Challenge
Recreate the stock take feature for PhorestGo 2.0 improving functionality and ease of use where possible. Removing unnecessary steps and allowing users to quickly add stock levels of product items by scanning within the app and then adding levels.
Process
Discovery Phase:
Conduct user interviews to understand the importance of the feature to clients and ease of use
Analyse user pain points when conducting a stock take and use this feedback to influence future design decisions.
Design and Prototyping Phase
Leverage existing mobile functionalities that had been built to scan product items to sell via the purchase screen and reuse these components for the stock take app
Define new improved flow based on feedback for team alignment before development begins. Sharing progress in backlogs and addressing any development concerns or constraints.
Prototype the new stock take flow using Figma and Maze to ensure intuitive user interactions. Reducing total number of steps a user needs to take before a stock take can be complete.
Conduct client testing on prototypes to gather feedback and iterate on design.
Development and Handover Phase
Maintain ongoing communication with engineers while building to confirm expected behaviour, functionalities, and outcomes.
Create comprehensive Figma documentation for handoff outlining new UI elements, interactions, and design decisions.
Work closely with the engineering team until a production-ready stock take feature is ready to be shipped.
Solution
The new stock take app streamlines the counting process, significantly reducing the number of steps required for users to complete inventory checks. We achieved this by leveraging existing, well-tested scanning components, minimising development time for the engineering team.
Here's how the app improved efficiency:
Eliminated unnecessary data entry: The previous app required users to input data that wasn't recorded. We eliminated these redundant steps, focusing solely on scanning product items.
Reduced time between scans: We minimised the time between scanning a product and moving on to the next item, optimising the workflow for faster stock counts.
Enhanced user interface: We introduced a user-friendly "clicker" counter with larger UI elements. This intuitive interface allows users to easily count products directly within the app, eliminating the need for separate counting and data entry.
Takeaway
The new stock take app focused on user experience by streamlining the process and minimising steps. While user testing validated these improvements, we received valuable feedback once the app was in production. Some users missed the familiar, yet redundant, steps from the previous version.
This experience highlights the importance of considering user experience alongside established workflows. While we can objectively demonstrate the inefficiency of certain steps, users might feel a sense of incompleteness if familiar (though unnecessary) actions are removed.