Supporting local economy with budget responsibility

Overview

Local Budget is an alias name for a B2G e-commerce platform intended to ease the process of supplying goods and services by local businesses to the Drechtsteden government. Facilitating employees to utilize allocated budget benefits with ease in ordering all essential items and services required in each day's activities, increasing procurement efficiency and support local economy.

Responsibilities

Product Design, Design System

Tools

Miro, Figma
Period: 2023

Challenge

The Drechtsteden team wanted to find a better way to manage their budgets with unique shopping features and direct communication among suppliers, managers and employees

Solution

Through our design thinking process, we collaborated to understand their pain points

After defining the core experience, we proposed our initial approach: a standardised e-commerce user experience backed by a brand new budget system, products and services catalog, special requests and more.

Understanding complex workflows

Starting with research into how different types of government employees interact with budgetary data, focusing on key pain points around complex workflows, concerns about compliance, and gaps in accountability. This directly helped me to define the core functionality-managing expenses while providing transparency and ease of use.

Design

The outcome of managing budget expenses and user activities

A way to access critical budget information with ease, ensure compliance and accountability. Defining authorisation levels and approval hierarchies tailored to the organisation's structure.

Sending and receiving special requests

By making special requests to suppliers, employees have the ability to order custom products that are not available in the catalog. Both can engage in conversations to negotiate and find a suitable offers that has the potential to become an option for other customers.

Impact

Honest insights from the client

The pilot trading system is already live in production, serving the needs of 60 enthusiastic and satisfied users who have praised its ease and efficiency. It has made the processes much more compliant with laws, ensuring only budget owners approve expenses to prevent overspending.

It has also made purchasing and payments through its mobile application slick, minimizing administrative errors to allow for immediate payments. Applauded by purchasers and budget officers, the system scored, on average, 3.5 of 5 stars. The pilot gave a good starting point for feasibility and further enhancements or scaling, aiming for the AI proposed implementation.

Jefferson Silva

Creative Director