Customer & User Discovery
Understanding each key stakeholder in the product development vertical is crucial to build a platform that truly works. However, as we are a B2B solution, the user very rarely controls the budget. This meant that we needed to also target procurement teams, IT teams, and upper management in order to derisk adoption and implementation.
We have spoken with over 100 stakeholders in this vertical and have laid out some key personas below.
Users
Budget Holders
C-Suite Stakeholders
High level business management
User Specific Workflows
Strategy review
Performance monitoring
Decision-making
Wants
Efficiency improvements
Time and cost savings
High level insights from data
Data Management & IT Teams
Leveraging data to generate insights
User Specific Workflows
Reviewing product samples
Communicating with Local Operators (manufacturers)
Checking Tech Packs for small errors or manufacturability mistakes
Pain Points
Ease of integration
APIs for pulling data
Software modularity
Key Stakeholder Insights
Chat Overload and Organisation
Developers need to stay on top of all information related to design, manufacturing, and testing, all while working to strict deadlines and adhering to product requirements set by line managers. But there is often too much information to parse.
Cameron Ackroyd
Footwear Developer @ Axel Arigato
We get so many notifications, you just can't look at all of them
Imogen Wilberforce-Ritchie
RTW Product Developer @ Axel Arigato
Only 10% of my inbox is actually relevant
Geraint Harries
Footwear Developer @ Puma
I need to know of every conversation about tech packs
Geraint Harries
Footwear Developer @ Puma
There are too many chats to go through every day - we get bombarded. I need to know of every conversation about tech packs. Everythign we do is information flow
Feedback localisation
Developers will often communicate problems to manufacturers by taking pictures of problems, and circling and annotating them. However, files get lost across different chat platforms and often, the wrong files are referred to.
Cameron Crooks
Footwear Developer @ Puma
Finding a previous file doesn't happen - you just have to remember
Geraint Harries
Footwear Developer @ Puma
I like to use my phone to take pictures and draw annotations
Imogen Wilberforce-Ritchie
RTW Product Developer @ Axel Arigato
I manually take notes of what gets changed and why
Philipp Dorsch
Teamhead Footwear Development @ Puma Teamsport
A question we get a lot is: have we tried this before?
Tech Pack Errors and Inconsistencies
Designs are sent to manufacturers in the form of tech packs - but there are often errors and inconsistencies in these files. Manufacturers have to send the files back for review - or sometimes they will just guess and make an incorrect sample.
Steven Oh
Footwear Developer @ Puma
I spent two weeks checking the designers tech packs for errors in the last line freeze
Isabella Braithwaite
Colour and Materials Developer @ Axel Arigato
Sometimes the manufacturer will pick a colour they think looks good, and just make it
Philipp Dorsch
Teamhead Footwear Development @ Puma Teamsport
Error checking and design consistency is vital to support the design team
Scattered Data and Re-Entry
Brands often require files and product data to be logged, although this sis seen by the developers and designers as a data logging task, often leading to inaccurate and incomplete product data.
Cristal Polanco
Product Line Manager @ Puma
We have an intern fill out the details on each shoe
Steven Oh
Footwear Developer @ Puma
If I am hired as a developer, then me spending half my time on (PLMs)... ...I feel like I'm not actually doing my job
Léa Simon
CMF Designer @ Puma
File names are a nightmare.
