Customized Web App for Manufacturers
Hadrian
Overview
ISSUE
Hadrian, a North American leader in manufacturing toilet partitions and lockers for industrial locker rooms, commissioned nventive to create a platform that is more accessible for its users and easier to update for its internal teams while also preserving all the functionalities from its previous platform.
SOLUTIONS
Right at the start of the project, we recommended Hadrian to take advantage of its application redesign to equip itself with a platform that is easier to use, more efficient and decidedly centred on the users’ needs.
Concretely, we replaced the existing downloadable app with an online platform for an easier access for users and effortless updates for the internal teams at Hadrian. The result: an efficient platform that manages a very high volume of business rules which also enables users to create plans that are precise and that comply to construction standards.
Game plan
- Business logic analysis
- CX research
- Prototype creation
- UX and UI
- Web development
- Optimization and support
KEY TECHNOLOGIES
- Front-end development: Vue.js, TypeScript
- Back-end development: .NET Core, C#, Microsoft SQL Server, Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Collaborate to create
Optimizing the user experience
Because the app had been in use for several years, we optimized the new tool by considering the existing logic and usage patterns, and we also performed user research. That way, the design we created was comprehensive in terms of user experience and usage flows. It also took into account more than 15 user profiles and distinctive roles.
Also, to optimize the customer service staff’s experience, we conducted a progressive launch, which allowed us to improve a few of the platform’s aspects throughout the deployment.
Offering advanced features
Design projects in real time
The platform enables users to quickly create and customize projects while remaining easy to use. How ? By offering a wide range of models in real time, the platform gives access to advanced design features that integrate the company’s product catalogues.
Improve the plan drawing system
We optimized the existing plan design system from the older version, ensuring its compliance to the users’ strict requirements. To that end, we translated a software that was designed for Windows into a web app, to which we integrated the ability to create editable plans in real time. And here is its advantage : it enables users to manage calculations by simply moving items with the cursor in real time in the browser.
Time savings for the user
As for the clients’ perspective, the new platform, called Project Center, allows them to get a detailed quote ( Bill of Materials ) that takes their personal discounts into consideration. Project Center also generates complete plans, including elevation drawings, which are shareable with the architects and the contractors. Also, we integrated APIs so that the transport and shipping fees ( for one of seven shipping modes offered ), as well as the shipping date, are all included in the quotes.
An integrated platform
Lastly, we incorporated the platform to JD Edwards, the company’s ERP. The result: online orders placed by clients or employees are directly forwarded to one of the group’s factories and the billing cycle is automatically managed.
Challenges
Three main challenges
Everything was put in place to ensure the new website reflected Hadrian’s leader status, which made us face three major challenges.
First challenge. The company needed to manage an enormous volume of business rules, paired with a high demand in real time. To do so, we translated about half a million lines from an Excel table into simple and generic rules while ensuring their accuracy, thus allowing the design of impeccable plans ready for factory production.
Second challenge. Because of the increased demand on the website, we needed to shorten the users’ time on the site and alleviate the traffic on the server. To succeed, we developed a system that stores the new items generated and the new prices per item in the cache.
The third challenge consisted of fulfilling the users’ strict requirements. To that end, we translated a software that was designed for Windows in a web app, to which we integrated the feature to create editable plans in real time. This ingenuity enables the management of calculations by simply moving items with the cursor in real time in the browser.
Results
Adopted by both existing and first-time users, Project Center offers a renewed experience while remaining in continuity with the original app.
Its many enhancements allow the users to save precious time, whether it be to design a project, to get a detailed quote or to place an order.
On the internal level, the platform’s ease of use and the success of its integration in the ecosystem ( catalogues and ERP ) have both increased the staff’s productivity and considerably reduced the number of human errors.
Mission accomplished. The new platform’s benefit is twofold: it builds the clients’ loyalty and it differentiates Hadrian in a very competitive market. What is more, nventive is already working on developing advanced functionalities in order to strengthen the manufacturer’s leadership.
