WithMe Inventory Mobile App

CHALLENGE & SOLUTION

As the WithMe shopping ecosystem consists of multiple purchase touchpoints within a radius inside a mall, there is a significant need for an internal application that enables our associates to reliably manage inventory.

There are several third party apps out there that we could potentially use such as ShipHero or Shopify. However, since each of them handles a different functionality, we decided to build our own internal tool so we can flexibly add or drop the features that meet our needs. Building an app from scratch was a true challenge for both design and development team.

I was the lead designer on this project and it took me two months to hand off design to dev. The app was built for iPhone 6 size.

PROCESS

Research & understand the requirements: I never worked in a warehouse or retail setting before. I did, however, gain some insights about these two areas when I volunteered to work at our store for a week in Chicago late last year and Santa Monica this spring for user behavioral observation. The knowledge I gained was significant but is still limited for this project. Therefore, I spent the first 2 weeks asking a lot of questions and received a great of deal useful information from our operation team.

Define the flow for efficiency within tech constraints: Working closely with the product owner, I did a lot of whiteboard sessions and role playing to optimize the workflows for our employees. Some of the main functionalities of the app includes: receiving raw inventory, transferring items between the distribution centers and shopping units, and preparing items for shipment.

Design & prototype: I used Sketch to simultaneously implement basic design and laying out different flows. Then I used InVision to prototype the entire flow to rapidly demonstrate the flow to development & operation team.

STATUS

As of beginning of November 2016, this app has been deployed and is ready to be used for our Q4 shopping season rollout.