Avanade short case study 10/14

Enhancing sales team productivity through AI document analysis with Azure OpenAI integration

Company

Avanade, a global consulting firm focused on innovative digital transformation solutions for enterprise clients.

Responsibility

As the only UX designer in the team, I led user research to uncover user pain-points, built AI workflow experiences from initial demo to first MVP to boost user retention, and established interactive prototype with cross-functional teams

Final Prototype

My responsibilities

AI trends research
Market research
Prototyping
Data mapping diagrams
Cross-functional team alignment

Team

1 Project Lead
2 Developers
1 Business analysis
1 Visual Designer

Time

Jun 2023 - Aug 2023

The Challenge

Sales representatives wasting up to 3 hours daily on document searches

This not only reduced productivity but also impacted their confidence in client interactions. The goal was to design a solution that would provide fast, intelligent document access and insights to streamline the preparation process.

Solution

AI document assistant to streamline document access and insights

I led the design of an AI-powered document assistant that integrated Azure OpenAI to analyze, retrieve, and provide insights from documents. This reduced document search time by 70%, shortened the sales cycle by 45%, and increased tool adoption by 35%.

Defining success

How do we measure success

- 25%

reduction of the cost of the staff

- 45%

shorten insales cycle

+ 35%

increase in adoption through increasing the client trust and data privacy

Product highlight 1

Upload or select critical meeting notes, proposals, or presentations in seconds

Product highlight 2

Gain AI insights with key information and guiding questions

Product highlight 3

Revisit and manage chat history and files

Research - Qualitative

Sales representatives faced fragmented document sources and slow information retrieval

Through workshops with sales reps and business analysts, we identified:

"I often spend hours every day sifting through documents to find the information I need for meetings. It's exhausting and takes away from the time I could be spending with clients."
- Sales Representative

Iteration 1

Identifying confusion about where to start

During user testing, we found that sales reps were confused about where to begin the upload process. This confusion led to a high drop-off rate in initial tool adoption.

Iteration 2

Differentiating upload methods for better usability

Final Prototype

Check out final prototype again

The final design offered a streamlined, intuitive interface with fast document retrieval, AI-generated insights, and integration into existing workflows, contributing to the overall reduction in search time and improvement in sales efficiency.

Final Prototype

Reflection

The value of cross-functional communication and effective prioritization

A key takeaway from this project is the importance of collaboration and clear communication. Working with team members from various disciplines, I learned that consistent updates and sharing progress ensured alignment across the team. This transparency helped us address issues early and stay on track with our MVP deliverables.

Another lesson was learning to prioritize under time constraints. Through this project, I came to understand that it's not always feasible to meet every ambitious goal. Instead, focusing on the most impactful and essential features within the available time frame is key to delivering a high-quality product. By staying adaptable, we adjusted expectations without sacrificing quality, delivering a product that met both user and stakeholder needs.

Let’s Connect

Thank you for taking the time to read through my case study

Thank you for taking the time to read through my case study. If you’re interested in learning more about my design process or discussing how I can contribute to your team, I’d love to schedule a call. Please feel free to reach out, and I look forward to connecting soon!