B2B | Biopharma | 2022
Avantor
Avantor Sciences is a chemical provider in the B2B sector. Upon acquiring VWR, a lab equipment provider, Avantor sought a way to present a cohesive brand identity and user experience for their customers. User surveys, interviews, personas, and journeys were all completed by our Strategy team. We worked together to understand primary pain points and how they could be transformed in UX.
ROLE & RESPONSIBILITIES
I was directly responsible for Workshops, Information Architecture, and Wireframes.
TIMELINE
5 months
TOOLS
Mural, Figma,
OVERVIEW
My primary goal was to create a cohesive experience for Avantors’ customers post-VWR acquisition. Some of the primary areas discovered by our Strategy team that I focused on were:
Navigation: Unless they have the exact SKU, customers have difficulty finding, learning about, and comparing products, requiring improved content and functionalities.
Content: Customers currently perceive Avantor as a transactional vendor, not an indispensable partner but new content types would shift perception and attract new traffic.
Discovery: Information on the site is disjointed and creates dead-in patterns for existing and potential customers. Products need to be featured in a strategic way to allow for cross-selling and organic discovery.
How might we improve the site experience for users and represent a cohesive brand identity?
User personas and key digital needs
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Require up to date and in-depth content on materials and equipment capabilities and trustworthy peer-to-peer recommendations. They rely on the experiences of the scientific community more than they do on manufacturer claims.
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Require up to date and in depth content on materials and equipment capabilities and trustworthy peer to peer recommendations. They rely on the experiences of the scientific community more than they do on manufacturer claims.
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Needs include swift findability to find products requested by research team; visibility into fulfillment and supply chain support to mitigate risk; supplier qualifications, regulatory compliance, and quality assurance documentation; poduct roadmap to understand process of manufacturing, shipping, and implementation.
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Needs include understanding products/service capability in improving facility performance and ease of findability for information on the company, the solution, implementation process and strength/reliability of supply chain
WORKSHOPS & IA
Exploring the navigation
To create a cohesive ecosystem for Avantor, I compared the navigation for VWR and Avantor Sciences to find ways to optimize the wayfinding for users. Both navigations needed help with functionality and concise organization.
Areas of opportunity:
Organize product sections into categories
Reduce the number of options in the top-level navigation to keep the user focused on the task at hand
Target users through marketing content nested within the site
Avantor.com Navigation
VWR Navigation
Crafting the foundations for IA
I then led a card-sorting workshop with stakeholders to evaluate and reorganize the site’s information architecture. Stakeholders were arranged into 4 groups to participate in and discuss the findings of the workshop.
Areas of opportunity:
Structure site in accordance with market needs
Boost up/cross-sell through use case content that shows multiple products/services in use
Create efficiencies through self-service
Best practices in the competition
I then compiled and presented some examples of competitors’ best practices and secured buy-in from stakeholders.
Finalized IA
After presenting our IA recommendations to stakeholders, I complied their feedback for iteration. We organized categories into groups and restructured the sitemap to benefit users and business needs.
WIREFRAMES
Visualizing the Users Experience
In tandem with the IA refinement, I worked with the client to decide which pages were a priority for wireframing and visual design. We focused on making templates for Product pages, Company pages, Lead generation, and major landing pages. I presented wireframes in rounds and worked together with our visual designer for handoff
KEY FEATURES
Keeping in mind user pain points and business goals, I targeted some of the key obstacles the website faced. I addressed major concerns regarding navigation, brand perception, and discovery.
Creating Value
Navigation: Introducing organized product categories into the navigation. Before, products were listed alphabetically, making it difficult for potential customers to find the products they were looking for.
Brand Perception: Avantor struggled with being recognized as a significant voice in the science industry - users’ relationship was transactional, and they would seek supporting information from other sources. I strategically introduced thought leadership modules throughout the website to fulfill this content need and support the stakeholders' goals.
Discovery: To create more opportunities for cross-selling and discovery, existing users would be presented with a list of recommended products based on their purchasing and viewing history. Users who were not logged in or new to the site would be met with a list of featured products so they may begin exploring.
Overall the project was extremely educational. Working together with our Strategy team was extremely beneficial as they discovered and compiled months of research to best advise the client. Unfortunately, our scope of work did not include testing of any kind. If it were up to me, I would have focused more on usability tests for desktop and mobile designs to ensure ease of use. However, I did my best with what I had, considering the many constraints that were out of my control.