The Ask
Virtual City Ltd sought Made’s support in redesigning two critical apps within its Horticulture platform, aiming to improve usability for Distributors and Retailers. The overarching goal was to simplify the customer onboarding and payment process to reduce reliance on direct support from the Virtual City team. They also wanted to set the foundation for a future self-checkout system.
The Observation
The onboarding and payment processes for Virtual City’s apps were overly complex, requiring significant assistance from the deployment team. The user experience in the Distributor and Retailer apps needed improvement to better support financial inclusion and streamline operations in the agri-supply chain. The existing app designs made it difficult for users to sign up and manage transactions independently.The Process
- Expert Design Review:
Made began by conducting an expert review of the current Distributor and Retailer apps. This involved analyzing pain points in usability, assessing the onboarding process, and identifying areas for improvement in the payment system. The review also looked at how to make the apps more accessible and intuitive for users in the agri-supply chain. - Design Sprint:
A design sprint was carried out, with UX designers working in close collaboration with Virtual City’s team. During this sprint, Made developed new design concepts for the apps that simplified the onboarding and payment processes, making them more user-friendly and efficient for customers. - Prototyping and Mockups:
Web, mobile, and desktop UI mockups for the redesigned apps were created in Photoshop/Illustrator and converted into HTML/CSS for easy handoff to the development team. These mockups were then shared with Virtual City’s developers via Zeplin, ensuring a smooth implementation process. - Thought Leadership and Recommendations:
Alongside the redesign, a thought leadership document was developed and delivered to Mercy Corps, outlining key UX/UI insights relevant to the agribusiness sector. This document provided actionable recommendations to improve customer experience, which could be adopted industry-wide. - Usability Testing:
Before final handoff, usability tests were conducted to validate the new designs and ensure that the onboarding and payment process improvements worked as intended for end-users.
The Outcome
- Expert Design Review Report:
Detailed recommendations on how to improve usability and streamline the onboarding and payment processes for the Distributor and Retailer apps. - Redesigns of Apps:
Delivered new product designs for the apps, including redesigned onboarding and payment workflows, in formats that developers could easily implement (Photoshop/Illustrator and HTML/CSS). - Thought Leadership Report:
Mercy Corps received a two-page thought leadership document highlighting learnings from the collaboration and actionable UX/UI insights for the agribusiness sector. - UI Concepts and Implementation Guide:
Provided UI concepts for the apps in web, mobile, and desktop formats, with an implementation guide to ensure smooth integration into Virtual City’s existing platforms.