Vendors and dealers use your portal because they have to. The good ones make that cheap for them, and the bad ones turn into a pile of emails and phone calls to your staff.
Why do vendors hate most portals?
Most portals are organized around your departments. Purchasing has a section, finance has a section, marketing has a section, and the vendor has to know which one owns their problem. A good portal starts from what the partner came to do: check an order, sign an agreement, see when they get paid, fix a mistake.
What should a vendor or dealer portal always show?
Status, on the first screen, for everything that is open.
- Where each order, agreement, or claim stands, and who has it now.
- What the partner owes you and by when.
- What you owe the partner and by when.
- The next step, in plain words, with a button for it.
When status is visible, the "just checking in" emails stop.
The same goes for your side. Your buyers and account managers should see the same status the partner sees, so nobody has to translate between two systems on a call. If your staff keep a spreadsheet next to the portal, the portal is missing something, and that spreadsheet tells you what.
Where do agreements and commitments belong?
In one place, with the history attached. The signed agreement, the changes to it, what the vendor committed to, and what they have delivered so far should all sit on one record. When commitments live in email threads and spreadsheets, both sides spend the end of every quarter arguing about what was promised. Give every record a plain name the partner would use, a date, and an owner on each side.
Has this worked on a big retail portal?
Yes. At Catalyst Studios I led the UX and build of Target's Marketing Partner Agreements platform, where Target sells marketing placements to its vendors and tracks what each vendor committed to. Selected work from that era is on the portfolio. I also did retail work for Kohl's, Best Buy, and OPI at Catalyst.
How do I test a portal before building it?
Put a clickable prototype in front of real vendors and dealers and give them real tasks. Watch them check an order status, find an agreement, and submit a change. The places they stall are the places your support staff will answer the phone for years. A prototype costs a fraction of the build, and fixing a screen on paper costs a fraction of fixing it in code. More on why in do I need UX research before I build.
What does it cost?
A one-hour second opinion on an existing portal is $150. Prototypes are $150 an hour or a fixed quote on prototypes. Research and interim UX leadership for the full portal is quoted on UX research and leadership. Anything over $3,000 can be paid by the month.
Answered by Jared Lukes, Minneapolis. Twenty-five years in brand, UX, and technology, currently holding fractional AI and technology seats at three companies. About Jared.