No-Code AI Configurator

Keelvar

I identified that the product’s reliance on manual customer onboarding was a critical barrier to scale. Through discovery, I successfully convinced leadership to pivot from a service-heavy model to a self-service onboarding. I led the end-to-end design of the new "No-Code" configurator, ultimately reducing customer onboarding time from 12 weeks to 1 day and unlocking previously unachievable business growth.
CLIENT
  • Keelvar
ROLE
  • Lead Product Designer
DATE
  • 2022
Lead Product Designer
Collaborated with Product, Engineering and Junior Designer
6 months
Lead design and filled product management role

Keelvar

Keelvar is a B2B SaaS leader that pioneered the use of AI for procurement. Their software helps global giants like Coca-Cola, Siemens, and Samsung automate negotiations and find the best supplier deals, removing the heavy manual work from purchasing.

Problem Definition

Stakeholder interviews
Backend understanding
UX audit
Journey mapping
User personas

Design

Userflow creation
Wireframing
Usability testing
Feasibility review
Design critique

Solution

Design communication
UI implementation
Ticket creation
Development feedback

Scaling Sourcing Automation: From 12 Weeks to 1 Day

Problem Definition

Hitting the Scalability Wall

Sourcing Automation 1.0 faced a critical business bottleneck: it operated as a manual service rather than a scalable product. Every new customer required engineering intervention to hard-code workflows, creating a 12-week onboarding cycle. This technical debt stalled growth. The business needed to pivot from a high-touch engineering process to a self-service SaaS model to unlock enterprise adoption.

Design

Transforming Complex Logic into a Simple Interface

Mapping the existing user journey revealed exactly where human intervention was blocking the flow. To resolve this, detailed user flows were created to define a self-service "Bot Creation" wizard. The primary design challenge was ensuring non-technical users could navigate complex settings without getting overwhelmed. Low-fidelity wireframes were used to visually align stakeholders and run iterative feasibility checks with engineering, ensuring the new design could be built efficiently within 2-week sprints.

Solution

A Self-Service Configurator for Enterprise Scale

The core solution was a No-Code Workflow Configurator designed to replace manual engineering work. This interface empowers non-technical users to build complex automation bots by simply configuring logical steps, effectively "democratizing" the technology. To support this, the UI was completely rebuilt using a consistent design system and a new top-level navigation structure. These changes transformed a disjointed set of tools into a cohesive application, increasing user trust and providing clear visibility into the automation process.

outcome

From 12 Weeks to 1 Day

By redesigning Sourcing Automation from a manual service into a self-service product, we reduced the customer onboarding cycle from 12 weeks to just 1 day. The new "No-Code" workflow configurator removed critical engineering bottlenecks, empowering major enterprise clients like Nestlé and Coca-Cola to configure and launch their own complex sourcing bots without writing a single line of code.

98.8%

Reduction in Time-to-Value

100%

Self-service

learnings

Leadership & Technical Growth

  • 0-to-1 Product Strategy: Learned to navigate the ambiguity of building a new product from scratch, defining the roadmap from abstract discovery to release.
  • Engineering Accessible Design: Transalted design intent into clear, "developer-ready" Jira tickets, ensuring complex logic was communicated effectively to the engineering team.
  • Balancing Scope & Feasibility: Refined the ability to negotiate design trade-offs, modifying scope based on technical feasibility to ensure we met aggressive timelines without sacrificing core usability.
  • Design Leadership: Gained experience mentoring junior designers, guiding them through technical constraints and helping them execute within a fast-paced environment.