Payless Database
A customer and project management system for an insulation contractor.
Roles
Problem Definition, User Research & Analysis
Information Architecture, Database Structure & Design
Enterprise Design & Systems Thinking
Visual Design & User Interaction
Development
Web Design & User Experience Design
Wireframing & Prototyping
User Testing*
Implementation & Instructional Design*
Data Cleansing & Migration*
Tools
Microsoft Excel
LucidChart, Illustrator
HTML, CSS, WordPress
Caspio with SQL
Adobe Premiere*
* Work in progress.
Intro
Payless Insulation is an insulation contractor that have been in business for over 40 years. Throughout the decades of being in business, their data has been (and is still being) entered inconsistently, causing a lack of customer relationship maintenance, miscommunication in the office, and lost information necessary for projects.
Having working for them for 3 years, I have extensive knowledge in their process and know the unique set of employees that interact with their customers. This helped with the initial research and assess Payless Insulation’s situation.
How can a database be redesigned & restructured to better maintain consistent data in a small company?
Payless Insulation’s database stores their most valuable information: their customers’ contact information and the project details installed for them. Their system causes problems in communication, lost & cold leads, reduces ROI in marketing efforts, and slows down the sales funnel, and messy paper trail that is inconsistent with digital data.
Discover
Problem Definition
The main issues are unclear communication between employees and incomplete information being passed on through the system (client journey), causing problems, losing trust with leads, and wasting time tracking down information.
Call-Based System
The existing data structure based on individual calls (leads) rather than projects or customers.
Data Redundancies
Inconsistent and inaccurate data across database that cannot be kept up to date easily with current design.
Decentralized System
Project files and information is located in different places: local server, cloud, database, files & papers, emails…
Bad User Interface
User interface design is slow, clunky, and unfriendly.
No Analytics Tool
Reports and analytics features doesn’t exist and must be done manually, not allowing information to guide decisions.
Define
Objectives
Clean Data
Clean up existing data & restructure according to new redesign.
New Database
Create a project and customer management system that avoids data redundancies.
Better Experience
Improve user interface to create a more user friendly experience.
Requirements
Avoid Data Redundancies
Quickly search projects or customers to keep data consistent and up to date.
Sales Funnel
Keep track of project status to maintain projects through the sales pipeline.
Reports & Analytics
Easily look up sales reports and project analytics - not available in current system.
Multiple Customers
Include multiple contacts in each project, instead of limiting to 2.
Centralized System
Include estimating calculations, costing tools, and file uploads where all the project information is stored.
Print Paper Trail
Ability to create PDF at each project stage to maintain a physical paper trail, essential to Payless Insulation’s process.
Existing Solutions
After extensive research and short trials, I decided to proceed with Caspio to build the system on. Working with a no-code development platform is more cost efficient for the company, allows full control and customization over the design and structure of the database, and can be scaled to include other functionalities.
Develop
Existing Structure
Linear and de-centralized system that causes repeated customer entries and mismanaged contact lists.
Updated Structure
A centralized database structure allows companies and projects to have multiple contacts and have projects as the center of the system.
Wireframes
Since they have extensive information that must be stored in their projects, creating several organized lists was essential.
The workflow was implemented to avoid user error upon data input. Previously, when the user created a call/lead, they did not assign it to existing customers in the database if they existed. In fact, they didn’t even check for that. So leads turn cold and customer service isn’t prioritized. How can leads be created in the system after ensuring that it does not exist in the system?
Internal Project Flow
Design
Existing Design
Updated Design
Conclusion, for now
Better Together
Since I was working alone on the design and development of this system, there was a steeper learning curve. Having a diverse team would’ve sped up the process and made it more robust.
Expect User Error
I won’t be able to design for every single use case to avoid all possible mistakes that users could make. What matters is focusing on the requirements of the system and the needs of the company. Think: “How can user error be minimized?”, instead of “How to completely avoid user error?”
Go Big & Go Small
Changing scope throughout the process allows to focus on the bigger picture and the small details to build a more robust system.
PayIn Customer & Project Management System is a work in progress
Next Steps
User Testing
Implementation & Instructional Design
Data Cleansing & Migration