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