Project overview
May 2023 – September 2024
Context
Brand owners (partner type) don't have the possibility to showcase their brand on bol. Only selected partners can do this via their account managers. There was very little known about the brand needs, yet this target group is very interesting for bol.'s revenue stream. Therefore, my challenge was to find a product market fit for brand owners. This project started with only me as Senior Product Designer and a Group Product manager. After one quarter, the brand needs were clear, and we discovered different brand types in collaboration with data. Then followed another quarter with concept designs, testing, and stakeholder management. After this, we got one PM and an engineer to start with the first experiments.
• Objective: a scalable and cohesive experience for brand owners, addressing their needs for storytelling, insights, and brand protection.
• Business context: GMV share of brands increased by 7%. Brands became critical to future our sales and key to increase the network sales.
• Team: Collaborated with PMs, engineers, and B2C designers to deliver a unified platform.
• Role: senior product designer & lead designer (in transition to managerial role)
Challenges
• No scalable tools for brand owners and inconsistent UX across the Seller Dashboard
• Custom-built shop-in-shop pages led to inefficiencies for both partners and internal teams
• No clear segmentation or user research for B2B partner roles
• Lack of collaboration between B2C and B2B design efforts
Outcome
• An MVP for 30 pilot brands to enable self service. Now scalable for roll-out.
• Shop-in-shop pages are made within 10 minutes by our partners.
• Delivered a Consumer meets Brand journey (collaboration with service design agency Essense)
• Laid first touchpoint to start implementing advertising services to generate traffic.
Partner research, low-fi
testing, segmentation, and journey mapping.
Crafted a service vision, drove platform-level thinking, enabled cross-team alignment.
Approach - Product Led Way of working
Discovery Phase
• Conducted in-depth research to map partner roles and needs within large organizations (e.g., strategic vs. operational roles).
• Collaborated with internal experts (e.g., Head of Markets, account managers) to identify pain points and validate assumptions.
• Developed a partner segmentation model including data and qualitative input and journey map for brand owners.
Concept Development
• Created a visionary framework integrating self-service tools, brand insights, and content support.
• Worked closely with B2C designers to align on user needs and shared platform goals.
• Developed an integrated design, including the needs of consumers, and the current branded content.
Iterative Design & Testing
• Low-fi concept testing with paper prototypes and co-creating in designs via PowerPoint.
• Designed and validated prototypes with key users, focusing on usability and scalability.
• Pivoted focus based on data, shifting efforts to brand owners and their priorities.
Stakeholder Engagement
• Presented a compelling product vision to senior stakeholders, securing buy-in for phased rollouts.
• Established cross-functional collaborations with marketing, assortment, and advertising teams to align goals.
Brand builder tab
This overview page allows the partner to scan what is available in terms of brand building and creation. The addition of advertising is for a following release.
First MVP Self-service flow
This was a low-key self service flow, to test how much effort it takes the partner to complete the flow.
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Credits
Design: Ruddy Rodriguez
bol.com
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