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  • SaaS
  • Product UX
  • Portals

Case study — Vanketo

One order.
Two portals.

Vanketo makes magnetic window covers for vans and ran its orders on spreadsheets. Customers could not see where an order was; staff had no tool built for how they worked. The brief was a dual-portal system, designed from zero and synced with Shopify.

Client
Vanketo
Industry
Van accessories eCommerce
Services
UX/UI · Product design
Platform
Web portals · Shopify sync
Role
Lead UX/UI designer
The Vanketo customer portal

01Context

Spreadsheets were
the system.

Orders lived in spreadsheets, so delays, manual errors and a lack of customer transparency were built into the process. Employees lacked tools to manage orders; customers had no way to track them without emailing.

The work started with research into the spreadsheet-based pain points and the Shopify integration needs, then mapped 18 user flows across both sides, from order creation on the employee portal to timeline tracking on the customer portal.

A library of more than 200 Figma components (tables, filters, status badges and their states) kept both portals consistent as the scope grew.

Vanketo order status on a laptop

Make the status
visible to everyone.

02Customer portal

Track the order
without asking.

Each order shows a milestone timeline (Cutting, Sewing, Packing, On the way, Delivered) with the estimated shipping date, the products, notes and the customer’s details on one screen. How-to videos and accessory suggestions sit below, so the portal answers the next question too.

Vanketo order tracking in the customer portal

03Employee portal

Bulk actions, custom fields,
live Shopify sync.

The employee dashboard centralises orders with status badges, due dates, van type and sewer assignment, filters and custom date ranges, and bulk editing that replaced row-by-row spreadsheet work. Revenue and workload summaries sit above the table.

Vanketo employee dashboard with revenue summary

04Order lifecycle

Every state
has a screen.

Opening an order shows totals, the assigned sewer, order and due dates, and a timeline with start times per stage. The same states drive the customer timeline, so both sides read the same truth.

Vanketo order drawer with timeline

05Operations

Filters that match
the workshop.

Custom date ranges, status tabs (Completed, Cancelled) and priority flags let staff plan the week from the same table they use to update orders.

Vanketo custom date range filter

06Impact

Tested with the people
who use it.

Usability testing with five employees and fifteen customers before launch, and the post-launch numbers Vanketo reported.

50%Faster order processing
98%Customers tracked an order unaided
−40%Manual errors after launch
−35%Customer inquiries

07Client voice

From the Upwork review.

The review for “UX Designer for Customer & Employee Portal”, verified on Upwork, May 2025.

Vanketo order progress in the customer portal
“Dylan’s work is exceptional. He’s organised, communicates clearly, and is a fantastic UX designer.”

Upwork client

Vanketo — customer & employee portal · SaaS UX · May 2025

Verified Upwork review · 5.0

Fewer emails.
Faster orders.

The website work that followed the portals: About, Contact, Happy Customers and Stealthy Shades pages under the unified Vanketo branding.

Vanketo website customer reviews page

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