Redesigning Order Intake & Sales Tools

Clarifying requirements and reducing production errors through better form design and information architecture.

Role: UX / Systems Designer

Users: Sales Associates & Production Team

Scope: Internal tool redesign

Context

Custom orders required sales associates to capture detailed specifications that painters relied on for execution. However, the existing order forms were outdated, ambiguous, and inconsistent across stores. Critical details were frequently missing or misinterpreted, creating production mistakes and long delays.

Each error required rework, increasing lead times and frustrating both teams and clients.

Problem

  • Forms used unclear terminology

  • Key fields were optional or easy to miss

  • Sales language didn’t match production language

  • Incomplete orders caused frequent back-and-forth

  • Mistakes added weeks to fulfillment timelines

My Role

I led the research and redesign of the order intake process, partnering with sales associates and painters to translate their needs into a clearer, more reliable system.

  • Interviews & workflow observation

  • Pain point synthesis

  • Information architecture

  • Form redesign

  • Rollout & adoption support

Approach

Observed sales consultations and production workflows to understand where miscommunication occurred. Reviewed historical mistakes to identify recurring patterns and failure points.

Define

Mapped the order journey end-to-end and identified missing or ambiguous inputs that caused downstream errors. Established a shared vocabulary between sales and production teams.

Design

Redesigned the order form with clearer hierarchy, required fields, visual grouping, and plain language labels aligned with how associates actually speak with clients.

Validate

Tested the form with sales associates in real scenarios, iterating based on friction and error patterns before rolling out broadly.

Solutions

Structured Form Layout

Grouped related inputs and created a logical step-by-step flow to reduce cognitive load.

Required & Guardrail Fields

Made critical information mandatory and added prompts to prevent incomplete submissions.

Shared Language

Standardized terminology between sales and production to reduce interpretation errors.

Visual Cues

Added examples and clarifications to help associates confidently capture accurate information during consultations.

Impact

  • Reduced average lead time from 12 weeks → 4 weeks

  • Cut order errors tied to intake issues by 70%+

  • Decreased back-and-forth between teams

  • Increased sales associate confidence and speed

  • Enabled smoother onboarding for new hires

What I Learned

Small UX improvements in internal tools can have outsized operational impact. By clarifying inputs and aligning language across teams, we reduced downstream complexity and improved both speed and quality. This reinforced my belief that good design often means preventing problems before they happen.