ChemConnect is the leading Chemicals Commodity and Specialty Exchange. ChemConnect Trading Tools include 24/7 availability for 1000+ configurations of Auctions, Reverse Auctions, Commodities and Specialties Trades, Futures, Spots, Swaps, in both Paper and Physical transactions. ChemConnect exchanges successfully executed 2 billion dollars of trades during fiscal year 2000.
I was contracted to lead the interface redesign the for high volume commodities and specialties exchange, which included the complete overhaul of all trading tools and the corporate web site. After working with ChemConnect for three months, I was hired as the Manager for User Interface Architecture. As the Managing Information Architect, I started with the complete redesign of all tools and continued development of complex application interfaces, creating standards still used by ChemConnect.
Methodology: Agile, 5 week iterations
Skills Used:
- Business objectives analysis, Redesign Strategy development.
- Persona Development, Use Case Development and Usability Testing.
- Story Boarding, Wire Frame, Skin, and Demo Prototyping.
- Application Audits and Analysis.
- Integrated Work Observation, Interviews and Testing with Customers.
- Task and Work Flow analysis and development.
- Diagrammed application interface architecture using annotated wireframes.
- Designed enhanced user interface standards, usability and design guidelines.
- Developed Click Through Prototypes.
Example Assignment: Redesign Exchange Trading Floor, the main portal for all custom auctions, used for over 1000 different auction configurations.
Design Opportunity: The original applications and corporate sites were developed by the three founders, several partners, and engineering leads. The products were robust, the issues were that core value was not being highlighted in the Corporate Web Site, and applications were not optimized for complex trading.
My job was to design a simple and intuitive interface, which could drive trading by focusing on transactions and trading, across a diverse set of auctions.
Redesign: ChemConnect needed a single point of entry for all partners to access ongoing and future auctions for a variety of products with a multitude of different bid-able parameters.
Exchange Trading Floor: I audited and analyzed tools and participated in many options trades, with remote clients from around the world. I interviewed Traders and Stake Holders and tested design and prototypes with these user groups, in an ongoing fashion throughout product development. With this information, I lead a team of 8 designers and developers to execute new designs for tools and the new web site.
