Franchisee-Centric Store Management Platform
Lead product designer, working alongside junior designer @ZÉ EXPRESS Smart Coolers - 2023
Context
As a Senior Product Designer at Zé Express, I spearheaded the design of a responsive desktop platform to empower franchisees to manage their smart beverage coolers seamlessly. This initiative was part of Zé Express's 2023 expansion strategy, which aimed to onboard new franchisees while maintaining operational efficiency and simplicity. Collaborating closely with a junior designer, I worked to deliver a solution that balanced the needs of both franchisees and the business.
Project Goals
1. At-a-glance clarity: Deliver operational insights on all stores in one comprehensive view.
2. Simplified decision-making: Prioritize actions and present them intuitively to franchisees.
3. Efficiency through reuse: Leverage the existing back-office platform to minimize development time and resources.
Problem
The existing back-office platform, designed for internal teams, lacked the user-friendliness required for franchisees. Franchise operations required simplicity and clarity while ensuring franchisees could manage their stores efficiently. Key challenges included:
Operational complexity: Franchisees needed an intuitive way to oversee multiple stores and address issues quickly.
Lack of focus: Competing platforms either overloaded users with features or neglected essential functionalities, creating a frustrating experience.
Scalability limitations: As the company transitioned from smaller franchisees to mega-franchisees managing 50–100 stores, the platform needed to evolve to support large-scale operations.
Research
STAKEHOLDER INTERVIEWS
To align with company goals, I interviewed key stakeholders, including operations, marketing, and franchise management teams. These conversations clarified the strategic priorities for the platform, such as:
→ Minimizing franchisee workloads to reinforce Zé Express's "effortless management" promise.
→ Ensuring franchisees feel a sense of ownership over their stores.
→ Highlighting metrics that matter most: operational efficiency, sales, and stock management.
FRANCHISEE INTERVIEWS
Interviews with 4 franchisees revealed their daily workflows, pain points, and expectations for a management platform. Key insights included:
→ Franchisees valued light workloads and clear operational guidance.
→ They wanted the platform to help them identify issues needing immediate attention and save deep analyses for weekly reviews.
→ Franchisees expected comprehensive yet digestible reporting on store performance, sales trends, and stock status.
→ They preferred that customer relationships (e.g., complaints, refunds) be handled by Zé Express centrally.
COMPETITIVE BENCHMARK ANALYSIS
We analyzed both Zé Express’s existing back-office platform and competitor franchise platforms. Insights included:
→ Existing platforms were too complex for franchisees or narrowly focused on specific tasks.
→ A balance was needed between offering all necessary features (operations, marketing, finance, communication) and maintaining simplicity and usability.
Approach
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
We restructured the platform's information architecture to clearly differentiate features for internal teams and franchisees. This involved simplifying navigation and focusing on franchisee-specific needs, such as real-time store monitoring and actionable insights.
Key features included:
→ Summary dashboards offering quick insights into store health and performance.
→ Actionable call-to-action zones on every page to guide users toward resolving pressing issues.
→ Customizable reports and filters to address franchisees’ specific operational and financial concerns.
ITERATIVE USABILITY TESTING
Prototypes were tested with 4 franchisees and demonstrated at live events. Key findings included:
→ New franchisees needed a learning curve to understand platform functionalities.
→ Comprehensive onboarding materials significantly improved usability during testing.
→ Feedback from live demonstrations emphasized the need for additional reporting options and filters, which were subsequently added.
Development & Launch
We collaborated closely with the development team from the start to:
Build a permission-based system to manage different user roles and their access to platform content.
Modernize the UI and enhance neglected features in the old back-office platform.
Document all changes and new elements in a detailed handoff file to ensure smooth implementation.
Results
The platform launch achieved the following outcomes:
Simplified franchisee experience: Key metrics and actions were centralized, reducing operational complexity.
Scalability for mega-franchisees: The platform successfully evolved to support franchisees managing up to 10 times more stores.
Improved usability: Onboarding materials reduced the learning curve for new users, improving adoption rates.
Key Learnings
→ This project highlighted the importance of balancing simplicity and scalability in franchise management tools. By actively listening to users and stakeholders, we created a platform that:
→ Empowered franchisees to manage their stores effortlessly.
→ Streamlined internal processes for faster onboarding and support.
→ Positioned Zé Express for successful expansion into new markets and larger franchise networks.