Anfisa Pocovi°

(07)Desktop, AI & Data

CPQ

CPQ is where BusinessPad managers turn a client request into a ready quote: configure a made-to-order product, price it, and keep the whole order in one place.

Company
AVK Consulting
Role
Product Designer
Year
2023–2025
Type
B2B SaaS · Enterprise · Desktop
Order 917 goods tab: nine items with category, stage, status, quantity, cost and price, plus per-row actions such as AI-assisted filling, estimate and configuration

01Overview

Companies that make products to order, like protective workwear, can’t pick a price from a list. Each request needs the product defined first, then costed, then quoted. The name describes the three steps: Configure, Price, Quote.

02My role

Product Designer

  • Catalog management: import and file validation, own, connected and shared catalogs, product cards and price history
  • The product configurator, including a suit with independently configurable jacket and trousers
  • Order cards, lists, sorting, filtering and P1–P4 priority logic
  • Navigation for dense screens: multi-panel layouts and vertical tabs
  • Reusable components, documented UX decisions and handoff

03The challenge

Products have many parts and options, prices depend on every choice, and one order can hold many items at different stages. Product data comes from several catalogs. The goal was to simplify configuration while still supporting flexible structures, pricing and order management.

  1. 01Options that open further options
  2. 02Prices that change with every choice
  3. 03Catalog data from files, APIs and 1C

04Approach

4.1

Configure, then price, then quote

CPQ is the BusinessPad workspace for made-to-order products. A manager defines the product, sees the price change with each choice, and keeps the request, the goods and the client conversation in one order.

Behind that: catalogs that arrive from a file, an API or 1C, with validation when a file is wrong; own, connected and shared catalogs; product cards with price history; and an assistant that can fill fields, always with a source a person can check.

05Key flows

5.1

Configuring a product

The configurator splits a product into sections. Each section shows its progress, options can open further options, and the estimate on the right recalculates with every choice.

  1. 1Quick start from the request
  2. 2Or start from a template
  3. 3Go section by section
  4. 4Fix what’s still required
Product configuration quick start: product type, gender, season, model and pockets as request parametersOpen full size
Quick start
Configurator: section list with completion counts, the pockets section, and an estimate with labour and materials totalsOpen full size
Pockets
Configurator, collar section: options with nested choices for set-in and hood, and the running estimateOpen full size
Collar
Configurator, jacket top section: a required option still unfilled is flagged, with «Показать незаполненное» onOpen full size
Jacket top

5.2

Managing the order

Everything about a request lives in the order: general information with an AI summary, the goods at their own stages, and client communication with documents.

Order 917 general information: current stage, request description, contact, duration, estimated cost, an AI summary of the request and request parametersOpen full size
General information
Order 917 goods tab: nine items with category, stage, status, quantity, cost and price, plus per-row actions such as AI-assisted filling, estimate and configurationOpen full size
Goods
Order documents and communication: an incoming client email with three attachments and «Определено 11 атрибутов»Open full size
Communication

5.3

Adding a catalog

A catalog can come from an API, a parser or a file. Files are validated on upload, and missing columns are explained with row-level error details.

  1. 1Choose a source
  2. 2Upload a file
  3. 3See what’s missing
  4. 4Open error details
  5. 5Catalog added
CPQ add catalog panel with three ways to add a catalog: connect an API, connect a parser or upload a fileOpen full size
Choose a source
CPQ add catalog panel after upload: 9 of 12 fields recognised and a missing required column «Название»Open full size
Missing column
CPQ import error details listing row number, field, error text and codeOpen full size
Error details
CPQ own catalog after an import, with a success message and a 120-item table of productsOpen full size
Catalog added

5.4

Working with catalogs and products

Own, connected and shared catalogs sit in tabs with filters beside the table. A product card holds its gallery, price history and external links.

CPQ connected catalogs tab with source, supplier, stock, sync status and error count per itemOpen full size
Connected catalogs
CPQ catalog with the filters panel open beside the table: thumbnail, category, price range, source, dates and supplierOpen full size
Filters
CPQ product card, price history tab with dated price changesOpen full size
Price history
CPQ product card with a warning that the product is not matched with 1C or another external sourceOpen full size
Not matched with 1C

06Design decisions

  • Show progress, not just fields

    Every configurator section shows how much of it is done.

  • Keep the price visible

    The estimate sits next to the form and changes as options change.

  • Panels beside the list

    Adding, filtering and editing open next to the content.

  • AI suggests, people decide

    Where the assistant fills data, the result shows its source and can be checked.

07Outcome

CPQ became one workspace for the whole path from request to quote, built on the same BusinessPad components, with the price always visible while the product is being defined.