Project Tracker: New Feature for a SaaS (B2B) Quoting Platform

ATS Quote Experience Improvement (AI Solution)

In this development, we want to streamline the quote building process and allow user to create multiple quotes from a single information. As the product designer in the team, I worked with product manager, quotation team, developers, data team external resources. Our team brought up the AI solution to our clients and internal teams to help minimize duplication of work while increase overall quotation building capacity.

Timeline: 8 months

Role: Product Designer, UX Researcher, Usability tester

label: Product thinking, User Research, Exploratory, Interaction Design, UI Animation

Tool: Sketch, Jira, Invision freehand, Amplitude

 ATS Project Tracker Manufacturing Partners

Background Information 

What’s ATS Project Tracker?

Project Tracker is a SaaS software provided by ATS.

It allows clients in Manufacture and construction industry to create and track projects, make the bids, build quotes, and share the final document to their clients. It is also a Customer-relationship management platform helps businesses to gain an insight into the behaviour of customers and make continous improvment.

Project Tracker has its unique and exclusive quotation feature that focuses on increasing the connectivity for construction industry busines.

problems & goals

Pronlems

Current process includes ATS Quote team and clients to build multiple quotes individually to comply with individual client’s requirements. It’s a time consuming process as each time user can only create one quote and it effects the work efficiency. This will eventually impact the business revenue.

Quotation Specialists scan construction drawings looking for symbols. Construction Drawings have important product size information (pipe size/thickness). This size info is sometimes found in the notes but if it isn’t it is only on the drawings.

Research

• Average quote time - 2.5 hours

• 40% of time (1 hour) of overall quotation process is for building a project takeoff

• 40% of time (1 hour) of overall quotation process is is for building the quote

• 1 mistake can cost upwards of $20,000 and damge client trust.

Other data:

• Quotes Per Day – 8-10 avg

• Products within Quote – 30 avg

• Quotes are prioritized by

• proximity to Bid date which is

• determined by ATS’s clients and

• unique to each quote.

*Total user: 20 in ATS quotation department

Goal

In this development, we want to streamline process of creating a takeoff and building a quote. This will minimize duplication of work from our quotation team when they are creating quotes for rep agencies and wholesalers in the overlapping regions and increase overall quotation building capacity.

DISCOVEry & Solution

User Profile

The Quotations team as a whole provides exceptional customer service, accurate technical service and support packages that enable their clients' internal quotation departments; allowing them time to build customer relationships, strategize, negotiate, and win more jobs.

Wallace - Quotation Specialist

• Wallace is highly motivated, detail oriented with a thorough understanding of construction technology.

• He has a positive approach, great attitude, excellent customer service and technical expertise. He is an extremely fast learners who ask the right questions and are always looking to the future.

• Wallace develops and train team members to hold a level of accuracy for client quotation builds to 95%

• He generates 10 quotations per day each with an average of 30 products within each quotation

Mauro - Senior Rep Agency QUotation Specialist

• As a Senior Mechanical Quotations Specialist, Mauro mentors, trains and develops ATS’s team, as well as manages accounts and onboards new clients.

• Highly motivated, detail oriented with a thorough understanding of construction technology.

• Mauro provides accuratte and updatted informattion to his 40+ clients.

• As a key contact person, Mauro onboards new customers by collecting and communicating their preferences and information and continues to manage their account and foster client relationships by providing exceptional customer service.

Workflow

User Journey Map

Frustration

Scanning construction drawings and specification documents is extremely time consuming for creating project takeoff files Identifying new products not within ATS’s product database and having to create product packages. As a team lead, reviewing junior quotation

Whiteboarding Exploration and Hypothesis

Product manager and I did whiteboard brainstorming with Invision, then formulated 3 hypotheses and explored design concepts. We tested these hypotheses with ATS users and received some findings and therefore came up with a few hypothesis.

Hypothesis

Hypothesis 1 - If we shorten the overall timeline of creating a project takeoff, then quote specialists, wholesalers, and rep agencies feel more in control of tight bid dates.

Hypothesis 2 - If the system could help users to cross-reference the suitable alternatives automatically when the available products are not within the existing product database, then they will feel more inclined to speed up during the quote building process.

Hypothesis 3 - If allow users to convert a single specification to multiple quotes, then it will increase efficiency when creating / building quotes.

Opportunities

Actionable and simplified routes (Spec to quote)

This began my journey of experimenting with what kind of route/method would be the most helpful

1) to streamline the whole process by creating multiple quotes from a piece of single information (building specification) while including logics/rules to comply with clients’ needs. (customer growth, acquire new users - generate revenue)

2) to minimize the time of creating the take-off documentation while decreasing the mistakes rate. (User retentions, Cut Cost (work efficiency)

Targeting Features & User Flow

Solution

1) Quote AI Feature

We wanted to use the AI integration feature to reach the goal of minimizing the overall project take-off time. We approached an external tech startup to help us develop this technology, then quote specialists, wholesalers, and rep agencies feel more in control of tight bid dates.

Meanwhile, I worked on the user flow of integrating the current experience with the AI software.

2) Spec to Quote Feature

We want to create an intermedia page between Product detail page and Quote detail page. This page can convert the single specification from the client to multiple quotes, and allow user to search for the cross reference products and add new products that are not in their systems.

DESIGN & TESTING 

High-fidelity Prototype

Design Outcome

What about the AI accuracy issue?

Currently AI can guarantee 90% accuracy. What do we do with the rest 10%?

It’s worse for specialist to not quote something than go back in and look at the one or two specific items that got missed in AI.

Therefore, we can use a placeholder for those AI unable to identify and let user go back to check by themselves.

Understanding the Revenu

How do we charge the clients?

• Ideas: Shall we charge users by the quote?

• We can display a pop up when user creating a quote, asking them “ Do you want to use the AI to help you build the quotes?”

• We can provide the annual membership plan for user to subscribe when they log in the app.

• We can record the data when quote team using the AI feature and find the opportunity to commercialize the feature.

eg. Full Project Tracker user can get the whole access, registered user can only get access of products from their data base. If registered user choose to make a payment, they will be able to get the whole access as well ( AI feature and full all products permission)

…

RESULTS

The team is currently still continuing to improve the feature based on internal user testing and user feedback.

The estimated goal for Auto Quote is:

• 97% accuracy on Quote AI feature

• 10 New Manufacturers and 30 New Independent Reps on Boarding

• Stretch Goal + 50% revenue on Project Tracker in 2022

• +5% Growth vs 2021

• Estimated Customer Engagement: