Company Overview & Problem
Laserhub is a digital platform that simplifies the procurement of custom metal parts, connecting manufacturers with vendors for on-demand production.
In the traditional metal industry, where innovation is rarely embraced, we aimed to identify what motivates customers to prioritize Laserhub over established relationships. Laserhub always viewed User Research from a product-centric perspective, not from the entire customer journey.
"Forget Laserhub" — Focus on the customer, not on the product.
My goal was to “forget Laserhub” and focus on our customers’ journey, not our product.
Process
I led this 12-week project hands-on, collaborating closely with my team to execute the research from defining the strategy to conducting follow-up surveys based on interview insights.
- Goals & Objectives — Defined Business Objectives and Research Goals with the Co-Founders and Head of Product Management
- User Segmentation — Identified and described the key customer group we’re focusing on, based on CRM data insights and Sales collaboration
- User Interviews — Planned and conducted 15 remote customer interviews with Business Owners, General Managers and Procurement Managers in the metal industry
- JTBD Mapping — Analyzed the interview data and highlighted key insights and opportunities in a JTBD based customer journey map in Miro
- Follow-Up Survey — Conducted a follow-up survey with over 100 participants to validate insights from interviews
Define Business Objectives
Three key business objectives emerged from my founder interviews:
- Understand the Deal and Customer Journey
- Increase the order volume by 15% over the next 12 months
- Understand the Customer Switching Criteria
All 3 goals directly informed our MVP strategy and were reflected in measurable outcomes post-launch.
Understand the Customer Switching Criteria
Increase the order volume by 15% over the next 12 months
Understand the Deal and Customer Journey
Define Research Goals
My underlying question: What do I need to learn to drive my business objectives?
- Identify customers' main challenges in their traditional procurement process when ordering metal parts
- Identify how customers make decisions to match a supplier to their needs
- Identify customers' switching criteria
- Identify customers' opinions on competing sites or apps that support them in their procurement process
- How much is tech embedded into the lives of our customers?
- Measure how well current direct competitors and the traditional process meet customer needs and expectations
Define Target Customer Segment
I focused on existing customers who were already invested in Laserhub, prioritizing those whose problems we were actively solving rather than churned customers. I only targeted decision makers.
Segmentation Criteria:
- Customers with 30–130 employees
- Revenue at Laserhub between €10,000–€50,000
- More than 5 closed deals with Laserhub
- Pro or Premium Tier in the platform
- Active after March 2022 (No Churned Customers)
Procurement Manager or Shift Manager in a larger company.
CEO & Owner, mostly in small family metal business.
Interview Process
I developed an interview template script based on the book The Mom Test, focusing on specific, experience-based questions about the custom metal parts procurement process.
- Interview Templates & Guidelines on how to ask non-leading, open-ended interview questions
- Fully AI transcribed interviews, with personal notes and highlighted insights stored with key observations
- Interview Snapshots, a digested overview of the interview sorted into pain points, needs, goals and opportunities
Recruitment Process
I worked with marketing to recruit interview participants through our bi-weekly newsletter, using a screener survey and offering a 2% discount for high-volume metal parts orders.
Many of our newsletter subscribers were already tracked in our CRM system, allowing us to easily screen and categorize potential user interview candidates based on specific research goals and target audience criteria. The result was a steady flow of interested customers we could reach out for user interviews, which reduced the time to recruit users by 80%.
AI and the Discovery Process
AI helped me to speed up the research synthesis and optimize my documentation.
- Brainstorm design ideas
- Inspiration research methods
- Conduct market research
- Optimise research goals
- Optimise interview scripts
- Optimise survey content
- Synthesise interview notes
- Generate opportunities
- Synthesise survey results
Insights & Journey Mapping
I organized all needs and findings in a Jobs-To-Be-Done journey map to target every need along a concrete step of the customer journey.
Main Findings
Most customers have 5–6 preferred suppliers, with 80% using ERP systems that automatically reassign suppliers for reorders, while online platforms like Laserhub are mainly seen as contingency plans when the usual in-person suppliers fail.
- 80% of customers need personal contact with technical expertise to build trust for larger order volumes
- 80% of customers had preset supplier flows in ERP systems, invalidating assumptions about supplier switching ease
- 70% of customers reported using Laserhub only when ERP and established supplier flows break, uncovering the “contingency mindset”
Follow-Up Survey
After a follow-up survey with 100 participants, the main hypothesis from the user interviews got confirmed. About 2/3 of our core customers are using an ERP System to manage their ordering process, particularly to select suppliers.
Strategic Impact
Based on the validated hypothesis, we initiated an email-based ordering process (concierge test) MVP, integrating into the ERP systems of our customers. This discovery completely shifted the business focus toward ERP system integration to align with the common metal procurement process.
- 25% increase in ERP-connected orders within 2 months after launch
- Positive feedback with early adopters: “This finally fits how our process works.”
- Sales initially supported rollout and used it in onboarding conversations
Challenges & Learnings
Challenges:
- Sales deprioritized ERP flow due to low early turnover
- Mismatch between sales incentives and product strategy
- They preferred chasing large high-value deals and not developing a product with low turnover in the beginning
- Sales felt insecure presenting a new process they’d not helped build
What I took away — Business Alignment Is Part of Product Success:
- Product success requires alignment with sales and GTM strategy. I now include GTM teams earlier when shaping product experiments
- Sales should be involved earlier in product experimentation
- In future, I’d run MVP with product/SMEs before GTM rollout
Results and Impact
| Objective | Result |
|---|---|
| Understand the Customer Switching Criteria | Identified ERP workflows as primary barrier to switching. 80% rely on preset flows. |
| Increase the order volume by 15% | Achieved +25% ERP-connected orders within 2 months post-MVP launch. |
| Understand the Deal and Customer Journey | Mapped full decision journey outside the product, uncovering pain points, trust triggers, and offline behaviors. |