Inventory App for an Antique Store

Project Background

My Role: Lead UX Designer, UX Researcher

The Problem: Inventory management apps on the market are either too little or too much for small business use

The Goal: Create a mobile app that is simple, modern, and highly customizable

Target Audience: Small-business owners needing inventory management solutions


User Research

Study Details

  • Initial research through creative thought processes with prompts

  • Created empathy maps for users

  • Unmoderated survey targeting potential consumers

Key Challenges and Constraints

  • User pain points:

    • Time - users want to know if a product is available at store before visiting

    • Updates - users want to know when unique items are available

User Persona

Problem Statement: Sandra is the owner of a growing antique store who needs an app to track her inventory and update web listings so she will have more time to focus on finding new items and writing creative stories for her current items.

Starting the Design

Concepts:

  • High use of images

  • Quick access to add/view inventory

  • User customizability

  • Simple inventory adding process - keep to a single screen with edit options

Usability Study Findings

Two usability studies were conducted with the following important findings that resulted in a revision of the design:

  • Make navigation more intuitive by incorporating best-practices with user flow

  • Allow for the customization of inventory description fields

  • More options for searching and filtering through inventory

Before Usability Study:

After Usability Study:

Refining the Design

Main User Flow:

Login > Home > Add Inventory > Confirmation > View Inventory

Lessons Learned

  • This design would slay if we were still in the 90s

  • Don't reinvent the wheel - use best practices for both ease of users and more efficient design

  • Consult users - they are the subject-matter experts on what they want and need

Next Steps

  • Conduct another usability study focusing on navigation and accessibility

  • Research insights from actual small-business owners on needed features

  • Add more best-practice design principles for a more polished look