David Budnick

SR. PRODUCT DESIGNER

David Budnick

SR. PRODUCT DESIGNER

WORK INDEX

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AVENIR

OCTOBER 2024 - FEBRUARY 2025

Modernizing Avenir’s operations portal to support expansion

I owned the design and research process, defining the workflows and how different teams came together across the system.

This project took 5 months.

Reps couldn’t reliably find what they needed during high pressure moments. Critical information was buried or missing entirely.

13+

clicks were required to initiate a propane delivery

41%

of calls involved switching between platforms

At its core, the system needed to do one thing well: surface the right information, instantly.

Internal tools don’t fail from a lack of data, they fail when information isn’t visible at the right time.

The existing workflow was technically complete... but extremely tedious to navigate in practice.

Instead of a single continuous journey, distinct paths were built, each aligned to a different need.

Success was then defined by how the system reduced friction and guided user action:

01

Faster resolution times

would reduce the time spent navigating between tasks.

02

Simpler task flows

would shorten the number of steps needed to complete common tasks

03

Clearer next actions

measures whether primary actions are visible and easy to commit to

DESIGN CHALLENGE, 1 OF 3

Through our initial designs, critical info still wasn’t being surfaced early enough.

Key takeaway: Reps were unable to find tank level percentages until 3 clicks in.

“Where are the tank levels? That’s one of the most important things I’m looking for right away.”

SOLUTION

Tank levels were made visible immediately, without the need for navigation.

ASSUMPTION, 2 OF 3

We assumed deliveries could follow the same structure as service requests.

Insight: Deliveries required a different structure, and reusing the same pattern led to gaps and inconsistencies.

“These aren’t the same situation, so why are we asking for the same information?”

ITERATION

Delivery became its own flow, built around how it actually works in practice.

OPERATIONS CHALLENGE, 3 OF 3

Integration data relied on manual uploads, so information was often delayed or out of date.

Questions Asked: How do we handle situations where the system can’t guarantee accurate data?

“If gas pricing isn’t updated, we could end up charging customers less than what we’re paying.”

SOLUTION

We added real-time syncing where possible, and made it clear how up to date the information was.

HANDOFF

Different roles needed access to different information. We defined permission rules clearly and worked closely with developers to ensure correct implementation.

After launch, the impact was immediate:

01

2.6 million liters

delivered in the first year

without a single runout

02

38% reduction in rep response times

from 3:40 to 2:10

03

Took only 4 clicks

to complete key actions like logging a payment or scheduling a delivery

04

No platform switching

across all core tasks

Challenges encountered

Designing without a clear blueprint

Balancing modularity with usability

Letting go of ideas that didn’t scale

Learnings

Involve frontline users earlier

Every click has a cost

Handoff is part of the craft