2021

HP Inc: Integrated Quoting

Automating print machine business

HP Inc: Integrated Quoting, Automating print machine business

Context

In early 2021, my manager tasked me with leading the end-to-end digital transformation of the Component Managed Print Service (CMPS) within HP’s global CPQ ecosystem. The objective was clear: streamline efficiency for both internal and external users worldwide. However, scaling across global stakeholders brought significant ambiguity. I secured buy-in to take a step back and ground our strategy in user research before building. Here is how we took it from discovery to launch.

Who is the user?

External users
HP partners: resellers and distributors onboarded for this program.
Internal users
Business stakeholders across the product category teams (print, supplies, accessories, care packs and services), sales, channel business, and master data management.

Main goals

Business
Reduce turnaround time on the end-to-end catalog update process for internal users and the end-to-end quoting experience for external users, and increase adoption of the solutions across all users.
Tech
Reduce legacy dependencies to improve system scalability.
Users
Most users still worked in Excel to update the catalog or discuss a quote with external users, which led to unexpected data errors, time inefficiency, and knock-on effects throughout the process.

Outcome & Impact

40%

Faster quoting

Time to completion across the entire quoting process.

90%

Faster catalog updates

From two weeks down to a single day.

135 hrs

Saved per person, quarterly

Time returned to the work the tooling was getting in the way of.

90%

Adoption in North America

Of all HP resellers there, on the catalog solution.

Challenges

  1. 01

    Tool and data discrepancies

    The regions had grown apart, each solving the same problem with different tools.

    • In EMEA and Asia Pacific, external users worked in a legacy tool called Manage Print Central, which lacked flexibility in user experience and system scalability. Internal users relied on a separate tool for catalog order processing guidelines.
    • In North America, internal users managed order processing guidelines and quoting manually in Excel spreadsheets, making it harder to align product and pricing information for external users.
  2. 02

    Communication gap

    Manual processes across markets within each region often led to incorrect product and pricing information reaching external users.

  3. 03

    Complex legacy process

    As a new designer in this print business, I focused on quickly understanding the legacy process to find ways to simplify future solutions.

The legacy CMPS catalog, maintained by hand in Excel
The legacy CMPS catalog, maintained by hand in Excel

Design Strategy

  1. 01

    Conducting user research to understand current user behavior and gather inspiration.

  2. 02

    Define the core problem statement

    How can we streamline catalog updates for internal users to ensure a seamless quoting experience for external users?

  3. 03

    Information architecture & product service discovery

    Re-engineered the site map and navigation structure, organizing complex HP printing service lines into intuitive, task-oriented categories to reduce friction for users.

  4. 04

    Component-driven design system

    Built a scalable, component-based design system in Figma to ensure visual consistency, maintain accessibility standards, and streamline future feature rollouts.

  5. 05

    Visual identity & brand elevation

    Updated visual aesthetics, typography, and layout hierarchies to align with overall HP design system standards while honoring the brand's heritage.

How internal and external users meet through one catalogInternal users at HP, across the product category teams, sales, channel business and master data management, maintain product, pricing and channel setup in the catalog app and publish it. Publishing writes one catalog that replaces the spreadsheets and order processing guidelines each region used to keep separately. External users, resellers and distributors, then search and configure against that same catalog in Integrated Quoting, and the quote they send is priced from it, so the two audiences are finally reading the same thing.INTERNAL USERS: HPInternal usersCategory, sales, channel, MDMCatalog appProduct, pricing and channel setupPublishOne step, not hundreds of editsPublished catalogOne source, every regionEXTERNAL USERS: PARTNERSExternal usersResellers and distributorsIntegrated quotingSearch, configure, priceQuotePriced from the same catalogShared quoting insightsWhat partners quote informs the catalog

Showcase

CMPS workshop
CMPS workshop
User interviews
User interviews

Catalog app

Catalog app

Integrated quoting

Integrated quoting

What users said

  • “This is exciting. I'm not a fan of excel spreadsheet. This is an upgrade! This is much better than spreadsheet, adding workflow step would improve it!”

    Atlantic Tomorrow Office

  • “Pretty easy to create solutions as all item are listed there. Need to know % discount from her sales team. I really like it. I liked the form, but this is going to be great to work with.”

    QRX Technology Group

  • “I like to see all items and certainty it is error free to build a printer solution.”

    ES Williams & Associates

  • “The main benefit of CPQ is automation of process. Unlike the old process, now, updates on cMPS catalogue for NA are easier, faster and without the risk of making human errors.”

    HP internal users, ops team

  • “Manual process of touching hundreds of pricing/product updates on hundreds of OPGs is now automated based on category and channel feedback.”

    HP internal users, NA category manager
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