Nitin Mahajan

Nitin Mahajan.

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Penny procurement platform

Procurement optimised:
75% faster Source-to-Pay cycles and
18% cost reduction

Procurement optimised:
75% faster Source-to-Pay cycles and 18% cost reduction

Procurement optimised:
75% faster

Source-to-Pay cycles and 18% cost reduction

The conference room was buzzing. Procurement leaders sat across the table, frustrated.

"We’re stuck. The platform is too complex." "It’s slowing us down instead of helping us."

Penny, a $30M cloud-based Source-to-Pay platform, was supposed to simplify procurement but instead, it was hindering efficiency.

The message was clear: If Penny didn’t evolve, users would leave.

And I stepped in as UX Lead, my challenge was not just to redesign the platform - but to redefine how procurement worked. Time was short, stakes were high, and the expectation was clear: fix it fast, and make it work.

The conference room was buzzing. Procurement leaders sat across the table, frustrated.

"We’re stuck. The platform is too complex." "It’s slowing us down instead of helping us."

Penny, a $30M cloud-based Source-to-Pay platform, was supposed to simplify procurement but instead, it was hindering efficiency.

The message was clear: If Penny didn’t evolve, users would leave.

Problem: a system that slowed businesses down

Organisations faced significant hurdles with limited traceability, a restricted vendor network, and manual RFQ processes. Early feedback indicated that Penny’s platform was:

Manual processes and delayed approvals
Disjointed workflows across procurement and finance
Limited traceability and low vendor engagement
Poor user satisfaction & low adoption
Unable to support modern procurement efficiency.

The frustration was real. Penny wasn’t just difficult to use, it was affecting bottom-line business performance.

“We need faster decisions, not more frustration!”

My role:

This wasn’t just a UI problem. It was an operational breakdown. To fix it, I needed to align design with business strategy.

Led the entire UX transformation from research to implementation
Partnered with C-suite to align UX with business KPIs
Drove collaboration across product, engineering, and operations
Built a scalable UX framework and design system for long-term growth
Led the team of 3 designers and 1 developer

But fixing Penny meant understanding users first.

Results & impact: the UX-driven business growth

How did I achieve it ? Let’s understand

The strategic approach

Discovery of the user and business pain points:

a data-driven approach

Discovery of the user and business pain points:

a data-driven approach

Followed a structured, researched & data-driven UX strategy with clear business and user objectives, ensuring that every design decision had a measurable impact.

What did we do?

Stakeholder analysis & influence mapping
In-depth user interviews & expert insights
End-to-end Source-to-Pay Journey mapping
UX audit & design evaluation
Competitive benchmarking

Let’s dive into it

Stakeholder analysis & influence mapping

Mapped key stakeholders across procurement, finance, product, and vendor teams.
Prioritized engagement based on influence and impact, using an influence matrix to identify decision-makers vs. end users facing friction.

Stakeholder Analysis

Key insight:

Procurement managers and finance teams had misaligned goals, finance wanted cost control, while procurement needed speed and flexibility.

Key insight:

Procurement managers and finance teams had misaligned goals, finance wanted cost control, while procurement needed speed and flexibility.

User interviews & expert insights

Mapped key stakeholders across procurement, finance, product, and vendor teams.
Conducted in-depth interviews with procurement leads, suppliers, and finance stakeholders.
Engaged industry experts to benchmark against procurement best practices.
Used HotJar for contextual inquiry to observe live user behaviour and interaction patterns.

Fig: A few user persona

NDA limitations prevent me from publicly displaying the exact and detailed study on this specific part of the project. I'm happy to explain other personas with you in person. Please reach out to me for this part of the project.

Key insight:

The end-to-end Source-to-Pay process journey mapping

Mapped the full Source-to-Pay journey, breaking it into micro-journeys (Vendor Selection, RFQ Management, Approval, Negotiation, and Purchase).
Identified pain points at each stage, from vendor discovery to final invoice processing.
Measured time delays, inefficiencies, and redundant actions.

Fig: Source-to-Pay Journey

NDA limitations prevent me from publicly displaying the exact and detailed study on this specific part of the project. I'm happy to share other journeys with you in person. Please reach out to me for this part of the project.

Key insight:

Sending the RFQ to multiple vendors was difficult and confusing
Finding the right & profitable quotation was the most difficult part of the journey
The RFQ approval process alone caused a 40% slowdown, with multiple handoffs and unclear accountability.
Users lacked a single source of truth, switching between spreadsheets, emails, and the platform.
No real-time tracking, leaving users unsure about procurement status.
No option to track the supplier performance and other related metrics

Key insight:

Sending the RFQ to multiple vendors was difficult and confusing
Finding the right & profitable quotation was the most difficult part of the journey
The RFQ approval process alone caused a 40% slowdown, with multiple handoffs and unclear accountability.
Users lacked a single source of truth, switching between spreadsheets, emails, and the platform.
No real-time tracking, leaving users unsure about procurement status.
No option to track the supplier performance and other related metrics

UX audit & design evaluation

Fig: UX Audit & design evaluation

NDA limitations prevent me from publicly displaying the exact and detailed study on this specific part of the project. I'm happy to share more insights with you in person. Please reach out to me for this part of the project.

Key insight:

Navigation was unintuitive; users struggled to find key actions quickly.
Critical workflows like RFQ and approvals were fragmented and inconsistent.
Overuse of manual inputs led to frequent errors and delays.
The lack of visual hierarchy made key information difficult to scan.
Inconsistent UI elements confused and slowed task completion.
No real-time feedback or system status updates, creating uncertainty.
The mobile experience was under-optimized, limiting accessibility on the go.
Users often reverted to spreadsheets due to a lack of trust in the platform.

Key insight:

Navigation was unintuitive; users struggled to find key actions quickly.
Critical workflows like RFQ and approvals were fragmented and inconsistent.
Overuse of manual inputs led to frequent errors and delays.
The lack of visual hierarchy made key information difficult to scan.
Inconsistent UI elements confused and slowed task completion.
No real-time feedback or system status updates, creating uncertainty.
The mobile experience was under-optimized, limiting accessibility on the go.
Users often reverted to spreadsheets due to a lack of trust in the platform.

Competitive Analysis

Extracted key differentiators that could be leveraged for improvement.
Analyzed best-in-class procurement platforms for UX, automation, and efficiency

Competition Analysis

Key insight:

Competitors used automation to speed up approvals. Penny relied on manual steps.

Others offered real-time dashboards. Penny had static, delayed reports.

Key insight:

Competitors used automation to speed up approvals. Penny relied on manual steps.

Others offered real-time dashboards. Penny had static, delayed reports.

Design strategy: from frustration to flow

User stories, Information architecture and Flows

When I studied how users navigated Penny, one thing stood out: They were lost. Information was buried. Workflows were unclear. So,

We simplified navigation & RFQ workflows into a clear, linear journey.
Introduced universal search & filtering for quick access to vendors, RFQs, and approvals.
Used card sorting & usability testing to ensure users could find what they needed fast.

When I studied how users navigated Penny, one thing stood out: They were lost. Information was buried. Workflows were unclear. So,

We simplified navigation & RFQ workflows into a clear, linear journey.
Introduced universal search & filtering for quick access to vendors, RFQs, and approvals.
Used card sorting & usability testing to ensure users could find what they needed fast.

RFQ Structure

Fig: Competitive analysis

NDA limitations prevent me from publicly displaying the exact and detailed study on this specific part of the project. I'm happy to discuss with you in person. Please reach out to me for this part of the project.

Solution outline

What would a frictionless procurement experience look like?

Systematic & scalable Source-to-Pay workflows
Smart vendor comparison using Value Basket for data-driven decision-making
Real-time Dashboards for instant procurement tracking & transparency

We did rapid iteration & validation to test and refine the UX structure before final design implementation.

To ensure consistency, scalability, and a seamless visual experience.

We built a scalable design library with reusable UI components.
Standardised typography, colours, icons, and interactions.
Designed high-fidelity UI screens, aligning with brand identity & usability best practices.

What would a frictionless procurement experience look like?

Systematic & scalable Source-to-Pay workflows
Smart vendor comparison using Value Basket for data-driven decision-making
Real-time Dashboards for instant procurement tracking & transparency

We did rapid iteration & validation to test and refine the UX structure before final design implementation.

To ensure consistency, scalability, and a seamless visual experience.

We built a scalable design library with reusable UI components.
Standardised typography, colours, icons, and interactions.
Designed high-fidelity UI screens, aligning with brand identity & usability best practices.

Wireframes & flows

Image: A few wireframes

Design system library

Atomic approach to design library

Image: Design system

Design library figma: https://www.figma.com/design/GOcMDNvNcZ0EQsBn0es3d3/Penny-Design-System?node-id=9763-4288&t=OkvTEUvdpYwv4Nj8-4

High fidelity interface

Image: A few screens of high-fidelity Interface

NDA limitations prevent me from publicly displaying the exact and detailed UI & prototype. I'm happy to discuss with you in person. Please reach out to me for this part of the project.

Execution: bringing the vision to life with tech

Built with agility, validated with users, and scaled with confidence.

Rapid prototyping & user validation
Collaborative sprints with engineering for pixel-perfect delivery
Change management support for smooth rollout and adoption
Design library for consistency across features & teams

See what my colleagues have said

“Nitin is a powerhouse in UX, and any organisation would be fortunate to have him on board.”

Arish Jamal (Senior Product Manager, Penny)

“In my opinion, he is one of the best UX designers that I have worked with”

Ritesh Shergill (Product Vice President, Penny)

Nitin isn’t just a designer; he’s a visionary. He doesn’t just understand business goals; he internalizes them. He doesn’t just map user journeys; he lives them.

Amenallah Reghimi (Chief Product & technology officer, RegAsk)

Leadership & strategic influence

Secured leadership alignment by tying UX to financial outcomes.
Unified product, engineering, and ops for seamless execution.
Established a scalable UX vision with a future-ready design system.
Enabled ongoing impact through agile, data-led iteration.

Secured leadership alignment by tying UX to financial outcomes.
Unified product, engineering, and ops for seamless execution.
Established a scalable UX vision with a future-ready design system.
Enabled ongoing impact through agile, data-led iteration.

Closing Thought

Great design isn’t a decoration. It’s a business strategy.

Penny’s transformation proves that UX isn’t a silo, it’s a strategic lever for growth. As UX Lead, I helped drive real, measurable impact that reshaped the product and powered operational efficiency at scale.

I believe great design goes beyond aesthetics, it’s about solving real problems with data, strategy, and collaboration. Whether in procurement or any other domain, my mission remains the same: create intuitive, high-impact experiences that drive both user satisfaction and business success.

Great design isn’t a decoration. It’s a business strategy.

I appreciate your time & patience