Client

Mount Packaging Machinery Pvt. Ltd., India.

Role

Product Design (research, design, prototype, testing)

Mount Packaging Machinery Pvt Ltd

Mount Packaging Machinery Pvt Ltd is a manufacturer of a wide variety of tailor-made packaging machines. It has recognition as a worldwide supplier of superior quality, customized and standard world-class state of the art liquid filling machinery, both small and large end-to-end projects. To acquire future customers' attention and increase the business, Mount Packaging Machinery feels the need to be introduced to the digital world.

Competitive Analysis

While discussing the initial requirements of the client, I came to know about the competitors in this line of business. It was surprising to see that huge companies with a successful turnover do not maintain their websites well. This business is based more on reputation and references. I studied the competitors’ websites and also studied the websites of the indirect competitors.

Findings

The competitors displayed upfront the type of the machines they produced. They also have their own document that displays all the machines with their technical details (some competitors were indirect ones, who did not manufacture customized packaging machinery). Our client chose to share the types of the machines but not their specifications on the website, simply to keep it enclosed from the competitors and rivals.

User Research

I conducted interviews with the customers who worked in this line of business and often provided purchase orders to their suppliers with their designs. These customers have their own small scale industries or work in such industries.

Goals

• What information for the packaging machinery is usually sought out?

• What is the process carried out to give a purchase order for buying services from a company?

• What factors are looked for before deciding whether to provide the final purchase order?

• At what point does the participant feel that he/she should speak to the company representative for more information?

Based on my goals, I created a questionnaire to refer to while speaking to the customers.

 Findings

Building Empathy

Meet Krishnaraj

Using the interview results, I created a target group profile Krishnaraj(50), to better empathize with the requirements and needs of the audience I will be designing for.

Working on the empathy map is always exciting because it reflects the behavior and aspirations of my persona. It has always helped me make a clear connection between the user and the application I was designing.

After studying and analyzing my persona’s requirements, I started working on the project features roadmap. I started my listing out all the features that came to my mind and then sorted them according to the priorities as P1:Must-Have, P2:Nice to have, P3:Surprising and Delightful and P4: Can come later.

Information Architecture

The sitemap for this project was very simple, compared to the online shopping store, because most of the information would be static. I decided to provide links to About Us, Work, Services and Contact Us in the main navigation. The Get Quotation link would also be included in the top navigation, keeping in mind that I wanted to make sure that it would be found easily by the users.

Initially, I wanted to add the main types of the manufactured machinery under the ‘Work’ with an objective to provide in-depth details, but the client was concerned about too much content being revealed. So, we decided to drop that idea and move on to display only the types of the machines under ‘Work’.

I obtained and filtered all the data to be shown on the website, using my research and communication with the client.

While working in this phase, I realized that I had ‘to make more from less’ in the subsequent stages. What I mean is, this application has less (but valuable) information compared to any online markets. Hence, I had to be very creative with the information I had and also a way to make the experience enjoyable to the potential buyers.

Wireframes

I started by sketching my ideas based on the sitemap created earlier. Later, I used Sketch to develop the high-fidelity responsive wireframes.

After making multiple visits to the competitor’s websites, again and again, I came to the conclusion that I needed a simple layout to focus on the available information more. The layout I chose not only was simple but also felt in order with respect to the hierarchy of the information. My decision to place the customer list on the Home page was based on the explanation provided by the client: The business has always been spreading by word by mouth and that the leadership has played a crucial part.

Also, I wanted to include the logos of the companies which have been Mount India Packaging’s customers. But I did not have time to get the legal permissions to do so from the respective companies. Hence, decided to just plainly list them.

Branding & Responsive UI Designs

The adjectives associated with this project are minimalistic, calm, and professional. I feel the combinations of blue and neutral colors play an important role in this UI Kit.

Usability Testing

I set the test objectives to test the navigation of the website and submitting their requirements to obtain the quotation on the Mount Packaging Machinery. It is always crucial for me, to evaluate the how the user carries out each step in the process, by observing their actions and behavior. It also includes addressing any doubts/questions raised by the users and finding out why they had them in the first place.

Findings

• Good information source blended with simplicity.

• The overall appearance of the website is neat and clean.

• A straight forward experience.

• Required changes in ‘Get Quotation’ page: Display of status and form completion progress.

Post-testing Iteration

Based on the participants' feedback, I have added the indication for status and form completion progress for the 'Get Quotation' page.

Reflection

Mount Packaging Machinery is my first real-time project. I feel this project for Mount Packaging Machinery Pvt Ltd., is the first project that was entirely out of my comfort zone, specifically from the research point of view. It was altogether a conscious experience. The thrill of starting from scratch while branding (right from coming up with the tagline) is real! Though I feel there is room for improvement(s) with some aspects like logo, etc., I am happy to see the result obtained in a minimal amount of time, and most importantly, that the client is happy too! :)