Bayzyen

Visualizing and optimizing energy commodities

2DA Analytics, a software startup and analytics lab, was looking to develop a supply chain management solution for oil schedulers tracking and managing product shipments from oil refineries. During our last engagement, we worked with 2DA, in partnership with Phillips 66, to help 2DA build their first downstream oil management product, Bayzyen.

Design Lead | 24 Weeks | 2018

A multi-phase engagement

We worked with 2DA to develop Bayzyen over the course of three engagements. With each phase we continued to iterate, improving workflows and screens while expanding the feature set.

Prototype

Develop a brand, visual language, and screen designs for a high-fidelity prototype.

Proof-of-Concept

Refine the information architecture and UI from the prototype to build a functioning demo.

Pilot

Continue to build on the previous work to create a functioning application to be validated with users.

Goodbye, spreadsheets

Currently, schedulers manage inventory for multiple products across multiple locations through an intricate system of Excel spreadsheets. Our goal was to help schedulers by providing greater insights into inventory patterns and the ability to better predict upcoming inventory shortfalls by aggregating and visualizing inventory data.

Meeting our users where they’re at

We conducted user interviews with three schedulers at Phillip 66’s Houston office. During the sessions we collected information on schedulers’ current workflow, needs, and pain points.
‍
While in Houston, we spent several hours shadowing schedulers and capturing observations about their workday and behaviors.

Picking up where we left off

The aggressive timeline, limited scope, and development constraints of the project prompted us to revise the information architecture.

Based on the findings from our user interviews, we revised the IA and identified key flows that would meet the needs of our users, while allowing us to deliver within the project timeline.

An improved design language

Before beginning new designs, we audited the proof-of-concept screens, identifying elements and components that we planned to maintain as we moved our designs forward.
‍
We then refined the type system, color palette, and basic UI elements, identifying repeatable components and templates that could be used across the software.

New features and controls

When making adjustments to existing screens or designing new features and controls, we explored multiple options through a series of rapid explorations.

We presented our thinking and sketches to our clients in the form of weekly decks, allowing them to understand and weigh in on proposed changes and new elements.

A new vision for supply management

Developing Bayzyen

During the engagement, the design team worked closely with the development team to assess the technical feasibility of implementing our designs. Utilizing a library of React components, allowed design and development to iterate and build quickly.

User Validation

To ensure we were meeting user expectations, we conducted user validation sessions with the three schedulers we had previously interviewed. The feedback gathered during those session influenced our final screen designs.