Sales Tracker 1.0
An iOS app created to help commission based sales people keep track of their sales and gain control over their finances.
OCT 2018 - APRIL 2019 | TEAM: TIAGO A. (CO-FOUNDER/USER RESEARCH) & ATEKITA (DEVELOPER) | MY ROLE: CO-FOUNDER, USER RESEARCH, WIREFRAMING, VISUAL DESIGN | TOOLS: WHITEBOARD, ILLUSTRATOR, PENCIL AND PAPER (WITHOUT ANY UX/UI BACKGROUND) .
Context
Every idea starts with a problem.
During my time working in sales, I spotted a problem between my colleagues that led me to design my first app. I shared this idea with a colleague and we started a side project that soon turned out to be well received by the corporate director and a useful solution that made my colleagues really happy. Seeing an idea come to life, the joy of the creative process and being able to make the lives of my co-workers easier gave me a spark to pursue a career in UX/UI design.
An app from sales person to sales person, made with love.
At the time I didn’t have the knowledge of what Design Thinking was nor the skills so being able to see it in retrospective I will try to walk you through my thought process as best I can.
The Problem
Do you know how much will you earn
on your next pay check?
Being organized and having control over your finances is even more important when you are on a commission based salary but due to lack or organization, a complex and time consuming compensation scheme almost no one knew the answer to this question.
How are they solving this
right now?
Competitive Analysis
Some colleagues got paid to work as accountants, however they were too expensive and were limited on the amount of clients they could take.
My first and easiest option was excel, but I had no interest and it would be time consuming for me and leave a lot of room for human mistakes. Since I was young I had always been drawn to technology, so I kept asking…
How might we create a system that could help more people?
How might we use technology in a more accessible and efficient way for both sides?
How about an app…
I kept on doing some research to see if there was something alike on the market already.
There was nothing suitable for our niche and most apps we found were very general.
Most of my colleagues were quiet impatient and not the most structured so customizing the general apps available was not the ideal option.
Persona
What You Need To Know
Problem Statement
Sales People need a way to keep track of their sales and commissions in an affordable, accessible and less time consuming way because lack of organization and a difficult commission system prevent them from having control over their finances, resulting in stress due to the uncertainty to plan ahead.
Ideation
Easy, all in one and in the palm of your hand.
We went straight from the whiteboard to illustrator, I know this is not the best approach knowing what I know today but at the time it was the easiest and most effective tool given we didn’t have any relevant experience and we did this project on the side of a full time job. We took some inspiration from apps like You Need a Budget and BBVA and started our own version. This were the main features:
Easily customizable just type in the sale and everything else is calculated automatically including the amount of your next paycheck.
Track sales and commissions automatically
To stay focused and motivated we decided to include the company volume goal and the income goal you wanted to achieve.
Track your progress and stay motivated.
How might we add more value
to their lives?
What about our management? What did they want and could we provide a solution? What about our friends that got paid as accountants? We didn’t want to make them lose clients, could we help them gain even more clients with less effort from them? We kept on brainstorming and came up with additional features.
Testing
Beta Version and Results.
After two months of programming we did a test flight and asked a couple of colleagues to try it out. They fell in love with it, as it helped them with the problem they were facing. Of course also some bugs came up which we could address immediately as we were present with the user on the work floor. To enhance user adoption we decided to create on boarding and tutorials for the next steps.
A month later we presented the app to management and they were also very excited. They were really supportive and even shared in the main communication channel which generated our first users.
Given our limited experience in the field we opted for a free 30 day trial. This allowed us to receive even more feedback to further enhance the user experience and satisfaction.
Sales Tracker still exists until this day and is still being used. Unfortunately I had to stop the further development of the app after pursuing other career opportunities. Now that I gained the knowledge and skillset in this field, recreating the idea is high on my to-do list.
Future steps
Improve UI. Check out the Re-Design!
Android Version, a lot of people ask, as we had no experience and it was self founded we didn’t take this into account when creating the app.
On boarding process or tutorial, for particular sales.
Not so specific, find the sweet spot.
Lessons learned
Document everything.
Keep it simple, start small.
We tried to implement a lot of features that our colleagues don’t use.Keep it moving, don’t lose motion.
Not all feedback needs to be implemented, but always listen.
Team work makes dream work and dreams work.
Enjoy the process.
Follow your curiosity.
The power of questions to spark creativity.
Clarity comes from engagement not thought.
Thank you for reading :)
Let’s build something awesome!
marimaruxui@gmail.com
+32471593816