Design Thinking - ERP Software Case Study

Background:

This case study is from the time when I was working with a small-scale Enterprise Resource  Planning (ERP) software company. The company makes an ERP software for small and medium  scale industries and the software provides the following features:

•  Accounting

•  Material Management

•  Production and Quality Management

•  Payroll

Challenges:

The main challenges include:

•  High price for some of the targeted customers

•  Customer staff wasn’t comfortable with IT and hence wasn’t ready to shift from book- keeping to software entries

•  The company staff was limited and they had no time to learn new technologies to  upgrade the software

•  Marketing team was not confident enough because of the insufficient industrial  knowledge

•  Customers faced training challenges due to high attrition rate

Selection:

Considering the number and range of challenges, we almost used all the tools. But mainly we  used Storytelling and Mind Mapping.

Storytelling:

As mentioned in the video (Week 2: Storytelling Tool Video) story telling comes with an emotion  and character building which is easier to relate with. Storytelling is the difference between solving  a problem and creating a cause.

Mind Mapping:

As explained in the video (Week 3: Mind Mapping Tool Video) mind mapping is looking for  patterns and insights in a large quantity of data you collected during your exploration of what is  the current reality. The goal is to establish criteria for the what-if idea generation phase.

Application:

Mind Mapping:

We started with a mind mapping tool to understand what is the current situation, gaps and what  can we do better to overcome the challenges we faced. (what if)

We arranged a staff meeting to list an existing processes and challenges. We visited existing  customers to know how they use the software (bit of visualization when we created stepwise  documents), how it helps them to handle their business efficiently, what are the gaps they see  and how can we help more to provide better experience?

We also selected a few leaders from the existing customer set who helped us to identify the gaps  and - requirement of training was one of them. So, we created simple training documents in the  native language which help them in their day to day work and to cope up with attrition.

To deal with the high price issue, we listed buying trend against buying capacity and we also  listed modules against their usability. And we came up with a modular structure. We decided to  sell the individual modules to small setups and provided them the flexibility to buy one by one as  and when they feel the need or when they are ready to grow.

Regarding software upgrade, we discussed the capabilities with current employees and we learnt  that they are eager to upgrade their skills. So instead of investing in new employees, we looked  for outside help and successfully made a deal with a tech savvy company who agreed to guide  existing employees to rearchitect the product to match modern technology needs.

As our marketing team was closely involved in the process the information shared during mind  mapping exercise enabled them to start effective conversations with the prospects.

Storytelling:

We represented a software company when we were selling to industrial customers. For us it was  important to share the story that they can relate to. It was needed to make them believe that we  understand their domain, their business and we have solutions to make their business more  efficient.

Here we used a Storytelling tool and shared the customer success stories with the new  prospects and reluctant staff of the existing customers. We also tried to get the existing  customers and new prospects on the same platform so that they could share the experiences  directly.

Insight:

After taking this course what I learnt is, we did not use the Learning Launch tool effectively.  Though we tried to get the customers and prospects on the same platform and we arranged a  few lectures on ERP software, it was theoretical for the actual staff. We should have arranged for  a live demo and hands-on experience.

Approach:

I am not associated with the company anymore. But I intend to share my learning with them. I  plan to suggest a better use of visualization and learning launch tools. Something like instructor  led class or video class for different roles like Admin, Accountant, Purchase Manager etc. Also  arranging a live demo occasionally where customers can play with the ERP software and can  learn different case studies. They can help the staff to improve their IT skills and be more  comfortable with the latest technology.

