Rita Omatsone

Open to senior UX and product design roles

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All work
  • Supply chain platform
  • 2024
  • Desktop web, responsive

Redesigning a complex enterprise experience to simplify purchase order workflows: Purchase Order Management UX case study by Rita Omatsone

A full UX redesign of Lowe's purchase order management system around four connected jobs: find an order, monitor all of them, stay informed about changes, and investigate the details.

Role
Lead Product Designer
Users
2,500+ internal users in sourcing, logistics, finance and vendor management
Scope
Full UX redesign: search, dashboard analytics, notifications, PO details
Platform
Desktop web, responsive
Redesigned purchase order management: dashboard, advanced search and purchase order summary screens
  • 2500+ employees rely on the redesigned platform
  • < 30 s to find a purchase order
  • 6.7/7 user satisfaction
  • 10K+ purchase orders, instantly filterable
01

The challenge

Purchase order management is the backbone of day-to-day operations. Internal teams need to find orders, review item information, monitor activity and understand changes. The existing system made all of that hard, and people had stopped trusting it.

What wasn't working

  • Fragmented workflowsTasks and related information were spread across disconnected screens and tools.
  • Outdated searchFinding the right purchase order took far too long.
  • Little visibilityIt was hard to see the state of orders, stay on top of updates or review an order's history.
  • Low adoptionThe experience wasn't meeting users' needs, and satisfaction was low.
Current state: replenishment teams worked across TradeStone for imports, a shipper system and web forms, PO Direct for domestic orders and EDI with vendors, plus a green-screen terminal; a user quote says they waste more time looking for the right order than managing it
02

Understanding the experience

Before redesigning anything, I looked at how people actually moved through the system and what they needed at each step. The work focused on the overall workflow, how information was organized, and how people reached and reviewed order data. Three questions framed the exploration.

  • How do I find the right order?Search and discovery had to support people navigating a very large set of purchase orders.
  • What is happening across my orders?Dashboard analytics could bring the right information into one central view.
  • What is going on with this order?Item details and change history needed to live in the context of the order itself.
Journey map of six groups: replenishment, import admin, sourcing, logistics, finance and vendors, with what they do, where it breaks and the opportunity for each
03

The design strategy

Rather than fixing screens in isolation, I organized the redesign around four connected parts of the purchase order experience.

Diagram: Find with advanced search, Monitor with dashboard analytics, Stay informed with the notifications center, Investigate with purchase order details and change history
05

Visibility through dashboard analytics

Decision 02 · A central view of purchase order activity

Managing a single order is only part of the job. People also need to understand patterns and statuses across many orders. The new dashboard brings selected purchase order information into one overview and gives people a starting point for exploring the data underneath.

Dashboard, from MVP to analytics

1 / 3
MVP dashboard with seven metric tiles: system rejected, vendor declined, held at customs, late, quantity discrepancy, promo and reset, landed

01MVP · action tiles

Analytics dashboard with a date range filter, metric tiles, a PO timeline chart with breakdown table and a logistics panel

02Analytics · timeline and logistics

Create a new purchase order form grouped into PO information, item information, destination, logistics, and shipping and dates

03Create PO from the dashboard actions

The MVP turned each exception into a tile with a count and a next step. The analytics version adds a timeline breakdown and logistics signals for the same orders.
  • A clear visual hierarchy for dashboard information
  • Metrics and visualizations that are easy to scan
  • A consistent layout for order information
  • A path from the overview into detail
06

Bringing updates into one place

Decision 03 · Notifications center

Purchase order activity changes constantly. I designed a centralized notifications center, a dedicated place to review updates without first hunting down each related order.

Notifications center

1 / 3
Notifications center listing uploads, vendor responses and errors with status tags, timestamps and download actions

01All updates in one list

Filter drawer for notifications by type, status, date range and vendor

02Filter drawer

Manual orders page to review and approve uploaded order files

03Review and approve uploads

Uploads, vendor responses and system errors share one list with consistent status tags. Error files can be downloaded right from the row.
  • Notifications organized in a readable format
  • The information behind each update is easy to understand
  • Every notification connects back to its purchase order
  • One consistent way to review activity
07

More complete order details

Decision 04 · Item details and change history

Finding an order is only the beginning. People need to understand what's in it and, when needed, how it changed. The redesigned detail view brings item-level information and a change log into the order itself, so moving from identifying an order to examining it happens in one place.

Purchase order summary with status tags, an actions menu, a milestone tracker from created to closed, and order, carrier, vendor and financial panels
The summary answers "where is this order?" first: a milestone tracker, then grouped order, carrier, vendor and financial details.
Item details tab with quick filters for received, configurable, hazmat and damaged items
Item drawer with the product image, cost, damaged quantity and attributes, with previous and next item
Items live inside the order: quick filters for the flags people check most, and a drawer for one item without leaving the list.
  • Detailed order information in a clear hierarchy
  • Item information available within the order
  • Historical changes presented in a reviewable format
  • Current information clearly separated from past activity
08

Bringing it together

  • FindAdvanced search provides a dedicated way to locate purchase orders.
  • MonitorDashboard analytics present order information in a central overview.
  • Stay informedThe notifications center is one place to review updates.
  • InvestigateOrder details bring item information and change history into context.
The four connected parts of the redesign: find with search results, monitor with the dashboard, stay informed with the notifications center, investigate with the order summary
09

Outcome & impact

  • 2,500+employees rely on the redesigned platform
  • < 30 sto find a purchase orderdown from about 5 minutes
  • 6.7/7user satisfaction
  • 10K+purchase orders, instantly filterable

The redesign delivered a new purchase order experience across search, analytics, notifications and order details, and rethought how people navigate the system and reach the information behind each order.

10

Reflection

Redesigning purchase order management meant looking past individual screens to the connected needs behind them, from finding an order to reviewing its history and keeping track of activity. It reflects how I approach enterprise UX: see the whole experience, organize complex information, and design for the tasks people actually have to get done.