Project
Graduation Project
Client
XPLCT Studios
Role
UX / UI Design
XPLCT APP
XPLCT Studios creates clothing of high quality, prioritizing comfort and fair pricing. The collections offer consumers the choice between a luxurious style and streetwear. Each collection is unique and explicit, providing the opportunity to wear clothing both for a night out in the city and for an active day.
Introduction
At the moment, XPLCT has 55 retailers, with 80% of their revenue coming from sales through these retailers. The stores serve as showrooms and the face of the brand. Therefore, it’s important that the retailers showcase and resell the brand to their customers as effectively as possible.
As a result, XPLCT retailers visit the showroom at least four times a year to view these collections and make purchases for their own stores.
The Problem
The issue arises throughout the entire procurement process between XPLCT and their retailers.
All communication takes place via WhatsApp or email, which may feel personal but lacks professionalism and often leads to significant uncertainties regarding the procurement process. Retailers frequently have questions about delivery dates for their orders, struggle to remember which items were ordered for each season, and often pay invoices late.
The Assignment
Design a digital B2B (Business to Business) tool for XPLCT and especially their retailers that allows both parties to easily keep track of the different steps in the procurement process, improving the experience of this process.
The tool should visually convey the feeling and image of XPLCT as a brand.
Customer Journey
The procurement process for both XPLCT and the retailer is divided into steps and fully mapped and visualized into a Customer Journey to gain a good understanding of this process and to pinpoint where the pain points are for both parties.
User Requirements List
Using the pain points of both parties, interviews and surveys, this User Requirements List was created.
Note: XPLCT made it clear that they want an application as a solution.
User Requirements List
1 Retailers want to be able to log in with an account on both their computer and smartphone.
2 Retailers want to receive notifications when new collections are released.
3 Retailers want an order confirmation per collection that includes anoverview of which items they have ordered.
4 Retailers want to be able to easily download and share content.
5 Retailers want to be kept informed about their order delivery process.
6 Retailers want to be able to do a repeat order of successful items.
Key Functionalities
1 Keeping track of all seasons
2 Receiving order confirmation per order.
3 Being notified of the delivery of my order.
4 Download/share content for social media
5 Being able to modify an order
6 Do repeat orders
7 Scheduling an appointment to visit XPLCT’s showroom.
Competitor analysis
Research has been conducted on similar existing B2B retail platforms that offer solutions for the issues faced by XPLCT and their retailers.
As a result, the four largest companies in this domain were approached, and live demos have been scheduled with each of them to experience how their product works.
Pro's
1 Platforms are available for Desktop, iPad and sometimes mobile format.
2 It provides a solution to all the problems XPLCT and their retai- lers face
3 System is fully integrated and connected to the programs XPLCT uses.
4 There are already retailers of XPLCT using one of these programs.
5 The software is updated monthly.
Cons
1 The platforms are too expensive for XPLCT.
2 The platforms look outdated and not pretty.
3 The platforms do not offer a sense of exclusivity. They cannot convey XPLCT’s image.
4 Retailers cannot schedule an appointment in the showroom.
Conclusion
There are already many platforms that offer a solution to the problem.
However, since these platforms cannot convey the brand identity of XPLCT effectively, I will focus on designing an application that can reflect the brand’s essence during this project.
Solution: An Application
The solution will be a B2B application, allowing both parties to easily keep an overview of the procurement process and arrange all issues around it.
As a starting point, an app will be designed for mobile and later for desktop. The app will incorporate all the user requirements mentioned earlier.
Screen iterations
Please read the process document for more information about visual inspiration, moodboard & styleguide for the application
Final Screens
Home
Dashboard page where the retailer is constantly reminded of important things, such as getting a notification that new content is available or that a new collection is available in the showroom to make purchases.
Orders
Order Units
The retailer has an overview of all the items they have ordered in their order. They can easily search for a specific item, considering that there can be up to 60 items per collection. Additionally, there is a filtering option available to further assist in item navigation.
Content
Stock
Make an appointment
The retailer picks a date when he wants to visit and a time that is convenient for him.
Order details
An overview of all details of the order.
Conclusion
The feeling and corporate identity of the brand are fully integrated into the app, through user testing the app is perceived positively and there are no more ambiguities or problems that retailers previously encountered.
All these factors ensure that the purchasing experience at XPLCT is enhanced with the XPLCT APP.
The retailer thus gets a more professional image of the brand, and as a result sells the purchased apparel more graciously to its consumers.