InventoryPlus
Warehouse managing system
Overview
“Inventory Plus” is a B2B Warehouse management system (WMS) - a desktop application designed to help businesses manage and optimize their operation.
My Role
UX/UI Design | Research | User interview
Frustrations and pain points
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When items get lost, or if someone deletes them from the list, the search for this item can take days without any results.
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The system is very old and complicated for a new user, so training takes time.
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When a new user works with the system the margin for human error is big and happens a lot, which can be a waste of time for small issues.
Problem statement
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There is no item history which makes tracking the inventory hard and some products get lost which takes money and time to sort the issue.
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On the one hand, the System has a lot of options but on the other hand, most of them are useless for the basic user, and even if not it's very hard to find out how to do something.
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In the process of scanning order, the human scanner has a lot of room for making errors.
Possible Solutions
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An editable dashboard that the user and his preferences can organize to get a better workflow.
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Tracking and easily accessing products and shipments and auto-sync for product movements, quantities, and inventory.
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All-in-one managing system that keeps the user focused and helps minimize human error margin.
Our hero
Darryl Philbin
Age: 32 years old
Position: Warehouse Manager
Location: Scranton Pennsylvania
Darryl is Reliable and efficient, he's the backbone of the Dunder Mifflin warehouse, keeping operations running seamlessly with experience of 15 years.
Frustrations
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The waste of time sorting and tracking items in the inventory.
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Shortage of experienced employees and a stip learning curvature.
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A high margin for human error gets a waste of resources.
Needs
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An easier system with the ability to train a new user quickly.
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Minimize human intervention and errors.
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Improvements to the workflow in order to make it more efficient.
Use case
System Error
Can't find a product and the list is not updated.
IT support
Can't update the list and can't find the product on the records.
System Provider
The IT support calls the system provider to update the system and the list.
Brainstorming
To gain a deeper understanding of user pain points and needs, I immersed myself in the system and engaged directly with users. Several interviews were conducted with the company's IT personnel, as well as collaboration with the warehouse manager. As a result of actively participating in the day-to-day operations and soliciting feedback from key stakeholders, I was able to collect invaluable insights that informed the design and development of the warehouse management system.
Competition
I choose to analyze two key competitors to gain insights into their features, and customer satisfaction levels, enabling me to make informed decisions and select the most suitable solution.
SCExpert
By
Made4Net
Pros
The price is low and affordable for small businesses.
Offers a wide range of solutions for the user.
The system can be adjusted by the user.
Redprairie
By
eWave mobile
Cons
No Trail - the user can’t test the system.
The design is old and unappealing to use.
The system is very complicated and hard to work with.
User survey
According to the survey results for the WHM system, the users have a difficult time learning and working with the system, most users seem to get confused about the screens and how to accomplish simple things.
Most of the new users tend to get frustrated about the system.
Simple tasks are not that simple to get done.
The system is old and tends to crash often.
New users learning curve takes more than a week.
Mapping the user needs
User flow
User Login
Open the dashboard
Check quantity for missing products
Storage list
Asign a task to restock the product
Open and scan a store restocking shipment
scan the items provided by the warehouse employee
Restock produck into the warehouse
Prepare the products for shipment
Design phase
Sketches and wireframes
Final design
Key features
Quick search
