Supply Chain
& Stock Management
Sorting out the Supply Chain
& Stock Management
INVENTORY
DotPe - 2023
SaaS • Inventory Management (Re)Design & Research • Case Study
Overview
Inventory Management is a very essential module in the Rista system pool and crucial for DotPe to move in the direction of being a fintech.
I owned and lead design strategy & research to rebuild inventory management from the ground up, followed by prototyping a new experience that would make Rista a transformative product for any Business.
My new vision was highly praised, appreciated and got the approval but due to a resource crunch in DotPe at the time, the development was put on hold.
My Role
Lead UX Designer
Lead UX Designer - Design strategy, User research, Information architecture, Wireframes, Visual Design, Prototyping
Timeline
4 Months - Handed over for implementation
Tools
Figma
THE CONTEXT
Operating system for the merchants
Operating system for the merchants
This backend function in the food & beverage industry is sophisticated in its working & can make a huge impact on the operations of a business.
And it primarily has two main functions:
Stock Management: Management of goods
Supply Chain: Movement of goods
Inventory Management system
Supply chain explained
Video Loop
It’s a system that can help us make decisions based on projections.
Breaking it Down
Warehouse
Suppliers
Central Kitchen
Outlet
Store
STOCK MANAGEMENT
SUPPLY CHAIN
Procurement
Transfers
Production
FOOD COSTING
Audit
Adjustment
Shrinkage
Simplifying the web
Image
THE PROBLEM
Rista’s rich Tech-Stack wasn’t accessible
Rista’s rich Tech-Stack wasn’t accessible
Managing an inventory is very layered and process heavy and businesses would wish to invest in a system that eases those processes, rather than complicate them.
Befogging Processes
Significant structural issues that makes the processes more complicated & time consuming
Complicated due to the heavy data sets & hence involves a huge training and setup cost.
THE CHALLENGE
To create a flexible enough structure around the intricacy of the access module in a layered system & also enable self initiated setups.
I felt extremely pumped to take on this challenge once I understood the very interesting workings and also met my users and saw an opportunity to help through my design.
Finding Purpose
Reimagining & rebuilding a solution that aids the workings of people on the field & makes their jobs easier.
Allows a business to capture it’s operations on a fundamental level with accessible nuances.
RESEARCH SUMMARY
Clearing the fog: Discovering the leaks
Clearing the fog; Discovering the leaks
1. Addressing the right user(s)
It was critical to recognise that there are two main kinds of user groups doing completely different set of tasks that must at some point intersect.
Merchant
On Field Workers
Licence Granted
Once the sale is closed, a Licence is granted to the user along with accesses configured for the business
Stealth User
User
Training
Once the master data is in place, all users of the business are trained as per their use cases
Ready to Use
Post training, the system is already up & running and handed over to the users with support
Installation & SetUp
After installation & setting up the access module, the master data is set up and mapped at store level
Buying & Testing
Using Inventory
Show Insight
User discovery mapping
Interactive
The master data set mapped to a store gives us the data we perform the activities on. Hence, mapping is crucial and needs to be made as simple as possible
store
2. The Master & The Mapping
Master Data Sets
Show Mapping
Mapping data sets
Interactive
Instead of finding an item in different places with different set of data points, why can’t we have a master which allows us to see all data linked to an SKU in a single glance?
kNOw WHERE to look
Transfer Unit
Procurement Unit
Transferred
Procured
Stocked
Apply concision
Supplier Code
Supplier name, Item Name (can change), Supplier SKU, Price, Price to inventory unit conversion, Supplier tax
External Supplier
Days of stock, Sale limit, Low balance limit, Restock limit, Sold out threshold, Sell when in stock,Audit Schedule
Store Code
Store
Int. Sup. Code
Buyer name, Item Name (can change), Transfer SKU, Price, Price to inventory unit conversion, Int. Supplier tax
Internal Supplier
Name, Status, Measuring unit, Category, Stocking method
Item SKU
Inventory Items
Bringing concision to data
Interactive
The dats is currently spread across but by consolidating it we can improve the performance of the system by 10x.
KEY INSIGHT
Headed to the North Star
Making the complicate Simple
An experience where the system can do the heavy lifting without the user feeling it
Adaptable & Accessible
No matter who uses and why, the system must deliver performance, putting the user in control
Informative & Glanceable
Make data easier to understand and surface insights to users while minimising interaction.
HIGH LEVEL AUDIT
Reimagining the Fundamentals
Reimagining the Fundamentals
It was important to design the system in a way which could work for both big master data sets as well as smaller mapped data sets seamlessly.
Zooming in and Out
Quick Nav & accessibility feature
Video Loop
One click for all bulk action so that all can be done in minimum effort
Easy reach & play between single and multiple data actions
The Inventory module was going to be a part of the Dashboard and on the Web so it was crucial to make sure that the navigation was intuitive enough cater to all different users with different accesses
Navigation in sight
Navigation through system
Image
Pin & Unpin at own convenience to ensure best use of space as per need
Optimally sectioned for best use, various user scenarios & needs
The uniqueness of the system was how many possible entry points there were but to make the system more easily adaptable and accessible it was important to create a journey that could also have multiple entries & exists.
Giving it a story - The Onboarding
Prompts for next action
Bulk actions for big data sets
Visibility of assests
Singular actions for small data sets
Onboarding elements
Image
THE SOLUTION
What remains is : Seamless, Consistent & Friendly
What remains is : Seamless, Consistent & Friendly
Glide through muscle memory
The attempt has been too enable the user to spend less time on decision making, simplify the task, enhance performance by reducing scope of error and eventually develop muscle memory as most tasks are repetitive.
Overall Inventory flow Prototype
Video Loop
Introducing tables gives the user the leverage of going through a lot of data at once and also reducing the need to download excel sheets to view data
Glanceable Information with Tables
New Table layout and forms for entry
Image
Imp. Categories that are
also Filters to navigate data
Alternate colour pattern to enhance readability
Forms with drop downs and side sheets to make the experience crisp and concise
All actions available in a single form so that everything is organised
Sectioned form ro make it visually hinting for the user
Introducing forms as the element to add or view data makes it easy to navigate so much data and gives everything its right place.
A place for Everything
Stock management & Mapping in one place
Image
Quick Create anything, anytime, anywhere!
Quick create functionality
Video Loop
IN HINDSIGHT
Not the ending I was hoping for
Not the ending I was hoping for!
Due to a resource crunch on the development team , Inventory module was put on hold with no plan or timeline in place for getting back
The Plot Twist
Personal takeaways
Journey > Destination
I loved working on this project so much, learnt so much & wouldn’t trade that for anything. I hope this can be of use.
This is why I love Design
To be able to unfold the complexity has been a delight
Collaboration is the only way
The sum of all is grater than the sum of individuals
WHERE YOU GOING NEXT ???
Knacks!!!!
An AI powered chatbot for merchants
UI/UX Web resource highlights
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