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Every design proof in one conversation

Orders that need a design proof used to be a loose set of emails and statuses. We rebuilt the module so each order has numbered proof revisions and a single conversation, visible to staff in the admin and to the customer in their account. Staff get a morning digest of what is waiting, and a reconciler catches orders that fell out of step.

Situation

A proof, a reply, another proof, and nobody sure where it stood

The store prints customer artwork, so many orders need a design proof approved before anything goes to print. The proof step had grown up as a set of emails, an order status and a page the customer could reply on. It worked when one proof was enough. When a customer asked for a change, and then another, the thread split across emails, the status no longer said which version was waiting, and staff were checking orders by hand to see what needed chasing.

What we did

Rebuild the proof step around the conversation

  • Numbered revisions Each proof sent is a numbered revision on the order, with its file, who sent it, when, and what the customer said about it.
  • One conversation Staff replies and customer replies sit in a single thread on the order. The admin order view shows it on a Design Proof tab; the customer sees the same thread in their account and on the proof page they are emailed.
  • Existing orders brought across Proofs already in flight were migrated into threads, with a dry run first, so nothing in progress was lost.
  • A morning digest Staff get one email each morning listing every order with a proof waiting on them or on the customer, instead of checking the grid.
  • A reconciler A scheduled check finds orders whose status and proof thread disagree and puts them right, and a command line lets staff run it on demand.
  • Smaller things that matter Canned replies rewritten, a bigger message box, clearer buttons for the customer, and staff able to mark a proof approved when the customer confirms by phone.

This was a development task within the store’s monthly plan, built on our own copy of the store with real proof data, reviewed by a senior developer and released in one go with the migration.

Result

Nothing waits unseen

One threadper order

Every morninga digest of what is waiting

Staff open an order and see the whole history of its proofs in one place. Customers see the same. A proof that is waiting on someone shows up in the next morning’s digest rather than when someone remembers to look.

Worth checking on your store

If orders go through an approval step

  • Pick an order with more than one revision and try to work out, from the admin alone, which version the customer last saw.
  • Ask how staff know what is waiting today. If the answer is a saved search and a habit, a digest is a small task.