Reimagined Purchase Order Creation & Submission at Edstruments
Boosting Revenue and Reducing Drop-Off Rates Significantly
My Role
Product Designer
Team
Product manager, Developers, Founder
Tools
Notion, Figma, PostHog, Coda, ChatGPT, Slack
Duration
8 Weeks
About The Company
Edstruments is a modern fintech platform that transforms complex spreadsheets into visually intuitive, real-time cloud software. It partners with diverse organisations across the U.S., including public school districts, charter networks, accounting firms, and non-profits. Edstrument's vision is to empower impact-oriented organisations to manage their financial resources more effectively and equitably, ultimately helping them achieve their missions.
Project Overview
The original purchase order creation and submission process was a significant hurdle for our users, leading to a high number of incomplete submissions. Users frequently abandoned the cluttered, confusing, and tedious form, which directly impacted our user engagement and revenue. To address these issues, we initiated a redesign focused on streamlining the process, enhancing the user experience, and ultimately increasing completion rates to boost overall business performance.
Designing the Agile Way
For this redesign, we adopted an Agile approach, breaking down the complex problem into smaller, manageable sprints. This allowed us to work iteratively, continuously refining our solutions with each cycle.
Target Users
a local governmental entity responsible for operating and administering public elementary and secondary schools within a specific area.
Organizations that manage and operate charter schools, which are publicly funded but independently run schools
Firms offer a wide array of financial services, such as auditing, tax preparation, consulting, and advisory support.
A mission-driven organisation focused on social good, rather than financial gain for owners.
Benchmarking Against Competitors
To broaden our understanding of effective design solutions, I conducted a competitive analysis of platforms such as Bill.com, Ramp, and Brex. This research provided valuable industry insights, particularly in identifying best practices for simplifying complex workflows, improving affordances (making functions obvious), and enhancing user feedback mechanisms. These findings directly informed our redesign strategy.
User Research
To truly understand why users struggled with Edstruments' Purchase Order process, we turned to PostHog. This powerful analytics tool allowed us to track user interactions, analyse the data, and pinpoint exactly where users were encountering difficulties. Our goal was to validate our assumptions about user pain points with real data and gain a complete picture of the diverse experiences across our user base. This holistic understanding was crucial for guiding our redesign efforts.
Our user research revealed significant challenges with the previous design's user experience and interface. We found that the existing form suffered from:
Inconsistent Layout and Color Use: This inconsistency made navigation difficult and confusing for users.
Unclear Input Field Instructions: Users struggled to understand what information was required, leading to errors and frustration.
Missing Features: Critical functionalities that users expected were absent, hindering their ability to complete tasks efficiently.
Lack of a Cohesive Visual System: The overall design lacked a consistent visual language, contributing to a disorganised and inconsistent user experience.
These fundamental UX/UI flaws highlighted the urgent need for a comprehensive redesign to improve usability and user satisfaction.
Redesigning Information Architecture
With these findings in hand, I redesigned the information architecture of the form. This involved restructuring the entire flow to be more intuitive and adding clear interaction cues to guide users effortlessly through the process.
UI Design and Prototyping
Once we validated the new form structure, I proceeded to create high-fidelity mockups and interactive prototypes. My goal was to ensure that every element—from buttons and their various states to navigation patterns—was distinct and intuitive.
I designed the UI components to be scalable, interactive, and consistent. This approach greatly improved efficiency and minimised potential user confusion. After several rounds of refinements, the final prototypes were approved and prepared for implementation, paving the way for a more seamless and user-friendly experience.
Impact
The redesign was successful, resulting in the following results
Enhanced the user experience by making navigation simpler and interactions clearer.
Improved user satisfaction by 60% through a smoother workflow and clearer feedback.
Adoption rates increased by 35% after introducing a more intuitive and responsive interface.
Reduced task completion time, helping users make decisions more quickly.
Reduced user errors through clear button states and confirmation messages.
Visual simplicity matters — breaking down complex workflows into clear, manageable steps helps users feel more confident and prevents them from feeling overwhelmed
Small details build trust — delivering a consistent experience creates a sense that the platform is polished, dependable, and thoughtfully designed.
Clear microcopy and real-time validation — it helps reduce user frustration and results in higher form submission rates.
Jakob’s Law in action — users rely on familiar navigation. Aligning the design with common industry patterns significantly shortened the learning curve.
And with that, we're done!
Read the whole thing? You’re amazing! 🫡 please feel free to reach out to me on professional platforms such as LinkedIn.