Creating a new BMI Roofing Tool

CASE STUDIES

My Role

Lead Designer

Team composition

Mid-weight UX designers | Product Owner | Digital Director | Developers

Key responsibilities

Team leader | Stakeholder management | Lead design process | Quality Assurance and Design Implementation

Access PlanMaster UK

Context

BMI, a roofing and waterproofing company, wanted to develop a tool to improve the life of roofers across Europe.

Inspired by the success of a similar tool used by their sister company, GAF, in the US, BMI wanted to create a measurement tool to make the process safer and more accurate.

Roof measurements are often dangerous and prone to errors, so this tool was designed to address these challenges and make the job easier for roofers.

Challenges

🚩 Limited customer access

🚩 Stakeholder pressure for fast results and to "Fast-track" UX

🚩 Internal difficulties to believe in the tool.

Business Needs

Option to charge for reports

We’re exploring the option to make reports paid based on user type. This could support different user needs while opening a path for monetisation.

Third party report delivery

Reports will be sent by a third-party provider via email, which keeps the flow simple and avoids adding extra steps for users.

MVP for trade fair launch

Simple version to launch by March 15, in time for the German roofing trade fair. Our System Partners will use this first version to order their reports for free.

Problem

Roof measurements are often dangerous and inaccurate.

BMI needed a digital tool that would make this process safer and more reliable for roofers which would also be available in a report easy to download and print. It had to be simple, easy to use, and accessible behind a login — designed for professionals across Europe, regardless of their digital skills.

How might deliver a simple, easy to use tool to help roofers measure roofs more safely and accurately, without adding complexity to their workflow?

User Goals

➡️ Simplicity of use
➡️ Usable and accessible on mobile and tablet
➡️ Report fast and accurate

Business goals

➡️ Double the usage of InTouch by the end of 2024
➡️ Reach 2,000 report orders by year-end
➡️ Launch in 3 countries by the end of 2024

Design Thinking Process

Based on the business needs and goals, I delegated the research phase to our mid-weight designer, Olha, as a growth opportunity for her. While Olha led the day-to-day work, I provided ongoing guidance — supporting her in recruiting users, reviewing her process, and offering mentorship throughout. I also evaluated her recommendations and made the final decisions on next steps to align with our UX strategy and business objectives.

Competitor analysis

As requested by our Digital Director, Olha focused on reviewing GAF user journeys and Wienerberger. She also identified additional companies offering similar measurement tools to broaden the competitive analysis.

Recommendations

Based on the Business needs and competitor analysis, Olha recommends a simple user flow with clear, visible steps that are easy to follow.
She suggests showing the report price at the very start, so users know exactly what to expect.

We are still deciding how many report types there will be — possibly a Good / Better / Best model. (Depending on Vexcel’s technical capabilities.)

Olha plans to experiment based on our Style Guide and component library, to keep the design consistent and save development time.

We were asked to create a one-page, visual-first version to explore Wienerberger’s idea, as preferred by our stakeholder. We agreed to run quick corridor testing with internal colleagues to catch any usability issues early.

New Stakeholder requirements

While Olha was working on the visuals, several business and strategy discussions took place. The team decided to provide free reports to some Roofer members, while offering a paid version to new users—potentially with the first report free to encourage adoption and generate revenue.

During our meetings on the measurement tool, several key questions were raised around the reports:

What types of reports can we offer?
How many variations should we provide?
What differentiates them?

We also encountered new technical requirements from our third-party partner: the user’s address must be double-checked before allowing them to move forward in the process.

The topic of payment options also came up. While many regional markets appreciated the idea of free reports, the Digital Director emphasised the need to monetise them as a new revenue stream for BMI.

PayPal was the preferred payment method by the main office stakeholder. The exact pricing is still under discussion, and upcoming customer research—based on updated UX designs—will help inform this decision.

Updated Requirements:

Support multiple report types (e.g., basic vs. large-scale reports such as warehouses).
Integrate a payment option via PayPal.
Add an address validation step before the user can continue.

Note: Reports are generated manually by our third-party partner. The larger the building, the longer the turnaround time for measurements.

Given these changes in business direction, I proposed to the PO that we reassign Olha’s User Testing ticket to a new UX/UI ticket focussing on payment options and report types.

Flow 1

PayPal payment is the last step of the ordering flow.

Try Flow 1

Flow 2

Order confirmation is the last step of the ordering flow

Try Flow 2

After Olha created two versions of the flow, I suggested we proceed with testing both options with our colleagues, as originally planned, before the new requirements were introduced.

User Flow & UI Experiments

While the stakeholders preference was on the Wienerberger flow, Olha and the UX team were not sure about the usability of it.

Olha focused on the best user flow and wireframes, as well as on creating a quick visual to test during her sprint, aiming to save time. While she worked on the low-fidelity design, I supported her by sourcing users to test the flow.

Key considerations:
✅ Most of the components must be already implemented by the developer's team.
✅ 90% of InTouch users are on Desktop, but all screen sizes should be worked on.

✅ Aligned with the development team and third-party provider on technical feasibility.

Flow 1

Olha proposed starting with map selection, followed by address confirmation and information details as steps two and three.

In this version, she also introduced a report page—a central place for users to access past reports. While not part of the MVP, it’s a solid future improvement, as document tables are already available in the dev component library.

Open questions / improvements:

How does the user return to the landing page?
What happens if the pin isn’t placed on a building?

Try the Flow 1

Flow 2

In this version, Olha proposed a form with a smaller map space, following Weinerbeger's visuals

She kept the report page as a future improvement.

Open questions / improvements:

Why only providing a small map space?
What if the users need to move the pin in an other space?
Does it look too much like GAF? we are losing BMI look and feel.
Would a form be user friendly enough?

Try the Flow 2

Flow 3

In this version, Olha designed a one-page flow where components appear progressively based on user actions, following GAF’s journey.

Open questions / improvements:

How would this work for blind or neurodivergent users?
Is this option easier to implement or easier to use?
Least favourite option by the development team.

Try the Flow 3

Recommendations

After reviewing the three versions and discussing the challenges of each, we agreed that Version 1 is the strongest option from a UX perspective:

- It gives users better map visibility and offers easier future UX improvements.

- Allows us to add steps without overwhelming them—unlike a long form or components that appear dynamically.

I asked Olha to refine her visual by adding clear visual cues, like a stepper—while staying within our Style Guide and using components from our library. She’s also aligning the look and feel with what we are using in the calculator tool.

Once the updated visual is ready, we’ll create a user testing ticket so she can test and iterate on the MVP screens.

User Testing

Following the previous stages and experiments, I organised a usability test with five colleagues from the marketing and development team—none of whom were familiar with the new tool.

The Designer wrote the test plan and conducted the sessions, while I provided support, and attended meetings with stakeholders and the Product Owner to stay aligned with potential future business needs—and to reinforce the importance of clear requirements and focusing on an MVP-first approach.

User insights from the test

1️⃣ Preferred flow

5/5 preferred the Flow #1 with the PayPal access between the order summary and the success page as it felt more logical and easy to finish.

Try Flow 1

2️⃣ 4/5 found the page clear and the price visible

📌 2/5 felt that the icons were not defining properly the type of reports

📌 3/5 asked if the report type cards could be chosen before entering the address.

💡 Action #1: Design new icons for a better illustration of the report types.

💡 Action #2: Move the text field after the report type cards.

2️⃣ 3/5 didn't find this page clear and felt some information were missing

📌 4/5 loved the option to move the pin on the map

💡 Action: Add the address name in this page

3️⃣ 5/5 highlighted that this page was clear and had all the information needed to move forward

📌 Having the order ID won't be technically possible at this stage

4️⃣ 4/5 wondered if the order will be sent by email

💡 Action: Add a message on the success page and on the report page after ordering the report.

🔧Technical limitations

While Olha was testing, I was participating in the meeting and conversation with our Stakeholder and third party company and we discovered some technical limitations:

1️⃣ Users won't be able to order multiple reports at once. Due to the manual process in creating the report, we can't provide this option for now.

2️⃣ A report can't be provided if the roof is obstructed by trees or scaffoldings, or if the roof is under construction. A message regarding these limitation will be added into the flow post soft launch.

3️⃣ Some areas may not be covered, which may be a blocker for some of our users.

Next Steps.

Olha's tests results showed that the MVP product needed a few improvements, but we could move forward with the final UI.

We presented the results to our stakeholders and they decided to conduct a bigger usability testing in Germany, in order to validate the business case and discover if our System partners are ready for this tool and what would be the price they would be wiling to pay for each report type.

➡ Together with the PlanMaster Product Owner, we agreed to allocate Olha to support the German agency. She originally designed the flow and has already run a usability test in the UK with our colleagues, so her input will be valuable in gathering feedback and identify potential blockers from our key target group.

I followed her work, but I didn't participate actively to the research to give her space to grow and be recognised as the skilled designer that she is.

User Testing - German Target group

Following the presentation of results, our stakeholders approved a deeper round of research in Germany. Since it is our first launch market this research will support the business case and help inform future rollouts in other countries

Challenge #1

BMI Germany marketing team sceptical about the product adoption.

Challenge #2

Our System partners are high expectations users.

Challenge #3

Overall concerns regarding potential resistance using a digital tool.

I proposed Olha as the direct point of contact for this work, while I focus on another project with a different junior designer. She will provide updates twice a week, and I will continue supporting her through mentoring 1:1s as needed.

Important point

I am not permitted to share the full user research and testing materials, as they contain confidential information. However I am allowed to share the final user insights and next steps.

Global information

Methods

Semi standardised face-to-face online interview using a translated prototype

Number of users

51 German users

25% from BMI leads

75% nationwide

Duration

30 minutes interview

Week 43-44

Research results

🏆 Very high acceptance - likeability 98%

🥇 Main Benefits

Time-saving and Incredible user friendliness

📉 Challenges

Accuracy, availability and actuality of the data.

🎉 Very high interest in using the tool - 96%

Successes

➡ Olha provided extensive support to the German team and agency. Her professionalism was highly appreciated, and her quick turnaround on the prototype enabled us to kick off the interviews sooner than planned.

➡ The German and global marketing teams gained greater confidence in the tool and decided to invest in additional functionalities and further improvements directly after the soft launch in March.

New PlanMaster

Since the beginning of this project, Olha was partnered with Nazari, one of InTouch's developers. This team work helped understand all the technical limitations before proposing a design, and Nazari proposed a lot of inputs on how to reduce the development capacity.

My Goal: Make sure my team proposed the best MVP solution, felt supported and free to grow and propose designs and researches without overwhelming the developer's capacity.

View PlanMaster in Figma

PlanMaster step 1 - Choose report and address

Challenge #1

Meetings took place without my involvement, leading to decisions and commitments being made without any design or testing from the UX team.

Challenge #2

Olha left the team for her maternity leave and a I needed to find a new junior designer to replace her while the tool was being developed.

Decision

I decided to dedicate more time on PlanMaster, by attending all meetings, stand-ups and QA reviews.

Decision

I organised a handover from Olha, to our new designer Adrianna. I also allocated most of my time to train and brought up to date Adrianna.

Metrics

Before Olha left, I asked her to spend time, during her sprint to focus on the Metrics for the Analytics team. I appreciated that it was while she was creating her handover, and I took over the task after her departure.

List of metrics

🥇 Completion rate

🥈 Frequency of return visits

🥉 Error rates

🏅 Bounce rate

🎖 NPS - Net promoter Scote

🧰 Google Analytics & Mouseflow

Why was it important for BMI?

✅ Great training for a Junior UX Designer to understand what we want to measure before the tool goes live.

✅ This is a part of the UX process that I want the team to focus on for 2024.

✅ Loop the analytics team one the final UI is in progress to give them time to plan scripts before the development and create the dashboard.

✅ With pressure to release improvements quickly, metrics will help us understand user behaviour before investing in larger research.

Launch announcement on LinkedIn

BMI stand at the DACH+HOLZ International roofing Event - PlanMaster launch

Successes, Challenges & Outcomes

Successful launch at the DACH+ HOLZ International roofing 3 days event in Germany.

200 free reports requested.

75 accounts created during the event.

Olha's growth as a UX Designer

Olha planned, organised and ran the user testing with minimal input from me. She delivered clear insights and actionable recommendations, which I validated and the Product Owner prioritised.

Her growth led to mid-weight responsibilities, and I trusted her to lead projects independently.

UX Team recognition

This project strengthened the visibility of the UX team across markets and reinforced the value of research-let design.

Project Challenges

Challenge #1

Business requirements kept on changing and increasing.

How did I overcome it?

I emphasized the need to keep the MVP simple for release and reassured the team that improvements were already in progress with Adrianna.

I tracked all potential changes and created design tickets, helping preserve requirements and ease stakeholder concerns.

Challenge #2

"Fast track UX" became the main expression from the Digital Director and the Product Owner

How did I overcome it?

I had conversation on what it meant, why they felt they needed to "fast track" UX, what impact it could have on the product and I made sure I was in every call to avoid discovering changes made by developers without the UX team input.

Challenge #2

The UI and behaviour of the tool changed due to Product Owner decision.

How did I overcome it?

I had open conversation with the Product Owner to understand the reasoning behind their approach. We organised calls with Olha and Adrianna to share design stage, the reasoning and explain the why behind the chosen behaviour.

This improved the trust and communication.

Outcomes

6 months post launch results

🌍 Rolled out in 5 countries within 1 year. 

🚀 Massive user growth in Germany → 113 to 1,317 InTouch visitors. 

💰 New revenue stream for BMI, leveraging aerial roof measurement technology.
📈 71% of returning customers in the first 6 months
📊 1400 reports order in the first 6 month

2135 report in the 6 months after.

Next steps & improvements

While the developers were implementing the tool, the UX team kept on working on improvement, following business requirements and based data from Mouseflow and the metrics in place.

3 Main improvements

✅ Provide a new payment method: Invoice

✅ Create a drawing area on the map

✅ Facilitate the report page access

Going further

🎯 Improving the overall communication on the type of reports.

🏆 Starting some A/B tests on key requirements and improvements

PlanMaster also helped drive alignment between the UX and Digital team, leading to prioritisation of login and registration improvements, the creation of a personal area on DXB , and the adoption of the BMI Style guide and components across InTouch, which had previously used a separate system.

➡ Consistency across all BMI Products

➡ Improvement of the overall user journey

➡ Better BMI recognition by our users