Validating a B2B portal in ten days

A logistics company wanted a customer portal but could not agree internally on what it should do. Sales wanted order tracking front and center, operations wanted a support ticket queue, and the roadmap had quietly stalled for two quarters while the debate continued.

We interviewed eight of their clients directly instead of guessing on their behalf, then prototyped two competing directions: one built around self-service order status, the other around proactive account management. The version the internal team was sure about lost decisively in testing.

The winning direction, closer to what clients actually asked for than what internal stakeholders assumed, shipped a quarter earlier than the original roadmap projected. Ten days of research replaced two quarters of disagreement.