GdeMaterial

Project & role

GdeMaterial was a construction materials marketplace with a network of 500+ suppliers. I worked as Senior Product Designer from June 2019 to April 2020.

My main focus was Material.pro, a B2B platform serving 2,000 clients, including major property developers such as PIK. I designed material search, offer comparison, ordering and workflows connecting buyers, suppliers and logistics.

The challenge

Buying construction materials meant coordinating the estimate, suppliers and delivery to the site. Foremen were responsible for quality and timing, while clients managed the budget. Incorrect materials or late deliveries could bring work to a halt, so the lowest price alone was not enough.

Buyers added materials or uploaded an estimate, but a company manager handled the subsequent supplier selection. The goal was to make offers clear enough for buyers to choose independently and increase conversion to placed orders.

Research & process

Together with product managers, I conducted interviews to understand how people purchased and approved materials. I tested interactive prototypes with foremen and clients, collected feedback and refined the flows.

Testing led me to clarify the differences between offers: users needed to understand why prices differed and whether an option involved substituting materials.

The solution

Ordering from an estimate

Buyers could upload a file or photo, enter a materials list manually or select products from the catalogue.

Making offers easy to compare

The system proposed how to split the materials in an estimate across suppliers, taking their specialisation, pricing and delivery terms into account. Buyers and foremen chose the right balance of budget, timing and reliability.

I highlighted several purchase options: Cheapest without substitutions, Cheapest, Fast delivery, Recommended and others. The comparison showed the materials included, substitutions, suppliers and their ratings, delivery costs and timing.

Placing and tracking an order

I connected offer selection with order approval, payment and delivery. In their account, buyers could check the materials ordered, documents, delivery address and time, and current order status.

Outcomes

• Self-service offer comparison and selection launched in Material.pro. Buyers and foremen could evaluate purchasing options for the full estimate and choose suitable terms.
• Following the redesign of offer selection and ordering, Material.pro conversion increased from 0.5% to 1.6%. We compared metrics before and after the update and also conducted A/B tests.

Behind the scenes

Material Chat

Alongside Material.pro, I worked on Material Chat, an experimental platform connecting suppliers, foremen and clients around an order. Participants shared materials lists and discussed pricing, payment and delivery, with the platform acting as an arbiter in disputes.

The chat functionality was later integrated into the main B2B product, Material.pro.