Case study
From product chaos to product-market fit
Project overview
Team
Timeline
Impact
I returned the business to growth with products that now have customers.
What I did
I rescued this business!
When I came onboard the business lacked any clear direction.
They were operating across multiple online and offline verticals, and the digital product suite had become a collection of siloed features built for individual customers - a dead end for growth.
I researched and redesigned the software to find product-market fit - and the business is now growing with customers self-serving on a unified feature set.
About Visibly
Visibly is an early stage B2B SaaS tech startup in the industrial sectors workforce compliance and training space.
Their customers are industrial asset owners, their contractors, and lower level supply chain actors. The primary product users are workforce compliance managers and health and safety operatives.
They have 7-10 permanent employees and a 2-3 person C-suite.
I came onboard mid-2024 as their first full time product designer.
Pre project
Making a bold statement
Designer to consultant in 48 hours
On day one I conducted an heuristic evaluation. On day two I recommended all products be started over from scratch.
The main reasons were
There was no common feature set across all customers
The information architecture was beyond repair
The copy was laden with jargon and inaccessible language
The UI styling did not portray a commercially viable product
I planned projects for both products - the workforce management desktop web app and the mass market worker mobile app.
I planned projects for both products - the workforce management desktop web app and the mass market worker mobile app.
Project one
Desktop web app
Research and requirements
I ran a series of customer interviews.
I spoke to workforce managers, health & safety directors, and onsite compliance checkers about their day to day processes, industry tools and ways of working, the challenges therein, and their requirements for a digital product.
Discovered core requirement
Covered by legacy product?
If so, done well?
Real time visibility of individual worker and aggregate workforce role compliance
Complete top-down visibility of supply chain workforce role compliance
Notification system for upcoming worker role compliance status changes
Automated product process to enrol unaccredited workers onto courses
Platform for creating and sharing workforce communications
Discovered core requirement
Real time visibility of individual worker and aggregate workforce role compliance
Covered by legacy product?
If so, done well?
Discovered core requirement
Complete top-down visibility of supply chain workforce role compliance
Covered by legacy product?
If so, done well?
Discovered core requirement
Notification system for upcoming worker role compliance status changes
Covered by legacy product?
If so, done well?
Discovered core requirement
Automated product process to enrol unaccredited workers onto courses
Covered by legacy product?
If so, done well?
Discovered core requirement
Platform for creating and sharing workforce communications
Covered by legacy product?
If so, done well?
The findings showed the legacy product did not meet the core needs of prospective customers
Prototypes and testing
I designed the complete product MVP.
I went through six rounds of design with internal and customer feedback across three months to reach a product solution where all the core features stood strongly in their own right while also flowing naturally into one another.
Example feature 1
A data table that converts into a node network diagram, allowing the user to easily identify and resolve compliance anomalies within a large workforce supply chain.
The feature was described as 'a game-changer for the industry' by a senior Openreach executive who I consulted with regularly during the project.
AI feauture
Example feature 2
These AI assistant features reduce the user's workload when creating and sharing workforce-wide health and safety communications.
Customers indicated they would be happy to use the features as they would simplify writing tasks while leaving the option for final edits and approval squarely in their hands.
UI design
I created a commercially viable user interface design language.
I designed the all of key product screens and components for desktop, tablet, and mobile.
I created a basic light and dark mode design system to maintain and document styles and components.
A data visualisation dashboard presenting a real time overview of workforce compliance
A data table containing granular information on individual worker-role compliance
A node network diagram to pinpoint compliance anomalies within complex supply chains
Development
The build began once I had validated enough of the core design to make up a customer-ready MVP.
During this stage in the project I
Customer onboarding
New customers were pitched to, acquired, onboarded, and set up as active product users.
During this stage in the project I
Project two
Worker mobile app
Research and requirements
I returned to my customer research notes.
I had oriented the original customer interviews around requirements for the desktop web app, but I had also managed to uncover enough findings to produce a confident list of high level requirements for the worker mobile app.
Discovered core requirement
Covered by legacy product?
If so, done well?
E-learning courses for workers to up-skill and become role compliant
Real time visibility of worker's own accreditation status and role compliance
Ability to upload photos of training certificates for use as accreditation proof
Notification system for upcoming accreditation and role compliance status changes
System for receiving, consuming, and responding to workforce communications
Discovered core requirement
E-learning courses for workers to up-skill and become role compliant
Covered by legacy product?
If so, done well?
Discovered core requirement
Real time visibility of worker's own accreditation status and role compliance
Covered by legacy product?
If so, done well?
Discovered core requirement
Ability to upload photos of training certificates for use as accreditation proof
Covered by legacy product?
If so, done well?
Discovered core requirement
Notification system for upcoming accreditation and role compliance status changes
Covered by legacy product?
If so, done well?
Discovered core requirement
System for receiving, consuming, and responding to workforce communications
Covered by legacy product?
If so, done well?
Again, the findings showed the legacy product did not meet the core needs of prospective customers
Prototypes and testing
I designed the complete product MVP.
I went through four rounds of design with internal and customer feedback across one month to reach a product solution where all the core features stood strongly in their own right while also flowing naturally into one another.
Example feature
This page contains a list of the worker's live roles and their current compliance statuses, quick links into details and accreditation proof, and a favourites tab for worker role up-skilling.
Customers indicated this would help workers while being approached on site by inspectors, allowing for quick and easy compliance verification.
UI design
I repurposed the web UI language to create a mobile equivalent.
I designed the all of key screens and components to fit a wide range of mobile devices.
I created a mobile branch of the wider design system to maintain and document styles and components.
Accreditation cards that allow the worker to upload, store, and present compliance proof on-site
Worker role compliance overview screen with quick links to role-related details and actions
And then
Returning to business as usual
Post design and MVP launch
More customers were onboarded to both MVPs.
At this stage the business
Project retro
What was achieved?
Problems solved
Product-market fit with universal features
Order restored to the information architecture
Accessible and usable copy and UI language
Commercially viable product interface styling
Project takeaways
I do deliver under pressure - and - it's ok to blind-design AI features.
I was apprehensive about suggesting both products be started again from scratch. Leadership agreed quickly, but they were keen to launch the new products as soon as possible, as they were under pressure from investors. Despite this pressure, I had the bulk of the desktop product designed, in production, and being used by a growing customer base within four months.
AI assistant features were evolving rapidly around 2024, appearing in products such as YouTube, Brilliant, and Amazon. I designed the desktop AI features during this period, with few strong examples to learn from or use to validate technical feasibility. Despite the uncertainty, designing early proved valuable, allowing me to approach the work with a beginner's mind while gauging customer appetite through demos and feedback.
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