Public procurement, designed for every role that touches it

A public auction has two users who want opposite things: the auctioneer who runs it for the agency, and the supplier who wants to win it. I started by interviewing both, mapped their needs with an empathy map, and ranked ideas by value, usability, feasibility and viability before drawing anything.

I ran a design critique of the whole journey, writing down what triggers each step and which information was essential or not. The worst moment was the sign up. A supplier clicked Sign up and landed on a long page, and still had to scroll to find the form. People should never have to search for something they already clicked.

I reworked the page so people reach the form without hunting for it, irrelevant information came out, and I rewrote the copy so a first-time supplier understands each step. Grid, color and spacing were reworked into components with variants, so the site could grow without drifting.

Every year, public agencies must publish an Annual Contracting Plan. It passes through four hands: the requesting department drafts each demand, purchasing consolidates the demands and forms the plan, and the competent authority approves it.

I designed the module around that relay. The same four step bar sits on top of every screen, with the role that owns each step written under it, so anyone opening the plan knows where it is and whose turn it is. Consolidation groups demands by category with their totals and priority, so purchasing sees the whole picture before creating a contract.

When the authority sends a contract back, purchasing needs to know what to fix, or the plan stalls in a loop. Returning requires a written reason, and the confirm button stays off until there is one.

Before a contract, agencies research market prices. I designed it as four steps, initial data, items, value analysis and finish, with a summary of the research always visible on the side. In the analysis, each item shows the average, mode, median and best price found, and the buyer picks which one becomes the base value. The system does the math; the decision stays with the person accountable for it.