Democratising same day delivery for direct-to-consumer brands.
Digital Product + Experience Design View live website
Introduction
Ohi is a US-based warehousing and delivery service allowing small businesses to offer speedy, sustainable delivery options for customers. Smaller brands struggle to compete with Amazon, so the same-day delivery option at checkout gives them a competitive advantage by boosting conversion rate.
Brands reduce costs further with Ohi’s flexible micro-warehousing network, eliminating the costs of long-term leases and air transport. Ohi’s technology platform provides real-time inventory visibility and order routing so brands can forward position stock closest to urban demand.
Objective
I set out to reimagine the startups brand and experience design by serving the the needs of fast-moving ecommerce brands. User-centricity was at heart of this journey, helping to drive innovation, foster collaboration and connect customers to the same-day delivery experience.
The product suite included a same-day delivery option at checkout, real-time order tracking and end-to-end inventory management. The availability of same-day delivery for customers at checkout helped boost conversion rates for ecommerce brands. The operational dashboard provided a viewpoint of inventory and order flow.
Feedback Management: Prioritising features around customer insight
Establishing a customer feedback loop was essential in identifying problems and uncovering opportunities in creating, marketing and delivering value. With changing market conditions, it was critical that the company retrieve customer insights to inform decision making during product development. Through analysis, transport, product tracking expectations, and quality discrepancy were identified as important factors to customers.
A single channel system was designed to collect feedback from customers during early research stages. Customers shared feedback directly with the team using interactive forms through an integration on Slack, including interviews and feedback sessions, along with satisfaction surveys on mobile devices. The system allowed the company to reach more customers, who could submit feedback on features and quality, and inquire about the product with the sales team.
Experience Design
My differentiation strategy centred on ease of use, product visibility and feedback management to help the company achieve its vision. The product tracking interface was designed as a research tool, and elevated product experience as part of a direct-to-consumer approach.
Using an experience design framework to implement new ideas, the business was able to find the best solutions through design iterative analysis. The framework consisted of multiple modules based on a “explore, design, optimise” process.
Product Prototyping: Proof of Concept
Initial ideas for the product were translated into a functional prototype with components, icons and interactions. My goal was to articulate the founders vision of how the product would function, showcasing the prototype to investors.
I focused on highlighting the operations of inventory management within a single location, while tying order flow to the wider ecosystem through the interactive map.
Product Order Tracking
As part of direct-to-consumer approach, an order tracking application allowed customers to track their orders after checkout. A link to the app was shared to customers cell phones after checkout, customers then clicked on the link which brought them to directly to the order tracking app. The app showed three data points; order timing, location and personalised customer details, with emphasis on the same-day delivery proposition.
The app served as an ongoing research tool, encouraging customers to leave feedback on satisfaction and usability. Through this research, we identified that user personalisation, real-time tracking and visibility of same-day information were the most important to customers. As part of a value-add, brand partners could customise the interface, adding their own brand colours and logo.
Operational Dashboard: Inventory visibility and order routing
The company’s platform set out to provide real-time inventory and order routing so merchants could forward stock closet to urban demand. Same-day deliveries were handled by local partners, gig workers would do the picking, packing and shipping. Core features of the product included inventory prediction and optimisation, including continuously monitoring and rebalancing stock and SKU levels.
The ultimate goal was to clearly visualise order flow. The user experience was designed to simplify order management and utilities, providing just enough detail to pull users deeper into the experience.