Mars

Mars Inc.

Analytics for high-level decision making

Redesigning an e-commerce dashboard

Mars dashboard screens set in floating display

Timeline
2022

Role
UX Designer
UX Researcher

Tools
Figma

Overview

Problem

The total business is evaluated based on business function, brand, or retailers. This report needs to give a consistent level of metrics viewed across executive summary scorecards that are evolving over time.

Outcome

Created a dashboard and spec document for developer handoff. The application was built and is currently used by Mars executives.

What I did

User personas
Interface design
Experience design
Spec documentation

Deliveries

Implemented scorecard and KPI analysis components
Engineers were able to build our designs with minimal input/feedback from (us) designers
Executives adopted this dashboard in their day-to-day operations

Client

The enterprise includes Amazon, Chewy, Mars Wrigley, and the top four Omni retailers (Target/ PetSmart/Kroger/Petco). Four pillars span across the entire enterprise: Develop, Supply, Market, and Sell. These pillars will include a perspective on portfolio innovation, supply chain, content service, media, traffic, eventing, and retailer strategic partnerships.

This scorecard will be reviewed at least once a period by senior stakeholders but could also be refreshed daily/weekly based on the availability of data.

Understanding the Problem

Why are we doing this?

1.
Data collection

Data is spread across multiple systems and can be inconsistent between them. This serves as a barrier to the primary role of executive members: providing direction to the support teams.

2.
Clear analysis

Team members need to be able to interpret what is causing X change, why, and weather that change is beneficial or not.

3.
Source of truth

With information being relayed in multiple formats (and from multiple teams), it is key we are able to display data from all available resources to serve as a source of truth for the enterprise.

What are the key UX challenges?

1.
Data translation

Data spread across each tool/system often uses its own metrics and definitions. We need to aggregate that data and display it in terms our team understands.

2.
Data display

The shear amount of data to collect and display is overwhelming. Showing that data in a way that benefits the decision making process of executives is our top priority.

Approach

The dashboard needs to compare trends across retailers to better help diagnose when Mars has an internal opportunity versus a specific retailer issue that needs to be solved. We also need to ensure that the new layout, design, and colors do not hinder the performance of decision-making or KPI analysis.

Each pillar had its own set of specifications and obstacles that needed to be overcome; however, my project lead and I had frequent meetings with each other and employees from the respective departments of the enterprise. Eventually, all necessary and supplementary elements were built out and added to the page layouts. Finally, we marked all the specifications of each element in order to be sent over to the software/engineering team.

User personas were made to dictate what features and KPI were most important for each pillar. We had a kick-off meeting with employees from each department, and our contact with them was ongoing throughout development of the new interface to ensure accuracy.

Working closely with targeted users is an invaluable resource

Few companies have the ability to supply the end-users for an intended software. Having real-time feedback to changes we made proved to be cruicial in our design process. With precise accuracy, we were able to design a framework that narrowed down on the necessary KPI analytics and decision-making metrics.

Benefits of specification documents

Spec documentation (shown below) is extremely helpful for the engineering team because it shows them the exact design dimensions for all components and how the interactions need to be implemented.

View full Spec doc

Benefits of relationships

My team lead had a lasting relationship with the developers of this product. Their past experience working together proved to be vital for a quick turnaround time and a smooth development process. I learned so much in terms of design and developer handoff from my mentor, but (for me) the primary takeaway from this project is the ability to foster a lasting relationship with the stakeholders and the people you work with.

Key Design Decisions

Top/bottom 5
- When looking at metrics, we deduced filtering the top five versus bottom five performers would highlight the biggest outcome discrepancies.
View by (Period/Quarter)
- Comparing metrics by period/quarter will help when trying to figure out what caused inconsistency between revenue outcomes.
Export Data
- As stated previously, we lack a source of truth between teams. Being able to export data from any pillar (develop, supply, market, sell) will help with team communication, alignment, and presentation deliverables.