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Designing a winning PoC which resulted in securing a long term contract with Dr Martens

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Summary

OpenBlend is a people centred SaaS performance tool. I was instrumental in us winning a 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

​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

- The platform lacked the ability for them to customise the experience

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Doctor Martens have reported the platform has enabled their people to create meaningful connections during a period of significant change

Deliverables

  • Worked with CTO as the sole designer (with minimal briefing) to redesign the menu architecture

  • Delivered the new restructured designs for mobile and web in under 1 week

  • 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

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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'

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The 'desktop first' approach and a horizontal menu no longer worked

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')

  • Manager

  • HR Manager

  • Site administrator

  • Power user (usually someone from our customer success team)

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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.

The old design (below) simply didn't work for Dr Martens. They wanted the platform to be an extension of their brand.

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"Its a personal product, and we need the experience to feel like an extension of our brand"

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..

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"The team is always willing to adapt to our evolving needs and really takes the time to listen to our challenges"

Lorraine - Dr Martens

The Solution worked well for several other prospects

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 6 months 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.

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