Azenco

Creating an efficient pergola configurator for internal use, integrated into the quote system, was our goal.

Azenco

Client

UX designer

Role

Outdoors

Segment

Configurator & Quote system

Azenco was frustrated with their current process of dealers requesting quotes for pergolas. A complete redesign, including the addition of a configurator, was necessary.

I worked as the sole designer on this project, taking it from discovery to completion. During the discovery phase, I partnered with an amazing tech lead with whom I collaborated on the result documents, helping us to better understand the project.

While the client had a pretty clear vision of what they wanted, I needed to understand what they really needed and perhaps guide them towards involving dealers more in the process.

After the initial kickoff, we clearly outlined what I would be discovering and what materials we needed from them. I also successfully lobbied for a greater involvement of dealers in the process.

Finally, we defined the success criteria, which included an increase in quotes per month, a decrease in support requests from dealers, and a reduction in the time it took to complete one quote.

Kicking it off!

Documenting technicals of client's pergola

Current context

I needed to understand how the current system worked.

I found out that there was a basic quote system with just text input, lacking many features and without a configurator. All configuration was done by simply selecting yes/no options and entering dimensions. It was obvious that we would need to discover what features we needed to have and how it was going to work through further rounds of research with both the client and dealers.

Product

Secondly, I needed to understand what a pergola entailed. This involved identifying the parts dealers would be able to configure and understanding the rules and technical restrictions of each product type. I accomplished this through analysis of sales materials, training materials used for dealers, and interviews with the client's salespeople.

User needs

The most important task was to understand the dealers and their work. To achieve this, I sent out an initial survey to all dealers, asking about their current usage of quotes, their positives and negatives, and fishing for dealers interested in helping us by allowing us to observe them and describe their overall process.

I also conducted interviews with a variety of stakeholders from the client side to understand their needs for the quote system and related processes.

After the first rounds, I had a pretty clear idea of the features we needed to work on for both parts.

First results

For the configurator, there would be a basic configuration allowing users to configure a pergola with all its options and models. Users would be able to place posts, change colors, add wall connections, and more. The focus would be on preventing errors and making the workflow efficient. Additionally, users would be able to configure multiple-zone pergolas, essentially configuring more than one pergola at once.

Configurator

Here, the client needed a simple system that would be able to manage the entire quote process from start to end efficiently. The system needed to allow for the fast creation of quotes, versioning, and easy interaction with the configurator.

Quote system

Ideation & validation

I came up with a basic layout and a way to show options and features. The first big challenge was how to organize the options for each "step" of the configuration. To tackle this, I conducted a card sorting exercise with dealers and clients, which resulted in a well-defined and logical sequence of steps.

For each step, I ideated the best way to display the model (orthographic camera, zooms on the model, showing the model in context). For the initial dimension step, I developed a floor planning-like feature that allowed users to easily create layouts for even multiple-zoned pergolas. Additionally, I added a way to have presets, which could be both default and user-customized, allowing users to save and reuse configurations.

Finally, I came up with the idea of a "presentation mode." Since I found out that dealers already show pictures to end clients on tablets, I thought it would be a "wow" moment if they could quickly create a basic concept on the tablet with some 3D rendered previews and AR.