I joined DeepStream (f.k.a eKorral) just a couple months after the company started up, taking on the role as their Lead Designer. DeepStream aims to refine procurement in oil and gas with B2B software to tackle visibility, compliance and transaction efficiency in the industry. The key goal is to shift the industry from an outdated workflow to a new efficient system.
I wanted to find out if there were any similar solutions already out there and, if so, what type of functionality they provided.
I reviewed as many similar companies as I could find, again speaking to colleagues about any specific solutions being used by our clients and sales managers who had heard about upcoming competitors and innovators in the energy industry.
I planned to interview potential customers who best fit the persona of the typical user of the new product, to find out more about their current workflows and pain points. I carried out a few user interviews then decided to also launch a short online user survey which resulted in over 100s of responses.
To gain a better understanding of the industry, I gathered focus group members to help give me more insight about how they currently work. I conducted qualitative interviews to learn more about their motivations and pain points. With all of this data, I was then able to sort them into groups where I was able to see the common factors from an overview.
I wrote a problem statement so that we could be clear on the problem we were trying to solve throughout design and development, and created three groups (Buyer, Supplier and Both) of three proto-personas that typified the different users that our product could help.
Following my research phase, I was keen to start collaborating with the rest of the team so that we could create alignment on our vision for the product, design directions, MVP & feature prioritisation.
After consulting with the team I worked on some user stories to map out all of the happy paths and possible edge cases.
After mapping out the user stories and flow, I worked on some initial concepts, developing low-fidelity wireframes of multiple solutions that were then discussed and iterated on.
Using the wireframes, I was able to put together low-fidelity prototypes to test with our focus group members to see whether our solutions would work for them. This gathered a lot of feedback where I was able to group the positives and negatives, along with the suggestions and any confusions.
Using core values in the design of a software helps to drive it towards a specific goal. These are DeepStream's:
It has to make procurement much more simpler
It has to break information down into smaller chunks
It has to help meet the expectations of users and to gain confidence
Although I was designing and aiming towards a new and fresh feel, I also had to bare in mind that it couldn't look 'too fun' but more 'safe and secure', based on the target audience. The use of blue helped with this goal as it is a mutual colour and symbolises trust.
Along with designing, I am also responsible for creating the style guide and coding everything on the front-end. This includes putting together all of the framework on HTML and styling on CSS, applying both of them to the static landing pages and dynamic platform pages.
Once users sign up and are verified, they are brought into the platform. The layout has been designed so that each page feature of the software are in their own sections of the platform and the dashboard acts as an overview of the whole company. Here the users can manage and monitor their whole supply chain.
The marketplace is where the DeepStream network exists where buyers and suppliers can connect. The network allows you to add, save, share and monitor both your new and existing relationships. You can create your own supplier network along with supplier lists, cutting out all old methods of storing and searching i.e. Excel and Google.
These are the screens showing the core and different types of features the platform has including Requests and Pre-Qualification.
The possibility of users coming onto DeepStream through mobile devices is very high as there will be email notifications sent directly to them whenever and wherever they are. So I worked to make the mobile version as intuitive and easy to use as the desktop version without stripping out any functionality, using responsive design.
