Overview

Supplier Onboarding and Management Application (SOMA) is a web application designed to address inefficiencies in managing JPMorgan Chase's vetted supplier list. The tool aims to streamline supplier management processes, enabling internal teams to efficiently find, evaluate, and onboard suppliers while aligning with company goals such as sustainability and diversity.

My Role

As the Lead UX/UI Designer, I:

  • Conducted discovery and evaluative research in collaboration with the UX Research team.
  • Designed the user interface and created prototypes for testing and feedback.
  • Partnered with stakeholders to gather requirements and prioritize features.
  • Collaborated with developers to ensure the designs were implemented seamlessly.

Challenge

The Supplier Management Team (SMT) at JPMorgan Chase faced a significant challenge: they needed a centralized system for managing vetted suppliers. This fragmented approach caused inefficiencies for internal teams tasked with finding suppliers for new projects. Employees often had to:

  • Search across multiple websites to identify potential suppliers.
  • Create detailed presentations to justify their choices to managers.
  • Call the SMT for approval, often with delays due to their high workload.

This process was time-consuming, inconsistent, and prone to errors. Additionally, it needed to align supplier selection with broader company goals, such as prioritizing suppliers with sustainable practices or minority-owned businesses. These inefficiencies delayed projects and risked missing out on the best suppliers.

Solution

An animation depicting the step-by-step process of searching for a supplier, viewing results, and accessing the supplier's profile.

To address these challenges, we designed and delivered Supplier Onboarding and Management Application (SOMA), a user-friendly web application that streamlined supplier management and selection processes. This software-as-a-service (SaaS) tool served two primary user groups:

The Supplier Management Team (SMT): Responsible for creating, updating, and managing the list of vetted suppliers. The tool enabled them to:

  • Vet suppliers more efficiently.
  • Ensure compliance with company standards, including sustainability and inclusivity goals.
  • Publish an up-to-date, centralized supplier list for internal teams.

Internal Employees: Tasked with finding and selecting suppliers for projects. The tool allowed them to:

  • Search and filter pre-approved suppliers by criteria like expertise, location, and ratings.
  • Access detailed supplier profiles with rates, testimonials, and contact information.
  • Submit requests for new suppliers to be vetted and added to the system.

Key Features:

  • A comprehensive search bar and filter system for quick supplier discovery.
  • Supplier profiles are structured to surface critical information, such as past engagements and ratings.
  • A streamlined request form for adding new suppliers to the vetted list.
Try the Interactive Prototype
A whiteboard with an initial user flow diagram.

Process

Discovery Research

  • Conducted user interviews to understand pain points in supplier tracking and selection.
  • Gathered input from the SMT and leadership to align the tool with business goals such as sustainability, inclusivity, and negotiated rates.

Information Architecture

  • Conducted workshops and surveys to obtain a ranked list of the information needed to help us outline the data anticipated for searching and filtering and organize the suppliers’ profiles.
  • Calculated survey respondents' Importance Score to rank data fields in order of priority.

Design Testing

  • Created wireframes and user flow diagrams to visualize navigation and usability.
  • Designed the interface using an internal design system to ensure consistency and expedite development.
  • Conducted usability testing sessions with internal users to gather feedback.
  • Iterated designs to improve workflows, search filters, and the display of supplier profiles.
Try the Interactive Prototype

Scenario: Finding the Right Vendor for a High-Stakes Project

Before the Tool:

Sarah, a project manager, faced a frustrating and disjointed process when searching for suppliers. She had to:

  • Manually search through multiple external directories.
  • Create lengthy presentations to justify her choices.
  • Call the SMT for vetting, often with delays.

This inefficiency delayed her project timeline and made supplier selection stressful and error-prone.

After the Tool:

With the new application, Sarah’s workflow transformed:

  • She uses the search bar and filters to find suppliers with relevant expertise and high ratings.
  • She reviews detailed supplier profiles, including testimonials from colleagues.
  • When no pre-approved supplier met her needs, she quickly submitted a new supplier request via the tool, which was vetted and added by the SMT.

The result? Sarah completed her supplier selection process in half the time, allowing her to focus on delivering her project efficiently.

Result

User feedback highlighted several benefits:

  • Employees found the tool intuitive and reported smoother workflows when searching for and evaluating suppliers.
  • SMT members noted that managing the vetted supplier list became more efficient, with fewer delays and manual processes.
  • Collaboration between internal teams and the SMT improved, making the supplier selection process more cohesive and productive.

While specific metrics were not captured, the overall response to the tool was positive, demonstrating its effectiveness in addressing key pain points.

Reflection

This project underscored the importance of partnership throughout the design and development process. Collaborating closely with stakeholders during discovery ensured the tool aligned with business goals like sustainability and diversity. Involving my UX colleagues during design helped maintain consistency with other internal tools, reducing user confusion and fostering adoption.

Working with accessibility experts during implementation ensured the final product was inclusive and met the needs of employees with disabilities. Each release was delivered on time and within budget, showcasing the value of a well-structured UX process.

If I were to revisit this project, I would further streamline the vendor request process to reduce back-and-forth communication. Despite this, I am proud of the outcome, which improved workflows and made supplier selection more efficient and satisfying for employees.