, and electrical contractors in acquiring supplies at the lowest cost, thereby driving significant user adoption and generating substantial revenue?

User Need Question

What are the primary challenges and pain points experienced by contractors in acquiring supplies, and to what extent can a centralized platform, offering competitive pricing and streamlined purchasing, address these issues and drive user adoption?

The Outcome

Our initial hypothesis, centered on the notion that contractors were primarily motivated by the lowest price, was invalidated through our in-depth research.

  • Contrary to our expectations, we discovered a strong preference among contractors for direct relationships with local suppliers.

  • However, this research unveiled a significant opportunity. Our data revealed that contractors heavily rely on platforms and services like ServiceTitan, Service Fusion, and Illumine-i for daily operations.

  • Recognizing this, we identified a potential to offer exclusive discounts and integrations with these platforms, thereby providing added value and enhancing our product offering.

    Additionally, we discovered we can connect contractors with local suppliers--driving spend and purchasing for our two user groups.

    This data-driven pivot allowed us to align our product strategy more closely with actual user needs and behaviors.

Old App.Raiven

Our previous product assumed contractors mostly cared about price. It was hard to use, unclear, poorly branded, lacked organization, and it obscured our best product: HotSheets.

Pain-points

  • Users didn’t understand the usage of app.raiven, feeling that it effectively operated as a bookmark page.

    • Due to this, once users set up their accounts that are linked with Raiven to receive their discount, they never had the need to return to app.raiven.

  • Users couldn’t see their account information at a quick glance and also did not like that the page lacked organization: they did not know which accounts were set up and ready to go, versus which accounts were catalogue shopping, punch-out, or not set up yet.

  • Users could not easily access the HotSheet in order to use it to either refill stock items or use it as a price quote tool.

Opportunities

  • Retire the use case of offering users “tiles” in order to have them access a Raiven discount as this in opposition to their purchasing habits and workflow.

  • Create a product that can provide them with what they need within their workflow.

    • Users faced a very disparate bid creation system, often relying on manually created sheets, questionnaires, and utilizing email or phone calls in order to receive a price quote.

  • Therefore, we discovered a product that could better serve users would be one in which they are able to use HotSheets in order to see, quickly, at a glance the best prices within their region (aka, with their local suppliers) and where they could easily restock on inventory items in which time was not urgent.

  • Lastly, users were more interested in offerings with apps and services versus with a Raiven discount. Their mental model tended to prefer receiving a product (and returning a product) quickly as opposed to getting it cheaper.

    • This results in the need for users to see local suppliers best prices versus a Raiven discount and them seeking discounts with services such as ServiceTitan, Service Fusion, or Illumine-i.

So, what did we do?

We gave them a product that allows them to build bids, access pricing to their local suppliers, and subscribe to management services.

Homepage

  • Based off of users’ needs, on the homepage we wanted users to get right to the point: build their bids and see the best prices within their area.

HotSheet

  • Our new product provides what users really want. Research showed they prefer fast delivery and easy returns over low prices, but most importantly: they use HotSheets for price quotes in order to build bids.

Management

  • We wanted to provide users a way to manage their orders, track different branches of their company, and give company members access to make purchases and manage orders on Raiven Portal.

Subscription Based-Model

  • An all-in-one spot for them to build their bids utilizing our former HotSheets product, powered by Illumine-i.

  • Users can subscribe to our new product. The top tier gives access to Illumine-i, an app many pay full price for to create and complete bids and plans.

Additional Features

Portal Discussion Page

Orders Management

Additional Features

Keep track of your progress with our progress task list

How we did it

We conducted 20 interviews, tagged, stored, and analyzed them utilizing Dovetail.

For a more detailed look into my research initiative and scalable process, check out my research initiatives page

Strategy for tagging

To effectively analyze our interview data, we developed a comprehensive tagging taxonomy to identify key themes and pain points. This structured approach enabled us to filter information and extract critical insights that directly informed our design recommendations.

Summary Reports

I conducted a thorough analysis of each interview, creating detailed summaries and relevant tags. These findings were shared with C-suite executives in concise reports, highlighting key areas such as tool usage, pain points, and potential opportunities.

To ensure seamless integration into the design process, I also created a Figma system where key insights were directly linked to corresponding design files, providing the design team with immediate access to crucial information.

Affinity Diagramming

After I successfully tagged all interviews and wrote summaries, I created an affinity diagram to synthesize the common trends among respondents.

The Results

We have our MVP v.1 built out and are now ready for usability testing and research on our product. After receiving our data, we will reiterate and refine in order to meet user needs and ensure the product’s ease of use.

What I learned

The balance between pixel perfect and fast iteration

This project emphasized the importance of striking a balance between meticulous pixel-perfect designs and the agility required for rapid iteration and prototyping. I learned that while initial designs should be visually appealing, they don't need to be absolutely flawless to gain approval. Refining designs can be done more effectively later in the process, once the core concept and functionality have been validated.

How to present users’ needs at every step of the design process

To ensure user needs were at the forefront of our design process, I meticulously documented key insights and requirements within our Figma design files, creating a shared resource for myself and our senior designer. Weekly design burn-downs were conducted to verify that features aligned with user needs and identify any necessary adjustments. I effectively communicated design concepts and rationale to stakeholders by presenting our new designs in a clear and concise manner, highlighting how they addressed user pain points and improved the overall product experience.