Project
Graduation Project
Client
XPLCT Studios
Role
UX Design & Prototyping
XPLCT STUDIOS
XPLCT Studios is a clothing brand from Amsterdam that 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.
The problem
XPLCT has 55 retailers, with 80% of their revenue coming from sales through these retailers. These stores serve as showrooms and the face of the brand.
The issue arises throughout the entire procurement process between XPLCT and their retailers. All communication takes place via WhatsApp or mail, which may feel personal but lacks professionalism and often leads to significant uncertainties regarding this procurement process.
The Ask
Design a digital B2B (Business to Business) tool for both XPLCT & 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.
The First Steps: Customer Journeys
The first step was to map out the procurement process into different phases to identify where and at what points there are pain points or issues occurring, both for the retailers and for XLPCT.
This information was gathered through interviews with 3 retailers and XLPCT’s two partners, along with a survey that was completed by multiple retailers.
User Requirements List
Using the pain points of both parties, interviews and surveys, this User Requirements List was created.
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 an overview of which items they have ordered.
4. Retailers want to be able to easily download and share content for social media.
5. Retailers want to be kept informed about their order delivery process.
6. Retailers want to be able to do a repeat order (re-stock) of successful items.
Competitor analysis
There are already some tools in the market that offer a solution to the problems that XLPCT and their retailers face.
I approached the 4 biggest competitors for a demo of their product.
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
So why not use one of these existing companies as a solution?
These platforms answer in most of the needs of XPLCT and their retailers, but they cannot convey the brand identity of XPLCT effectively.
Therefore I will focus on designing an application that can reflect the brand’s essence during this project.
The solution
Based on the user requirements list, the solution is an application where both parties can easily keep an overview of the procurement process.
Retailers get notifcations about the status of the delivery of their orders. Can see what they ordered and adjust that and place new orders to re-stock sold out items.
They can also easily view and download new content, that they can use for their own social media. And they can make an appointment to visit XPLCT’s showroom.
Iteration process
The orders-page
In the initial stages, retailers found the order-page nice, but still struggled to distinguish orders from each other
They found the delivery date unclear, and XPLCT wanted a more visually appealing design for the notification, which they felt was too subtle in its blue tint.
In response, I added collection ambiance photos to each order, helping retailers identify collections at a glance and reducing search time.
I intensified the notification’s blue color to match their website’s shade, improving visibility and consistency. Additionally, I made the delivery date text bold to enhance its prominence.
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 availble in the showroom to view.
Orders
Here the retailer has an overview of all his orders. He receives notifications of orders that require action.These orders are listed under “important”.
Item Details
The retailer will find an overview of the quantity of units ordered per size by the retailer.
Content
Content page where the retailer can find all the content he needs per season. Content for their webshop or that they can use for social media. He can view it, download it and share it directly on social media through the app.
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.
Webshop Analysis
The B2B tool has to fully include XPLCT’s existing style. To determine what this style is, I made an analysis of their existing webshop and took inspiration from it.
Simple & Minimalistic Style
The XPLCT brand identity is clean, clear, simple, and minimalist. You can find these characteristics throughout their website. XPLCT incorporates a lot of black and white, along with a light blue color from their brand palette, which is evident in the buttons on the webshop.
Photography
Photography plays a significant role on the webshop, providing a visual experience for the consumers. I will integrate this photography into the screen designs.
Style Guide
Based on the webshop analysis and research of XPLCT as a brand, I created this style guide to determine what the app will look like.
XPLCT APP
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 they can sell the purchased apparel more graciously to its consumers.