Besender
A central hub for managing on-site repair operations.
Supporting service centers in over 45 countries, Besender is a one-stop after sales solution for consumer electronics devices, smart home appliances, and IoT product. Specializing in diagnostics, repairs, and logistics, Besender streamlines after-sales operations through its technology-driven platform.
ROLE
TIME
PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS
User research, UI/UX design, Research Analysis, Prototyping, User Testing
CONTEXT
As a UI/UX intern at Besender, my mission was to redesign the central service management platform used by on-site repair professionals in warehouses.
The BMS mobile App is integral to their daily operations, handling everything from tracking repair orders, quality inspections, material management, and machine handling.
The original platform, developed by engineers without hands-on repair experience, overlooked the day-to-day challenges repair professionals face on-site. My role involved identifying pain points within the current workflow and delivering design solutions that improved usability through addressing the practical needs of users.
Engineers without Repair Experience
Engineers focused on functionality and technical specifications
Onsite Repairman
Needs & Painpoints
Practical needs and real-world workflows are overlooked
THE PROBLEM
The existing service management platform is inefficient and misaligned with real-world needs.
The platform is overly complex and fails to support the fast-paced, task-driven environment of on-site repairs. This misalignment leads to user frustration, workflow disruptions, and decreased productivity, highlighting the need for a redesign that aligns the platform with the actual needs of repair professionals.
Design Challenge
How might we redesign key actions in the system to better support the practical needs of on-site repair person?
CURRENT FLOW
The original system was primarily function-driven, with minimal attention paid to design aesthetics.
The lack of visual emphasis with software engineers’ lack of on-field repair experience further contributed to the misalignment. This disconnect made it difficult for users to seamlessly integrate the app into their daily workflows, hindering the app's overall effectiveness in the field. Addressing this gap required a deeper understanding of repair professionals’ unique challenges and workflows, which informed the redesign to better align with user needs and expectations.
RESEARCH
User Interviews
To build a solid foundation of understanding, I realized that gaining direct, hands-on experience was crucial, as I was entirely new to the repair industry. Rather than relying on surveys or online interviews, I decided to visit the warehouse in Ontario to immerse myself in the environment and observe the repair process firsthand.
I shadowed repair technicians as they worked, observing the intricacies of repairing e-scooters and other devices. In addition to shadowing, I conducted in-depth interviews with the professionals, asking questions that helped uncover pain points, inefficiencies, and areas where the app could better support their needs. This hands-on approach gave me valuable, firsthand insights into their challenges and helped me identify key areas where the app could better support their needs.
Asking the right questions
The interviews questions were structured around several key areas in order to capture a complete picture of users' experiences with the current tool.
Understanding Current Processes and Pain Points
Can you walk me through your typical repair process from start to finish?
To map out the entire workflow and identify key steps, tools used, and potential bottlenecks
What are the most time-consuming tasks in your day-to-day work?
To pinpoint areas of inefficiency where design solutions could save time or effort.
Are there any tasks that feel repetitive or redundant?
To uncover unnecessary steps that could be eliminated or streamlined in the system.
What challenges do you face when logging a new repair or updating repair details?
To identify pain points in the specific task of data entry and documentation.
Identifying User Needs and Preferences
What information is most important to you when starting a new repair task?
To prioritize what information should be displayed prominently in the interface.
What frustrates you the most about your current tools or processes?
To identify significant pain points and areas of dissatisfaction.
What features or tools would make your job easier?
To gather user-driven suggestions for improvements or additions to the platform.
Are there tasks you currently perform outside the system because it’s easier that way?
To uncover gaps in the system and opportunities to bring external tasks into the platform.
Contextual Insights and Real-World Challenges
What environmental or physical challenges do you face while working on-site?
To account for real-world factors like limited space, lighting, or weather that might impact design decisions.
How do you manage time-sensitive repairs or high-pressure situations?
To understand how users prioritize tasks and how the system can better support urgent workflows.
How do you typically communicate with your team during repairs?
To assess collaboration needs and opportunities for integration of communication tools.
What happens if you make a mistake or need to go back to a previous step?
To ensure the system accommodates error handling and allows users to easily correct mistakes.
What would you like to see in a system designed to support your work?
To end the conversation on a positive note and gather aspirational insights for future iterations.
User research insights, gathered through in-depth interviews and observations, identified the following issues as the most prominent challenges for users in the repair process:
Lots of Complex Steps and Redundant Processes
The workflow within the app is unnecessarily complicated, with many steps that are either redundant or involve repetitive actions. Users are forced to repeat similar tasks or re-enter the same information multiple times, leading to inefficiencies.
Better User Interface Design
Key functions and elements are not visually prioritized, which leads to confusion about the app’s hierarchy and navigation structure. Users struggle to find what they need quickly, as the interface does not provide a logical flow or clear visual cues.
Insufficient Consideration of On-Site Conditions
The app does not take into account the challenging conditions repair professionals face when working in warehouses. Factors such as limited connectivity, physical constraints, and the need for quick, hands-free access to information are not sufficiently addressed in the design.
SOME SPECIFIC PROBLEMS INCLUDE…
Inefficient Workflow for Logging New Products
The process of logging a new product into the system involves several redundant steps. For example, users are required to take and upload front and back photos of the product in the first step, and then separately photograph the SKU number, even though this information is often already captured in the initial photos. These unnecessary repetitions lead to wasted time and frustration for repair professionals.
Overwhelming SKU Selection Process
Besender operate warehouses in multiple regions, including the US, Germany, and China. However, the system displays all available parts from every region, regardless of the user's location. This results in an overwhelming number of options for users to scroll through, making it challenging to quickly locate the necessary parts.
Risk-Prone and Inefficient "Add Part" Feature
When inputting multiple parts into the system, repair workers—especially those with larger hands or fingers—often struggle with the app’s small buttons. The “back” and “trash” buttons are frequently pressed unintentionally, leading to the accidental deletion of all entered data. This forces users to start the input process from scratch. Additionally, the lack of a draft-saving function exacerbates the problem, as workers are unable to save progress and must repeat the entire input process if interrupted.
Additional issues discovered
These conversations and observations also uncovered some additional issues that extended beyond the initial scope, offering deeper insights into user needs and concerns.
Lack of Offline Functionality
Repair professionals often work in environments with poor or inconsistent internet connectivity. The current system lacks offline capabilities, making it difficult for workers to log repairs or access critical information in real time when network issues arise.
Inefficient Task Assignment and Tracking
Supervisors struggle to effectively manage and track tasks due to the absence of clear task management tools. Currently, they rely on receiving updates from clients and then manually updating each repair worker's task status through email, Slack, or other communication methods. This approach is not only time-consuming but also highly prone to errors, leading to miscommunication and delays.
Translation Function
Not all repair professionals are fluent in English, and much of the client communication, including messages and notes, is written in English. Workers who are less proficient in the language face significant challenges, as they must resort to copying and pasting client notes into a separate translation tool or use another device to translate written information.
USER STORIES & EPICS
Translating User Needs into Actionable Features
Building on the insights from user interviews, I converted the identified needs into practical user stories. These stories were then categorized into five overarching epics, creating a clear framework that captured the platform’s intended user experience. To ensure that development was focused on the most impactful improvements, I prioritized the features based on user feedback, rating each one on a scale from 1 to 5 according to its importance. This approach provided a structured, data-driven roadmap for enhancing the platform’s functionality and usability.
DESIGN PROCESS
Low Fidelity Ideation
At this stage, I focused on creating simple sketches and wireframes to define the basic layout and user flow of the app. I mapped out key changes in user flow, such as the work order overview, repair input and data entry screens, material parts lookup and request interface, and the progress monitoring function.
User Testing
To assess the prototype’s usability and effectiveness, we conducted preliminary testing through a Qualtrics survey, reaching 35 individuals. The goal was to gather feedback on the overall user experience, identify any areas of confusion, and uncover potential inconsistencies. This testing provided valuable insights into how users interacted with the prototype, highlighting key areas for improvement.
Progress Bar
The old workflow had many repetitive steps, but technical constraints prevented reducing them. To address this, I worked with engineers and introduced a progress bar, which improved structure, reduced cognitive load, and made the process feel shorter and less frustrating.
Users rated 4.7 out of 5 in terms of usefulness
75% of users felt that knowing their current stage in the workflow reduced frustration
SKU Parts Filtering
Previously, users had to scroll through a long list of SKUs from multiple regions, making it difficult to find the right part quickly. To streamline this, I introduced region-specific SKU filtering and a feature that prioritizes the most-used SKUs at the top of the list.
Users rated the feature 4.8 out of 5 in terms of usefulness
82% of users reported that finding the correct part was now much faster
FINAL SOLUTION
Onboarding
An onboarding process was added, featuring a set of questions designed to gather user preferences and key information.
This helps create a more tailored experience, ensuring that the platform better supports the user’s specific needs and workflows during on-site operations.
Work Orders
Streamlined work order creation allow for quick and easy creation of repair tasks.
This helps organize job details efficiently, ensuring that repair professionals can access and manage work orders with minimal effort even when handling multiple tasks at once.
Uninterrupted Workflow
Repair professionals need the flexibility to work without disruption.
Whether dealing with accidental taps, unexpected interruptions, or unstable network connections, maintaining progress should be effortless.
Learnings
1. Immersion and Empathy
There’s no substitute for direct exposure to the user’s environment. Stepping onto the repair floor and observing workflows firsthand provided a depth of understanding that no survey or secondhand report could match.
Watching users interact with the system revealed subtle frustrations and inefficiencies that they didn’t always articulate in interviews.
A hands-on approach not only led to more intuitive design solutions but also built trust with users, reinforcing that their input was valued and integral to the product’s evolution.
Instead of conducting rigid interviews, I found that casual, natural conversations encouraged users to open up about their struggles—often revealing unexpected opportunities for meaningful improvements.
2. Ask, Ask, Ask!
Coming into this project, I had no prior knowledge of repair workflows or the challenges I would encounter. Despite the steep learning curve, I quickly realized that asking the right questions—again and again—was the key to making informed design decisions. Engaging directly with on-site repair professionals and team members allowed me to confidently navigate uncertainties and take meaningful next steps.
Consistently asking “why” and “how” helped clarify user needs, uncover hidden pain points, and align technical feasibility with design priorities.
An open, inquisitive approach fostered collaboration and surfaced valuable insights that might have otherwise gone unnoticed.
Thanks for reading till the end!
Some screens are not displayed due to NDA protection.
Please feel free to reach out for further details of the project.
