Helping customers manage their data smoothly
We helped Ramtech improve their existing REACT Portal. Focusing on improving a complicated setup process and a cluttered, unorganised flow, we got to work to uncover why these issues were occurring.
Defining the key problems
The REACT Portal handles all of the backend information for its users, and is described by Ramtech as being the "nerve centre of the REACT solution".
One of the main tasks users have to undertake is setting up a company profile and adding things such as the sites, locations and users. With all of this data feeding back to the REACT App, it's vital that the information provided is accurate in the event of an emergency situation.
In the current portal, there are many steps people need to go through to get setup. With very little in the way of guidance or making it easy for people to find and manage important information, we needed to improve that experience and make sure users felt more in control.
Not only would this benefit the users, but it would also help free up Ramtech's time and reduce the need for them to have train people to use the product.
Prioritising our area of focus
The portal is currently used by many organisations across the globe, meaning we already had a bunch of feedback to help us prioritise which areas of the product to focus on first. We then went through the existing product ourselves, and took notes on the sections that were causing people the most problems as well as anything else that we felt could be improved.
With the biggest chunk of the initial setup going towards creating a company and adding/managing the company locations, we decided that we'd focus our efforts on improving those parts in order to gain the biggest wins in the little time we had.
Our goals for improving these sections were: Making the process of onboarding and easing customers into the workflow easier; Improving the process of setting up a company and adding a site; Increasing the efficiency in being able to view and manage multiple sites and find all of the important information.
Understanding the user pain points
One of the biggest challenges users faced was a lack of control when using the product. Akin to rustling around in a messy draw looking for that one important document, the lack of structure and clarity in the interface meant that even experienced users found themselves struggling to remember which page contained what.
Another big problem was that the flow lacked any proper order. Despite everything in the user journey being connected, there was no real path for people to follow. Not only was this massively unclear as to what information was needed and when, but it was also more time consuming having to constantly jump between pages just to complete a task.
There was also a lack of proper onboarding or guidance within the product as well. Although an interface should be as intuitive as possible to use, a little support to begin with can go a long way in giving people the confidence and initiative to get started and adapt to the workflow quicker.
Thinking about potential solutions
Based on the analysis we'd done of the current portal, we curated a handful of potential solutions and picked out the strongest ones to develop further and turn into a prototype.
The biggest ideas that we wanted to test were:
- An onboarding welcome wizard to guide users and help them get started quicker.
- A step-by-step flow, with a clear progress indicator to give people clarity on how much needs to be done and what information is needed at each stage.
- A save for later option to enable people to leave the form and return at any time without losing their place in the flow.
- Inline tooltips and helpers to guide people through their first setup process, and teach them how to use the product in real time.
- A more intuitive and clearer workflow to make it easier to add and update the information at any time.
Once we'd agreed on these potential solutions, we worked them into a storyboard to get a sense of how the updated user flow would look in its earliest form. Having focussed on the key interactions of the setup journey, we were now in a position to start putting together the clickable prototype ready to test with existing REACT users.
Validating our solutions with existing users
We sat down 1:1 with five users of the REACT Portal to test our prototype with. Our goal was to validate whether our solutions really did improve the experience and address the common frustrations reported by users.
As one of our Sprint Goals was to reduce the learning curve when using the product, we ran through the prototype with each user and observed how easily they could set up a company and add a site using the new onboarding wizard and inline tooltips.
Several participants even ran through the existing REACT Portal in parallel to the prototype, showing us where their biggest frustrations existed as well as giving us their thoughts on how the new prototype stacked up in comparison. In particular, most people noted that the updated layout and UX was a big improvement.
Every participant understood what information was needed and when, and could complete tasks successfully thanks to the intuitive step-by-step progress indicator and tooltips.
Users also remarked at the benefits of having a save option to help them keep track of their place in the flow if they were to leave and come back. The initial setup is often a huge process to begin with, and many participants noted that they often went through the process over a staggered period of time rather than in one session.
Creating actionable next steps
In terms of answering the initial Sprint Questions, we were successful in providing users with a set of solutions that addressed their biggest frustrations.
We did however find that there were multiple edge cases we didn't consider. The nature of the product means that there are a lot of individual frustrations that we just couldn't have accounted for in the Design Sprint.
It's clear that the prototype we produced contained massive improvements, however we knew that more time and attention would be needed to look at the remaining frustrations.
Overall though, with all of the useful feedback and insights gathered, we feel we've given the team at Ramtech the confidence to move forward and see where they can make the most impactful changes for their users.
Like this? You'll love some of our other projects too
Helping customers manage their data smoothly
We helped Ramtech improve their existing REACT Portal. Focusing on improving a complicated setup process and a cluttered, unorganised flow, we got to work to uncover why these issues were occurring.
Defining the key problems
The REACT Portal handles all of the backend information for its users, and is described by Ramtech as being the "nerve centre of the REACT solution".
One of the main tasks users have to undertake is setting up a company profile and adding things such as the sites, locations and users. With all of this data feeding back to the REACT App, it's vital that the information provided is accurate in the event of an emergency situation.
In the current portal, there are many steps people need to go through to get setup. With very little in the way of guidance or making it easy for people to find and manage important information, we needed to improve that experience and make sure users felt more in control.
Not only would this benefit the users, but it would also help free up Ramtech's time and reduce the need for them to have train people to use the product.
Prioritising our area of focus
The portal is currently used by many organisations across the globe, meaning we already had a bunch of feedback to help us prioritise which areas of the product to focus on first. We then went through the existing product ourselves, and took notes on the sections that were causing people the most problems as well as anything else that we felt could be improved.
With the biggest chunk of the initial setup going towards creating a company and adding/managing the company locations, we decided that we'd focus our efforts on improving those parts in order to gain the biggest wins in the little time we had.
Our goals for improving these sections were: Making the process of onboarding and easing customers into the workflow easier; Improving the process of setting up a company and adding a site; Increasing the efficiency in being able to view and manage multiple sites and find all of the important information.
Understanding the user pain points
One of the biggest challenges users faced was a lack of control when using the product. Akin to rustling around in a messy draw looking for that one important document, the lack of structure and clarity in the interface meant that even experienced users found themselves struggling to remember which page contained what.
Another big problem was that the flow lacked any proper order. Despite everything in the user journey being connected, there was no real path for people to follow. Not only was this massively unclear as to what information was needed and when, but it was also more time consuming having to constantly jump between pages just to complete a task.
There was also a lack of proper onboarding or guidance within the product as well. Although an interface should be as intuitive as possible to use, a little support to begin with can go a long way in giving people the confidence and initiative to get started and adapt to the workflow quicker.
Thinking about potential solutions
Based on the analysis we'd done of the current portal, we curated a handful of potential solutions and picked out the strongest ones to develop further and turn into a prototype.
The biggest ideas that we wanted to test were:
- An onboarding welcome wizard to guide users and help them get started quicker.
- A step-by-step flow, with a clear progress indicator to give people clarity on how much needs to be done and what information is needed at each stage.
- A save for later option to enable people to leave the form and return at any time without losing their place in the flow.
- Inline tooltips and helpers to guide people through their first setup process, and teach them how to use the product in real time.
- A more intuitive and clearer workflow to make it easier to add and update the information at any time.
Once we'd agreed on these potential solutions, we worked them into a storyboard to get a sense of how the updated user flow would look in its earliest form. Having focussed on the key interactions of the setup journey, we were now in a position to start putting together the clickable prototype ready to test with existing REACT users.
Validating our solutions with existing users
We sat down 1:1 with five users of the REACT Portal to test our prototype with. Our goal was to validate whether our solutions really did improve the experience and address the common frustrations reported by users.
As one of our Sprint Goals was to reduce the learning curve when using the product, we ran through the prototype with each user and observed how easily they could set up a company and add a site using the new onboarding wizard and inline tooltips.
Several participants even ran through the existing REACT Portal in parallel to the prototype, showing us where their biggest frustrations existed as well as giving us their thoughts on how the new prototype stacked up in comparison. In particular, most people noted that the updated layout and UX was a big improvement.
Every participant understood what information was needed and when, and could complete tasks successfully thanks to the intuitive step-by-step progress indicator and tooltips.
Users also remarked at the benefits of having a save option to help them keep track of their place in the flow if they were to leave and come back. The initial setup is often a huge process to begin with, and many participants noted that they often went through the process over a staggered period of time rather than in one session.
Creating actionable next steps
In terms of answering the initial Sprint Questions, we were successful in providing users with a set of solutions that addressed their biggest frustrations.
We did however find that there were multiple edge cases we didn't consider. The nature of the product means that there are a lot of individual frustrations that we just couldn't have accounted for in the Design Sprint.
It's clear that the prototype we produced contained massive improvements, however we knew that more time and attention would be needed to look at the remaining frustrations.
Overall though, with all of the useful feedback and insights gathered, we feel we've given the team at Ramtech the confidence to move forward and see where they can make the most impactful changes for their users.
