Transforming Products with Research-Driven Design
Designing a PoC for OpenBlend which resulted in us securing a long term contract with Dr Martens
- in just 5 days
Restructuring the platform with new navigation (based on user type), and introducing customisable branding capabilities
Summary
OpenBlend is a people centred SaaS performance tool. I was instrumental in us winning a new signed contract with Dr Martens with a Proof of Concept redesign of the platform - from a standard white-label solution to a more customisable and 'brand friendly' UX/UI, including a complete navigation redesign to clean up the crowded main menu, all in just 5 days. Due to an NDA, I'm unable to share too many details - this is just an overview of my process and the impact of what I created.
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Dr Martens simply didn't want to invest in us until we had solved two major pain points:
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- The main menu was congested/bloated as we'd continuously added more and more features that we felt couldn't sit within specific menu groups (or so we thought)
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- The platform lacked the ability for them to customise the platform so that it looked and felt like an extension of their existing internal product suite
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Adopted by numerous global subcultures over 6 decades, this strong and distinctive brand continues to surge.
It was critical their platform reflected their individuality, and felt like an extension of who they are and what they stand for, not some soulless 3rd party 'HR Platform'
Deliverables
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Worked closely with CTO as the sole designer at Openblend (with minimal briefing) to redesign the menu architecture
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Produced new restructured designs for mobile and web in under 1 week
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Introduced a higher level of customisation, ensuring all clients could create 'on brand' experiences
Main Objective
To entice prospects to partner with us by becoming more of an attractive, brand-able and meaningful platform designed to enhance the wellbeing and relationships of employees and their managers
We'd added so many features to the main menu that we'd finally ran out of space - Dr Martens did not want to invest in us until this problem was addressed
The platform had been designed with a desktop first approach and a horizontal menu simply no longer worked, especially on mobile
I redesigned the navigation from horizontally to vertically to allow enough room for branding to be incorporated into that new navigation.
There were several different menu structures and scenarios to consider based on any of five different user types:
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Employee (or 'Talent')
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Manager
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HR Manager
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Site administrator
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Power user (usually someone from our customer success team)
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The old design (below) simply didn't work for Dr Martens. They wanted the platform to be an extension of their brand.
This work was something clients had been asking for some time, but it was finally initiated by Dr. Martens who didn't want to invest in our platform unless we did this piece of work which helped to get it to the top of the list. Clients wanted the platform to feel like theirs, essentially an extension of their current internal digital suite.
Its a personal product, and Doctor Martens needed the experience to feel like an extension of their brand. To do this, we needed to introduce
thoughtful and flexible customisation capabilities
The Solution
I grouped feature specific areas together into an architecture that made sense to our customers, and introduced more areas for branding customisation and logo placement.
I completed all screens in 5 days (working closely with the new CTO) - the nav was tested with the team at Dr Martens head office to ensure it was easy, accessible and that the assumptions we had made as a team were validated. We received a fantastic response which led to them signing a long term contract with us. The solution was also tested with Gymshark with equally positive feedback..
We shared the PoC and received a fantastic response from Doctor Martens, leading to them signing a long term contract with us
Our shiny new restructured app didn't just benefit Dr Martens. It helped us close several deals, and prompted existing customers to write some very kind things about what we were achieving as a company. We were becoming more of an attractive option for a larger variety of businesses who began recognising us as a design-led, customer-centric organisation.
Results
Less than a year after implementation, managers and employees are now having more frequent and more effective conversations. In fact, Dr Martens has reported that the platform has enabled people to continue building relationships and create meaningful connections during a period of significant change and continued growth.
Check out the OpenBlend website to find out how Dr Martens (as well as other clients) benefited from this solution.
“The team is always willing to adapt to our evolving needs. They really take the time to listen to our challenges and help us to navigate toward the right solution.”
Lorraine - Dr Martens