ARK Platform: Bespoke ERP for a US Based Oil and Gas Corporation
Hamayun Zafar
Bespoke, scalable ERP for Phoenix's mineral rights wing.
We crafted a scalable & dynamic solution for their mineral rights acquisition wing's day to day operations. The ERP helped them save millions by moving away from Salesforce while their internal increasing efficiency.
We began with a blank slate, the only reference we had the adapted workflows on their Salesforce account. The goal was to craft a solution that encapsulated the day to day needs of all their operations.
Overview, Goals and Objectives
The Ask
Phoenix Capital segments its operations into investment, operations, and mineral rights with specialized teams. Their ask was to design a custom, scalable enterprise resource planning (ERP) system was developed to handle diverse data interactions, including daily operations and analytics, within the mineral rights division.
My Role in the Project
I spearheaded the design initiative, beginning with the collection of initial insights and user narratives, establishing the project’s scope alongside the client, devising a tailored design system, delivering a responsive design across the platform, conducting user testing, integrating feedback, and overseeing the final transfer and ongoing support throughout development, including quality assurance of the design implementation.
Research, Insights and Challenges
Gathering Insights From Current Experiences and Session Recordings
We mapped out each team's key workflows. By analyzing user-recorded sessions of daily tasks, we precisely delineated the project's scope, resulting in a highly effective strategy. Some of the features were conceptualized, ideated and designed later on. We uncovered opportunities for enhancement, including the addition of administrative tools and refinements in usability and interactions.
We Faced Diverse Challenges During the Development Cycle
These included keeping familiarity for a trained team, scalability, adaptability as well as multiple paradigms consolidated within a limited digital real estate.
1. Elevating Experience and Productivity While Keeping Familiarity
The goal was a seamless shift from Salesforce to ARK, keeping familiar structures and interactions intact. Yet, we took the opportunity to reconstruct complex workflow elements like revenue analysis, boosting productivity and simplifying processes.
2. Scalable and (Re)composable Design System
Crafted a flexible, modular design system enabling post-launch product evolution and customization.
3. Consolidation of Multiple Paradigms in a Limited Space
Merged key functions like mapping and reporting into a unified screen for efficiency.
4. CMS-Type Functionalities Baked In
Designed a user-friendly system integrating data management and history tracking to support backend operations.
Ideation, Execution, Testing and Final Designs
The General Look and Feel was Established First
We started with the screen people use the most to guide the visual style of the platform. Through multiple tweaks of this key page, we found the design that set the tone for everything else.
Our strategy hinged on a need-based scalable design system approach, composing design elements as we went along and faced various requirements and contexts.
(Re)composable, Scalable Design System
Starting with our preliminary design concepts as a foundation, we developed an array of basic reusable components along with more essential elements.
The Entire Platform Was Built To Be Responsive
The entire platform and all it's interactions and flows were designed from the ground up with responsiveness in mind. This allowed the team to access and refer the data on the platform in any setting (during negotiations, reviews etc.).
Ability to Generate and View Intricate Reports
The design incorporated the day to day composition and viewing of complex reports.
The Ability to Analyze and Compare Complicated Data At a Glance
The new platform made it easy for Phoenix's teams for analyze, compare and reference complicated data in various contexts at a glance. It also gave them the ability to drill down and fine deeper insights.
Easily Navigable Map View with Varied Data Points and Mapping Data
The platform came with a map view for the team to glance at their mineral rights data in the context of the mapping data. The platform established an easy and adaptive way to look at the variety of data available and an easy way to filter through it.
Familiar But Specialized Task Management Views
The team at Phoenix needed some traditional and familiar mechanisms to manage some of their internal tasks. A familiar but more specialized Kanban view was designed to fulfill that requirement.
Admin Tools - An Internal CMS for ARK
The ARK platform came with an internal integration of Admin Tools for the management of the platform for the devs. This included tools like a bulk data uploader, data model manager, workflow manager etc.
Usability Testing and QA
Internal Tests and Feedback
As we began developing, we tested the platform with Phoenix's team to see what parts of the design worked and what didn't. We kept track of the feedback, looked it over, and made improvements. We were pleased to find that the team liked the platform's overall look, how it worked, and how it felt to use it.
Week by Week QA of Developed Paradigms
Parallel to the development process, I led the design QA effort providing visual feedback to the developers ensuring design consistency across the entire platform. The process is still ongoing at the time of this case study being written. Our workflow and rather simple methodology has proved rather efficient. The developers find it super easy to track and report changes back.
Impact of ARK & Key Takeaways
Immediate Cost Savings
As mentioned at the start of the case study, the Phoenix team was using an adapted solution on Salesforce that cost them thousands of dollars on an annual basis. The ARK platform cut that cost down to zero in its first year. The designed platform not only met all the current needs of the team but also optimized workflows allowing the team to seamlessly carry over their work to ARK.
From Analyzing 5000 Records to 50000 Records At a Time
Phoenix Capital's line of work is dependent on the ability to collect, parse, analyze and present data to their team on a daily basis. Their previous solution not only hindered the ability to view that data in it's entirety but also did allow them to utilize the data in the ways that they wanted. ARK provided them the flexibility they needed to utilize their data to the fullest.
Personal Key Takeaways
A major portion of my last year has been spent working for the ARK platform. The takeaways have been far reaching but I will try to summarize them to the best of my abilities.
