Reducing Contractor Wait Times, Automating Order Status Updates, and Centralizing Store Operations with Customer-Centric Design.
Date Completed
October, 2024
Overview
Sherwin Williams sought to modernize and strategically redefine its order management process. Existing store systems presented a fragmented approach to pre-orders, lacking a central digital hub. Store associates, crucial to this process, envisioned a clear separation of duties: the Point of Sale (POS) for immediate in-store purchases, and a new Order Management System (OMS) as the central application for all account-based orders, especially pre-orders. This vision prioritized OMS as the primary starting point for most transactions, reserving POS for specific in-store scenarios. The project aimed to create this streamlined, centralized digital solution to enhance both associate workflows and the customer experience.
The Customer Order Capture initiative focused on designing a user-centric presentation layer for this strategically central OMS, built on IBM Sterling. As Lead User Experience Designer, I led the design effort to create an intuitive and efficient interface for capturing customer pre-orders, fully embracing the vision of OMS as the store's primary order management tool. A key design principle remained keyboard operability, aligning with store associates' existing familiarity with keyboard-driven legacy systems and reinforcing OMS’s role as a natural extension of their workflow. Critically, OMS also consolidated access to order history and real-time order status, including tinting queue information, providing store associates with a unified view of all account-based order details in this central system. The design encompassed integrations with Xstore Point-of-Sale and Shercolor tinting systems for a seamless end-to-end workflow, acknowledging POS's continued, but more specialized role.
My role involved driving the user-centered design process from initial field research with store employees—directly capturing their vision for OMS centrality—to final UI designs and system mapping. Through iterative design and close collaboration with product owners and technical teams, the goal was to create a solution that not only improved efficiency but also strategically positioned OMS as the central order management tool, while respecting technical constraints and existing data structures of the IBM Sterling platform. This included optimizing workflows based on current store practices and the associates' desired division of labor between OMS and POS, as revealed through process mapping and user interviews.
The Order Management Software initiative aimed to realize the store associates' vision of a central OMS by streamlining store associate workflows, reducing customer wait times, and improving the overall pre-order experience through this newly centralized, account-focused system. By delivering a user-friendly, keyboard-optimized interface with key system integrations, consolidated order visibility in a central application, and a clear strategic role for OMS and POS, this project contributes to a more efficient, modern, and strategically aligned order management process across Sherwin Williams store locations.
Process
Rethinking Order Management: Key Observations from Store Operations
Modernizing Sherwin Williams' order management system required a deep understanding of store associates’ workflows and the challenges they faced daily. Through immersive field research, we uncovered key friction points that shaped the way orders were processed, revealing fundamental inefficiencies and opportunities for improvement.
Key Observations and Challenges
- Order Entry Was Not One Size Fits All: Store associates navigated two distinct workflows. Account-based orders were expected to follow a structured process via the Order Management System (OMS), ensuring pricing accuracy, order tracking, and proper invoicing. Quick Orders served as a workaround when account lookup was slow or cumbersome, bypassing the OMS process in favor of speed. While this shortcut helped associates manage time-sensitive orders, it introduced inconsistencies in record-keeping and customer account history.
Opportunity: Improve account lookup speed and usability to make OMS the preferred starting point, reducing reliance on Quick Order as a workaround.
- The Legacy System’s Speed Was a Double-Edged Sword: Despite its dated interface, the existing system was favored by many associates for its keyboard-driven efficiency. However, its rigid workflows and text-based search made tasks like account lookup and product entry error-prone and inefficient, often requiring workarounds like barcode cheat sheets and handwritten notes.
Opportunity: Retain the speed and familiarity of keyboard navigation while introducing smarter, more flexible search capabilities that reduce reliance on workarounds.
- Fragmented Systems Created Bottlenecks: The transition between OMS, POS, and tinting systems added unnecessary complexity to the order process. Associates frequently had to switch between multiple systems, leading to delays, lost information, and increased cognitive load.
Opportunity: Centralize order-related tasks within OMS while ensuring seamless integration with POS and Shercolor tinting systems to streamline workflows.
- The Need for a More Flexible Account Lookup Process: One of the most frequently cited pain points was the difficulty of finding customer accounts. Spelling variations, duplicate accounts, and rigid search criteria often forced associates to abandon the lookup process altogether and resort to Quick Order.
Opportunity: Implement fuzzy search, auto-suggestions, and improved data validation to make account lookup more intuitive and error-tolerant.
- Areas for Improvement: Suggestions included adding contextual account information (e.g., Pro Plus membership status or online purchasing activity) to the account overview and streamlining approval workflows for minor price adjustments through auto-approval features.
Visual Documentation of Research & System Flows
Current Order Management Flow
This diagram captures the existing order management workflow, illustrating the divergence between Quick Order and Account Lookup-based processes. It highlights key interaction points between store associates, OMS, POS, and tinting systems, revealing the areas where inefficiencies arise.
Key Takeaway: The lack of a seamless transition between Quick Order and full account-based ordering results in inconsistent record-keeping and operational friction.
Field Research Documentation
This research deck presents insights from store visits, interviews, and process observations. It includes real-world challenges faced by store associates, workarounds they’ve developed, and the opportunities these findings create for system improvements.
Key Takeaway: Store associates’ reliance on manual processes and system workarounds signals a clear need for a more adaptive, user-friendly digital experience that maintains efficiency while reducing errors.
Conclusion
The research revealed a clear path forward: aligning OMS more closely with how store associates actually work while addressing the systemic friction that led to reliance on workarounds. By refining account lookup, improving system integrations, and balancing efficiency with usability, the new order management system can become a true enabler of productivity rather than an obstacle.
Understanding the Current Order Management System
Establishing a Baseline: Observing Store Associates in Action
Before designing an improved Order Management System (OMS), we needed a foundational understanding of how store associates currently handle orders. This phase focused on identifying friction points in workflows, usability challenges in the existing system, and opportunities for improvement.
We conducted field research directly in Sherwin Williams stores, observing how employees interact with the Point of Sale (POS) and OMS. Our goal was to understand how associates:
- Retrieve customer accounts and order histories
- Search for and select products
- Manage transactions, including purchases, payments, and returns
- Navigate system inefficiencies and workarounds
This research formed the basis of our problem definition, ensuring that our proposed solutions align with real-world challenges.
Store Associate Walkthrough: How Orders Are Processed
Insights from the session
The first major insight came from a store manager walkthrough of the POS system. Key takeaways included:
1. Account Lookup Friction
- Finding a customer’s account required knowing their exact name, phone number, or account number, creating unnecessary slowdowns.
- Employees often guessed at spellings or tried multiple search variations to find the correct record.
2. Order Entry Workarounds
- Employees frequently relied on keyboard shortcuts and muscle memory to navigate the system quickly.
- Many used Quick Order as a workaround when account lookup was too slow, even though this method bypasses customer history.
3. Returns & Payments are Disjointed
- Returns require manual input of transaction numbers, leading to errors.
- Employees often guessed at spellings or tried multiple search variations to find the correct record.
Visualizing the Workflow: Order Entry Process Map
To further analyze transaction workflows, we mapped the entire order entry process as performed by store associates. This confirmed several inefficiencies, including:
- Multiple redundant steps in account lookup and order processing.
- Lack of a clear distinction between OMS and POS workflows, causing confusion.
- Inventory lookup issues requiring associates to manually check stock in other locations.
Process Map - Customer Order Entry
Searching for Customers: A Cumbersome Experience
Search Inflexibility
- The system requires exact name or number matches, leading to frequent errors.
- No fuzzy search or auto-suggestions to assist in finding partial matches.
Phone Number Lookup is Prone to Formatting Errors
- Employees manually type phone numbers without input validation, leading to failed searches.
- No auto-formatting (e.g., “2165551234” vs. “216-555-1234”).
Account vs. Contact Name Confusion
- Employees sometimes searched by the wrong field (account vs. contact name), requiring retries.
Customer Search Interactions Best Practices
Searching for Products: Complexity in Catalog Navigation
After retrieving a customer’s account, employees must search for products—a process that also has usability challenges:
Multiple Search Fields Without Guidance
- Employees must choose between SKU, product name, category, and tint base, but the system does not indicate which to use.
No Smart Ranking or Suggestions
- Products do not appear in a ranked order, forcing manual scrolling through results.
- No recently purchased products are shown as quick recommendations.
Tinting Products Add Complexity
- Tint-able products appear as separate SKUs, making it harder to find the correct selection.
Product Search Interactions Best Practices
Understanding System Structure: Object Mapping
Finally, we examined how transactions, customer accounts, and products are structured in the existing system. This object mapping exercise highlighted:
- The relationship between POS and OMS data, showing where information silos exist.
- How permissions for authorized buyers are managed (or mismanaged), leading to security risks.
- Why certain actions (e.g., processing a return and a purchase in the same transaction) are impossible due to system design.
Object Mapping Workshop
Key Takeaways
Through our research, we identified two primary categories of challenges affecting order management: usability issues in store workflows and back-end technical constraints limiting search performance and data accuracy.
Usability Challenges in Order Management
1. Inefficient Account Lookup
- Store associates must enter exact matches for names, phone numbers, or account numbers, leading to frequent search failures and retries.
- No support for fuzzy search, typo tolerance, or phonetic matching, making account retrieval a slow, error-prone process.
- Employees often resort to workarounds like Quick Order to bypass lookup issues, which sacrifices access to customer history.
2. Cumbersome Order Entry & Payment Processes
- Order entry is highly structured but inflexible, requiring redundant steps that slow down store associates.
- Payments on account require switching between multiple systems to check balances before applying payments.
3. Disconnected Customer and Product Search Experiences
- Employees struggle with multiple search fields, unclear naming conventions, and inconsistent product categorization, making product selection inefficient.
- No search recommendations or recently used items appear, forcing users to remember frequently purchased SKUs.
Technical Barriers to Efficient Search & Transactions
Our analysis of Sherwin Williams’ search systems revealed that many usability issues stem from back-end technical limitations rather than just poor interface design. These include:
1. Data Fragmentation Across Systems
- Customer data is stored in separate databases (POS, CRM, Order History), making it difficult to retrieve a unified view of a customer’s past transactions.
- Phone number updates do not sync across systems, causing discrepancies.
2. Lack of Search Optimization
- The current system relies on basic SQL queries rather than modern search engines like Elastic search or AWS OpenSearch that could provide instantaneous results.
- No AI-powered ranking or filtering, meaning results are presented in a flat list instead of prioritized by relevance (e.g., frequently purchased products, high-value accounts).
3. Performance Issues with Large Data Sets
- Millions of account records create slow search performance due to lack of pre-indexing and caching for high-frequency queries.
4. Security & Compliance Constraints
- Some search improvements (e.g., federated search across databases) are limited by privacy policies (GDPR, CCPA), requiring careful implementation.
Defining a Scalable and Efficient Order Management System
With a clear understanding of the user experience challenges and system limitations identified in the Understand phase, we now transition to defining a structured approach to solving these issues. The Order Management System (OMS)redesign is focused on improving order creation speed, reducing reliance on memorization, and optimizing customer and product search within Sherwin Williams' retail environment.
Key Priorities for Order Management
The focus is on:
- Reducing friction in order creation, especially for frequent account customers (contractors).
- Enhancing account and product lookup speed, eliminating reliance on manual memorization of customer names and product codes (REX numbers).
- Preventing order errors, particularly in associating orders with accounts correctly.
To ground these priorities in the existing technical landscape, we leveraged the OMS Future State Capability Map and our early research insights.
Entry Points Mapping
Addressing Technical Constraints and Dependencies
The OMS project is being built on top of IBM Sterling, but the out-of-the-box functionality did not fully meet Sherwin Williams' needs. Early in the project, engineers did not fully understand the system's native capabilities, which impacted design decisions. However, we quickly aligned on key facts:
- The presentation layer of IBM Sterling was not suitable for Sherwin Williams' retail workflows.
- The release schedule dictated a phased approach, requiring pilots with lesser functionality that would be gradually enhanced.
- The final solution would require a custom UI and information architecture (IA), incorporating only essential backend capabilities from IBM Sterling.
Through cross-functional collaboration with engineering and business stakeholders, we defined what was:
- Must Have (core functionality for pilot and full release)
- Should Have (important but not blocking)
- Could Have (future enhancements)
- TBD (subject to additional discovery)
Redefining Customer and Product Search
Our field research uncovered critical workarounds used by store associates:
- Employees memorize large amounts of customer and product data.
- The existing POS system relies heavily on quick order functionality, which acts as a workaround for poor account lookup.
- Product searches require knowledge of REX numbers, making lookup inefficient.
To resolve these issues, we introduced:
- Structured, auto-completing search fields.
- Progressive search refinement to support disambiguation.
- Updated backend search technologies, replacing outdated PHP database methods.
Addressing Technical Constraints and Dependencies
The order history component of the OMS project was originally released as a standalone pilot, separate from order creation. However, the final integrated solution merges order history with order capture, allowing store associates to:
- View order history by account within the order creation flow.
- Access order history as a separate entry point without spinning up a new order.
Because of this evolution in scope, we will address order history UI flows in the Ideate stage, where we present assembled screen designs and flows.
Reevaluating the Order Management Experience for Real-World Efficiency
With a clear understanding of the challenges facing order management in Sherwin-Williams stores, we moved into the ideation phase.
At this point in the project, I stepped into a unique role—not just as a designer but as an advocate for user-centered problem-solving. The team I was working with included business analysts, product owners, and domain experts—all highly knowledgeable in their respective areas but not trained in software design, information architecture, or interaction design.
Much of the early work on this system had been shaped by business requirements and assumptions about how software “should” work rather than how employees in stores actually needed it to work. My job was to bridge that gap—not by dictating changes but by guiding the team toward a more effective solution through visual exploration and explanation.
To do this, I took an approach of “softening up” the team to new possibilities. Rather than simply telling them that elements of the existing design weren’t working, I showed them. I introduced visual representations of the system’s workflows and interfaces, explaining—through concrete examples—why certain design choices created friction in the order process.
The first major area we tackled was the Customer Profile page, which I suspected was adding unnecessary steps and overloading employees with too much information at the wrong time. The next step in the ideation process was to explore alternatives—not just by proposing new ideas, but by engaging stakeholders in a process of critically examining their own assumptions about the system.
Unwinding the Complexity
This first Figma board presents a critical moment in the ideation process—the point at which I began to unwind the inherited design and shift the team’s thinking toward a more streamlined, task-focused solution.
At the core of the inherited design was an Account Profile page that functioned more like a dashboard than a workflow-driven interface. The issue wasn’t just that it contained a lot of information—it was that it attempted to support too many interactions within a single screen.
The original comp included at least 11 different interactions on the page, giving users access to:
- Account lookup and review
- Order creation
- Order history
- Returns
- Customer comments
- Credit and tax exemption details
- Job selection and pricing structures
- Payment and balance management
- Sales rep contact info
This first Figma board presents a critical moment in the ideation process—the point at which I began to unwind the inherited design and shift the team’s thinking toward a more streamlined, task-focused solution.
At the core of the inherited design was an Account Profile page that functioned more like a dashboard than a workflow-driven interface. The issue wasn’t just that it contained a lot of information—it was that it attempted to support too many interactions within a single screen.
The original comp included at least 11 different interactions on the page, giving users access to:
- Account lookup and review
- Order creation
- Order history
- Returns
- Customer comments
- Credit and tax exemption details
- Job selection and pricing structures
- Payment and balance management
- Sales rep contact info
In the wireframes next to this original comp, you can see the earliest iterations I was involved in, where I started making incremental improvements while questioning whether this structure made sense at all.
One of the first areas we explored was the Customer Comments section. Initially, the system required employees to review comments before proceeding, but through conversations with stakeholders, I helped uncover that this step wasn’t actually necessary at this stage. The same verification could happen at pickup, rather than disrupting the order process.
This Figma board represents the first step in reshaping the system’s information architecture—moving from an overloaded dashboard approach toward a workflow that prioritized efficiency and usability.
Early wireframes
Context of Use: Why Order Capture Must Stand Alone from Order History, Open Orders, and Returns
The order capture workflow is the single most used workflow across Sherwin-Williams brick-and-mortar stores. It is the primary software interaction for processing every phone call and in-person order, meaning that it must remain as streamlined and focused as possible.
While order history, open orders, and returns are important tools, they serve a different function—they are stand-alone information retrieval workflows that must be accessible from the top level of the application. When the system loads, store employees need clear entry points for:
- Creating an order
- Viewing order history
- Viewing open orders
- Managing returns
These workflows are designed to be quick, task-based stand-alone applications, allowing employees to retrieve the specific piece of information they need, complete the task, and move on—all while handling real-world constraints like customers standing in line or calling in with urgent requests.
Why These Workflows Should Not Be Embedded in Order Capture
Since order history, open orders, and returns already exist as dedicated workflows, there is no reason to duplicate them inside order capture. Embedding these workflows into the most critical workflow of the entire organization would introduce unnecessary complexity for the following reasons:
1. Order Capture Is a Work Tool, Not a Data Lookup Interface
- Employees using order capture are in “order entry mode”—they should be focused on creating new orders as efficiently as possible.
- Information retrieval workflows are fundamentally different—they serve a separate function and should be accessed as needed from their own dedicated entry points.
2. Unnecessary Duplication Creates UI and IA Bloat
- Since order history, open orders, and returns already exist as top-level workflows, embedding them into order capture would duplicate functionality in an unnecessary way.
- Instead of adding complexity to one workflow that is used across all stores, it makes more sense to let employees access these workflows separately when needed.
3. A Smarter Approach: Cross-Linking Workflows
- Instead of embedding order history within order capture, a better approach is to enable workflows to transition seamlessly when necessary.
- For example, within order history, an employee should be able to; look up a past order, select a line item from that order, start a new order with that item already added.
- This ensures that order history remains an independent tool, but when a new order is needed, it smoothly transitions the user into order creation at the appropriate step.
Design Implication: Keep Order Capture Streamlined While Enabling Smart Workflow Transitions
Rather than embedding order history, open orders, and returns into order capture, a better solution is to:
- Keep order capture a focused, high-speed order entry tool without unnecessary distractions.
- Provide clear top-level access to information retrieval workflows so they can be used as needed without interfering with order creation.
- Enable seamless transitions from information retrieval workflows to order creation when necessary—without disrupting the efficiency of the core order capture workflow.
By structuring the system this way, we maintain a clean, efficient user experience while still allowing for convenience when retrieving past order information. This ensures that order capture remains the most optimized, high-frequency workflow in the organization while still supporting other necessary but secondary functions in the system.
Refining Order Capture: A Convincing Solution for Efficiency
The culmination of the ideation phase was a streamlined, linear order capture tool—a design that clearly demonstrated the value of separating work tasks (order entry) from information retrieval (order history, returns, and account details). Through multiple iterations, the team moved away from a complex, dashboard-like structure and toward a task-based workflow that fit the fast-paced reality of store employees taking orders while customers waited in line or on the phone.
While many technical discussions and edge cases remained, the fundamental design shift had been achieved. This version of order capture provided:
- A clear, structured process that allowed store employees to move seamlessly from account selection to product search and order completion without distractions.
- Separation of order retrieval workflows (order history, returns, and open orders), preventing unnecessary cognitive load within the order entry process.
- A solution that resonated with the team, proving that a focused, linear workflow was the right model for a high-frequency task like order capture.
At this point, the argument had been won—not just through discussion, but through the tangible clarity of the UI, information architecture, and interaction patterns. With the core structure validated, we transitioned into the prototyping phase, where we refined interaction details, addressed edge cases, and ensured the solution was both intuitive and technically feasible.
Bridging Teams Through Prototyping
As our team refined the vision for the Order Management System (OMS), we needed a way to effectively communicate our work—not just within our immediate team, but across the larger Connect program. The Connect initiative encompassed five separate internal tools under development, including Order Management, Point of Sale, SureColor (tint station software), Delivery & Stock Management, and Inter-Store Transfers. Given the interdependencies between these systems, it was critical that our proposed solution for OMS was not only well-designed but also aligned with the larger ecosystem.
Rather than creating a traditional Figma prototype, I developed a journey map-style deliverable that told the story of the store associate’s workflow and the design decisions behind our approach. This was more than just a UX artifact—it was a strategic alignment tool for discussing how Order Management would integrate with other applications and meet both user needs and business goals.
Facilitating Cross-Team Collaboration
Our team, which included a product owner, business analyst, project manager, engineering manager, and three engineers, used this deliverable to present our work to a larger audience of roughly 50 stakeholders, including directors, engineers, analysts, and project leads from other teams. The goal was to drive discussions about system-wide consistency, particularly between OMS, the redesigned Point of Sale system, SureColor (the tinting application), and the store’s delivery and inventory management tools.
By visualizing the end-to-end workflow, this deliverable helped stakeholders:
- Understand the user journey and decision-making process behind the OMS design.
- Identify cross-application dependencies that needed further discussion.
- Align on technical feasibility, development timeframes, and release schedules for implementation.
A Tactile, Engaging Presentation
To maximize engagement, we printed the deliverable in large format and displayed it alongside other teams’ work. This gave stakeholders an opportunity to not only review the design remotely via video conferencing but also physically engage with the work on-site. The ability to gather around, point to details, and discuss in person fostered a level of interaction and alignment that would have been difficult to achieve with digital presentations alone.
The work was well received, and it successfully set the stage for further planning discussions between teams, ensuring that OMS would be developed in a way that supports the broader ecosystem of store operations.
Reflections & takeaways
Designing an effective order management system required a deep understanding of the daily workflows and operational demands of Sherwin-Williams store associates. These employees rely on speed, accuracy, and muscle memory to process orders efficiently, making it critical that the software align with their established work patterns. Early concepts attempted to integrate multiple workflows into a single interface, but this approach introduced unnecessary complexity, slowing down experienced users rather than supporting their efficiency. The challenge was to streamline the experience without sacrificing essential functionality.
The design process required balancing user needs with technical feasibility and business constraints. Initial concepts lacked a cohesive structure, with redundant pathways and overlapping workflows. Through iterative refinement and collaboration with business analysts, engineers, and store employees, the team developed a focused, keyboard-driven, autocomplete-enabled solution that prioritized speed and accuracy. This approach ensured that order capture remained a seamless, high-frequency workflow while still supporting secondary functions without disruption.
Achieving alignment across multiple teams was a significant challenge, as the order management system was one of several internal applications undergoing redesign. The solution needed to integrate with point-of-sale systems, tinting stations, and delivery management tools, requiring coordination across departments. Emotional intelligence and strategic communication played a key role in advocating for user-centered decisions, ensuring that design choices supported both the employees’ needs and broader business objectives.
This project reaffirmed the value of human-centered design in enterprise software. By prioritizing usability and efficiency, the final solution allowed employees to work the way they were accustomed to—only faster and with fewer interruptions. The success of this effort extended beyond the product itself, strengthening collaboration between design, engineering, and business teams, and demonstrating the impact of well-executed user experience design in high-volume operational environments.