SmithBox SaaS
Revolutionizing Custom Jewelry Design with SmithBox
At Knight Interactive, I spearheaded the development of SmithBox, a project management software tailored for the custom jewelry sector, during a pivotal engagement with eWeddingBands in Provo, Utah. This venture was characterized by an in-depth requirements gathering process, aimed at transforming the company’s traditional, manual system into a scalable, efficient SaaS platform. SmithBox was designed not only to enhance eWeddingBands’ operational workflow but also to offer a package that could be resold to other jewelry vendors, marking a significant leap in digital transformation within their company.
My architecture of the SmithBox application involved meticulous planning and innovation, with major focuses on user experience, pricing logic, and multi-stage project tracking. A personal milestone coincided with this professional achievement, as I leveraged the SmithBox platform to design a unique custom wedding ring for my now-wife, testing the software’s capabilities firsthand and ensuring its market readiness.
The development and deployment of SmithBox for eWeddingBands represent a landmark achievement in my digital project management journey. By addressing specific industry challenges such as pricing logic, project tracking, and user experience, SmithBox has set new benchmarks for operational success and customer satisfaction. These insights not only underscore the project's success but also highlight the importance of strategic vision, user-centric design, and innovative problem-solving in transforming traditional business processes.
Strategic Insights and Leadership Lessons
User-Centric Development Approach: Engaging directly with client facilities, I immersed myself in understanding the nuanced needs of the custom jewelry design process. This hands-on approach was instrumental in architecting a SaaS solution that effectively streamlined the management of custom jewelry projects from concept to delivery.
Lesson Learned: Deep engagement with end-user processes is essential in developing solutions that accurately address operational challenges and enhance overall efficiency.
Innovative Pricing Logic Implementation: One of the most complex aspects of SmithBox was developing a configurable pricing builder capable of accommodating the unique specifications of each jewelry project. This feature allowed jewelers to accurately quote projects, considering the type of stones, metals, and design complexity.
Lesson Learned: Flexibility and configurability in pricing mechanisms are critical for businesses dealing with highly customized products, enabling them to offer accurate quotes and maintain profitability.
Comprehensive Project Tracking: The development process included planning for a detailed project tracking system, capable of managing multiple components and stages of the custom jewelry design process. This system ensured that each project component was meticulously monitored, from initial design through to delivery.
Lesson Learned: Effective management of complex projects requires a robust tracking system that can accommodate multiple moving parts, ensuring transparency and efficiency throughout the project lifecycle.
Strategic Product Testing: Utilizing the SmithBox platform to design a custom piece of jewelry for a personal milestone not only served as a unique opportunity to test the software’s capabilities but also demonstrated the platform's potential to deliver one-of-a-kind value to end-users.
Lesson Learned: Personal investment in product testing can provide invaluable insights into a solution’s effectiveness, fostering innovation and ensuring the product meets both business and customer needs.
The Process of Creating Custom Jewelry
Step 1
Customer has an Idea
A customer comes into the store with a few images from the web and an idea of what they want created.
Step 2
Take Detailed Notes
A specialist sits with the customer to get a few details like size, stones, types of metal and imagery.
Step 3
Calculate a Quote
Depending on the complexity, number of stones, types of stones and types of metal, a quote can be generated based on a configurable calculation set by the Jeweler. If acceptable the Customer will place a deposit for the project.
Step 4
Send to CAD Artist
The specialist uploads all the reference images, sketches and notes to Smithbox and send a request to a 3rd party CAD artist to mockup the item for the customer. The first renderings are low fidelity and then once the customer is mostly happy a high fidelity rendering will be created.
Step 5
Revisions, Revisions, Revisions
Normally there will be a bit of back and forth between the Customer and the Jewelry on tweaks here and there. Each change requires a request sent off to the CAD Artist to update the design.
Step 6
3D Wax Printing
Once the Customer accepts the design, a request is sent to get the ring 3D printed in wax. This is the opportune time to make sure everything is as expected before it's sent to be casted.
Step 7
Ordering the Parts
After final acceptance, the Jeweler now needs to order the ring to be casted in a specific metal, order any of the gem stones needed and ship all these parts for a Goldsmith to assemble (aka setting the stones and finish work)
Step 8
Assembly
Once all the parts make it to the Goldsmith, they set each gem stone and add any finishing touches. Each part is tracked by QR code and each task is tracked for time.
Step 9
Packaging
Once the item has been polished it is sent to be packed and prepped to be shipped to the Jeweler or Customer depending on the situation.
Step 10
Final Payment
The customer is able to inspect the item and make final payment to the Jeweler. This may be done with digital imagery or in a physical brick and mortar storefront.
Step 11
Delivery
The item is then insured and shipped to the Customer. The package is tracked at each step until it is signed for by the customer and the project is complete.
Pricing Logic
One of the more technically complex parts of the project was calculating the pricing for each project because of the uniqueness of each project. Effectively the Jeweler would need to be able to "build" a ring within the quoting section of the app. Since customer requests can come in all shapes and sizes, this lead me to architecting a configurable builder that would allow for almost anything and still be able to reliably price the project.
This calculation was summed by the number of stones, as each different stone needed to be calculated separately. Then the different types of metal were taken into account. At the time of the project the only types of metal were; [10K, 14K, 18k] Gold, Platinum, Palladium and Silver. Depending on the complexity of the design and how much post work would need to be done, a complexity markup was required. This would add an extra nominal or percentage based value to the cost of the project and was based on the Jewelers own experience. A future goal was to research patterns in the complexity markup calculator and use A.I. to determine the complexity of a project to take the guess work out of the quote.
Tracking Statuses with Multiple Moving Parts
With all the different parts at different stages, tracking the status of each had to be throughly planned out. In our initial planning stages, the following was a diagram of how a project would be tracked. This document evolved over the project, somethings were simplified and others broken into finer detail but this was our starting point.
