Basware

Basware accelerated co-creation with hundreds of customers using Howspace

Challenge

Software company Basware had been seeking a comprehensive solution for user experience design that would enable effective co-creation in the early stages of the design process.

Solution

Howspace enabled Basware to take the user experience design process online and reach larger groups of end users.

Results

Supported co-creation with different stakeholders: Basware used Howspace to create a link between their customers, end users, and the design team.
Collected instant feedback: With Howspace’s social-media-like features, Basware could ask questions and request feedback throughout the process and immediately get the information needed instead of spending several months collecting and analyzing feedback.
Smoother communication: Previously, Basware communicated with participants via email, which got complicated and clunky. With Howspace, they can now deliver the materials and assign tasks to all participants at the same time and get their opinions and feedback as comments.

Basware runs the world’s largest open commerce network. The Basware Network provides access to more than 220 global partner networks and over 1 million buyers and suppliers. Companies use the network to create business relationships, connect with trading partners, manage their vendor data, and speed up their invoicing and payment processes.

Mika Röykkee is the Head of User Experience at Basware. Before discovering the digital facilitation platform Howspace, he had been seeking a comprehensive solution for user experience design—something that would enable effective co-creation in the early stages of the design process.

“With Howspace, I instantly recognized a tool we could use to create a link between our customers and end users and our design team. It would also enable us to interact with our customers, share ideas and collect feedback,” he says.

A user-centred design process typically begins with user research: What are we designing? Who is this for? And most importantly: why? Then concepts are created based on this research, and feedback on the initial concepts is collected from the users.

According to Röykkee, around 60 to 90 per cent of the concept ideas at this stage are rejected. Quantity matters: more is more. The idea is to keep producing initial concepts until they find one that best serves the wide range of customer needs and expectations. This is where digital facilitation skills and tools come in handy.

“Designing cloud-based SaaS solutions requires new ways of collecting feedback. The traditional method was to visit selected customers and gather information one by one. Then the information was analyzed, and it could take three or four months to determine which concept would work best for the customers.”

Röykkee points out that in cloud-based services, the approach should be broader than just focusing on individual customers’ needs.

“Howspace enables us to take this entire process online and reach larger groups of end users. It involves communication tools that people already know from social media, so we can ask questions and request feedback as we go along and immediately get the information we need, instead of spending several months on collecting and analyzing feedback.”

Saying goodbye to clunky communication

Shachindra Dass is the Lead Designer in the Network and Financing Services business area of Basware. He believes that in a company like Basware, the importance of the customer experience must be understood by every individual. In one way or another, everyone contributes to the customer experience.

“Over the past year, for example, I have given two-day training sessions on the principles and practices of service design on-site in the United States, the United Kingdom, India, Romania and Finland,” Dass explains.

“Previously, I would use email to communicate with the participants, which gets complicated and clunky when you have more than 100 people attending a session.”

With Howspace, he can deliver the materials and assign the task to all participants at the same time and get their opinions and feedback as comments. He also uses Howspace for quick feedback on specific aspects of the training sessions.

“In my experience, a poll with a deadline is the best way to get feedback. This enables me to focus on any aspect that I deem necessary. The response rate is high, and the results are available in real-time,” says Dass.