SAP UX · Design Thinking · Dealer Portal
Consumer and Retail SAP ERP SAP Fiori SAP Portal
How a powersports manufacturer used Design Thinking to define an SAP-powered dealer portal projected to cut $300K in annual operating cost
A North American Powersports Manufacturer Delivered 2017
Mindset's UX advisory and Design Thinking workshop gave the manufacturer a clear architecture, a defined scope, and a development estimate for an SAP-powered dealer portal projected to eliminate more than $300,000 in annual third-party operating cost.
By the numbers
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$300K+
Projected annual operating-cost reduction
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$355K+ /year
Third-party portal cost being eliminated
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1
SAP-native architecture replacing a vendor dependency
Before
A costly third-party portal with no SAP tie-in
- A third-party dealer portal costing more than $355,000 a year to operate.
- No direct connection to SAP transaction systems, limiting order processing capability.
- No defined plan for replacing the platform in a way that fit the SAP architecture.
After
A defined plan for an SAP-powered replacement
- Architecture recommendation, scope, and development estimate ready to hand to a build team.
- A path to more than $300,000 in annual operating-cost reduction by retiring the third-party platform.
- Special Services portal scoped as a proof of concept, setting up the larger dealer portal rebuild.
Why this matters
Before a company can replace a vendor dependency, it needs a plan that fits the architecture it already owns. A focused advisory engagement and one workshop turned a rough requirement into a scoped, costed build plan.
The challenge
The company's dealer Special Services Online Store ran on a third-party portal platform that was costing more than $355,000 a year to operate. Dealer sales volume was not where the company wanted it, and the dependence on an outside vendor left the company with no way to tie the portal directly into its SAP transaction systems.
The company wanted to replace the third-party portal with a modern, mobile-friendly SAP-powered solution, reduce cost, and use the project as a proof of concept for a later rebuild of its larger dealer portal. The replacement had to fit the company's existing SAP architecture and technology direction, not create a new silo.
What we did
Mindset provided UX and Portal Advisory services to make sure the planned new portal stayed consistent with the company's architecture and technology roadmap, then ran a Design Thinking Workshop on-site at the company's Minnesota headquarters using the SAP and Stanford d.school method.
The workshop brought together dealer operations stakeholders, SAP architects, and functional experts to define the scope, delivery timeline, and development requirements for the replacement portal. A Mindset Chief UX Architect and a Senior UX Architect facilitated, with a designer and functional consultant supporting the sessions.
The output was a defined scope, an architecture recommendation grounded in the company's SAP landscape, a development estimate, and a clear path for delivering the replacement in early 2017 and then using it as the foundation for the next generation of the larger portal.
The outcomes
The advisory and Design Thinking work gave the company what it needed to move from a vague requirement to a buildable plan. The architecture recommendation, scope, timeline, and estimate were ready for the development team to act on.
The projected benefit of moving to an SAP-powered portal was a minimum annual operating-expense reduction of $300,000, by eliminating the third-party platform. The portal rebuild was also scoped to improve order processing by connecting directly into SAP transaction systems.
If we built this today
Concept · not delivered scopeA dealer portal that runs on SAP.
This is a forward-looking concept, not the scope we delivered on this engagement. It is the build we would reach for now, grounded in SAP that ships today.
This engagement was about getting the dealer Special Services store off a $355K-a-year third-party platform and onto an SAP-grounded experience that ties orders straight into the transaction systems, and today that same goal starts with Joule sitting right in the order flow.
The data product
Customer Intelligence
Pulls dealer ordering history, sales volume, and account signals into one governed view so the agent and reps see which dealers are growing and which orders need attention. It grounds the order experience in real dealer behavior, not guesswork.
Intelligent Application on SAP Business Data Cloud
The Joule agent
Delivery Block Resolution
Reads dealer orders coming through the self-service portal against credit, availability, and pricing rules, then drafts the fix for any order that stalls so a dealer or rep can keep moving. It catches blocked orders before they turn into a phone call.
SAP S/4HANA Sales, SAP ERP, SAP Fiori · PROPOSE · Dealer order throughput and self-service order completion rate
The Fiori app
Manage Sales Orders (Joule-embedded)
The OOTB S/4HANA sales order app with Joule in the launchpad, so dealer orders are created, checked, and unblocked in one place instead of a separate third-party store. Joule explains why an order is held and drafts the next step.
Embedded in the Fiori launchpad
We'd still mine the current dealer ordering process in SAP Signavio first, map the portal and integration estate in SAP LeanIX, and let MIND accelerators carry the old Mannheim store into the new SAP-grounded one.
What we built
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Architecture recommendation aligned to SAP roadmap
UX and Portal Advisory
Architecture and technology direction review to ensure the planned portal replacement fit the company's existing SAP landscape and roadmap, covering the relationship between the Special Services portal and the larger dealer portal.
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Scope, timeline, and development estimate defined in the workshop
Design Thinking Workshop
On-site workshop at the company's Minnesota headquarters using the SAP and Stanford d.school method, with dealer operations stakeholders, SAP architects, and functional experts working through the full design cycle.
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Targeted for delivery in early 2017
Portal replacement definition
A clear scope and delivery plan for a modern, mobile-friendly SAP-powered portal to replace the third-party platform, including architecture decisions on SAP ERP and Portal integration.
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One project that also validated the path for the next build
Proof-of-concept roadmap for the larger portal
The Special Services portal rebuild was scoped as a proof of concept for a later rebuild of the company's larger dealer portal, so the work would carry forward.