Communicating Complex Problems through Discovery Deliverables

July 2025

Company: Xometry

My Role: UX Designer

We created a process flow diagram organized to show the journey of a manual quote (MQ) with multiple parts.

A purchase order (PO) with multiple parts is initially grouped into a single job. This job is later split into separate orders, each with its own due date.

Shifted from text to visuals to clearly communicate a complex problem and the logic of the current process.

Background

Xometry’s current order management system is not equipped to handle complex orders with multiple ship dates (MSD). The system's inability to natively capture these orders forces internal staff to rely on time-consuming and error-prone manual workarounds. This inefficient process creates a significant increase in workload for employees and elevates the risk of data entry errors, ultimately leading to a frustrating experience for both staff and customers.

Our goal is to design a visual framework for presenting research findings that:

  • Clearly communicates the complexity of the MSD problem

  • Breaks down the logic of the current user journey

  • Fosters empathy for the user

  • Engages stakeholders and encourages discussion

  • Serves as a shared source of truth for the team

Target Audience:

  • Product Managers

  • Engineering

  • Designers

Iteration 01

After a partner accepts a job, the job must be canceled and manually split into individual orders. This process is necessary to ensure the partner is paid for each shipment, rather than waiting until the entire large order is complete.

This first iteration successfully communicated the process we discovered of grouping and splitting parts into orders and jobs, but did not convey the high amount of manual work throughout the flow.

It is also missing the problem that customers do not have a unified method for communicating MSD needs.

Final Deliverable Highlights

The final deliverable is a comprehensive process flow diagram. Orange bubbles show the multiple methods that customers currently use to communicate MSD needs.

We used this same framework to map out the logic behind several potential high level solutions we wanted to explore. Here, you can see how the manual work icons allow viewers to quickly compare which potential solutions require more manual interventions.

Learnings

Empowered stakeholders with a deeper understanding, enabling them to make more informed, user-centered decisions.

The icons signal a need for manual intervention at specific points in the process.

Demonstrated the value of visual storytelling in UX research for effectively conveying complex information.