User Personas & Journeys¶

User roles, permissions, and typical workflows within CostEngine (MfgIQ).

Personas Overview¶

graph LR
    subgraph "Core Users"
        E[Estimator]
        M[Sales Manager]
        A[Admin]
    end

    subgraph "Extended Users"
        F[Finance]
        O[Operations Head]
    end

    E --> M
    M --> A
    F --> A
    O --> M

    style E fill:#e3f2fd
    style M fill:#fff3e0
    style A fill:#fce4ec

Primary Personas¶

1. Estimator (Cost Engineer)¶

Profile: - 5-15 years shop floor/costing experience - Creates 5-20 quotes per day - Expert in manufacturing processes - Comfortable with Excel, learning new tools

Goals: - Reduce quote turnaround time - Maintain accuracy and consistency - Justify costs to customers - Reuse historical data

Pain Points: - Manual Excel calculations are error-prone - Difficult to find similar past quotes - Explaining cost components to customers - Keeping material rates current

Key Workflows:

2. Sales Manager¶

Profile: - Oversees 3-5 estimators - Reviews high-value and low-margin quotes - Approves strategic pricing decisions - Interfaces with key customers

Goals: - Win profitable business - Control margin erosion - Ensure pricing consistency - Monitor team productivity

Pain Points: - Limited visibility into quote pipeline - Approvals bottleneck quotes - No benchmarking across estimators - Manual reporting

Key Workflows:

3. Admin (System Administrator)¶

Profile: - May be estimator with additional duties - Manages master data (materials, machines) - Configures system settings - Handles user management

Goals: - Keep master data current - Ensure system reliability - Manage user access - Maintain audit compliance

Key Workflows:

Permissions Matrix¶

User Journeys¶

Journey 1: New RFQ to Quote (Estimator)¶

journey
    title Estimator: RFQ to Quote
    section Receive RFQ
      Get RFQ via email/portal: 3: Estimator
      Check for similar parts: 4: Estimator, System
    section Create Quote
      Import Excel template: 5: Estimator
      Review auto-populated data: 4: Estimator
      Apply adjustments: 4: Estimator
    section Finalize
      Review cost breakdown: 5: Estimator
      Generate PDF/Excel: 5: System
      Send to customer: 4: Estimator

Journey 2: Low-Margin Approval (Manager)¶

journey
    title Manager: Approval Flow
    section Notification
      Receive low-margin alert: 3: Manager
      Open quote details: 4: Manager
    section Review
      Check cost breakdown: 4: Manager
      Review historical benchmark: 5: Manager
      Read estimator justification: 4: Manager
    section Decision
      Approve or reject: 5: Manager
      Add comments: 4: Manager

Notifications & Alerts¶

Dashboard Views¶

Estimator Dashboard¶

• My open quotes
• Recent quotes
• Quick actions (new quote, import Excel)
• Material rate alerts

Manager Dashboard¶

• Pending approvals
• Team quote summary
• Win/loss trends
• Low-margin alerts

Admin Dashboard¶

• Master data status
• Rate update queue
• System health
• User activity logs

Related Documentation¶

• Role-Based Access Control (UC-604)
• Low-Margin Approval (UC-304)
• MVP Scope