QuantIQ

Our team took on the challenge of designing an optimized inventory management system tailored for small businesses, addressing the gaps left by competitors like Zoho, Square, and InFlow.


QuantIQ aimed to reduce stock discrepancies, optimize supply chain efficiency, and improve decision-making for small businesses.

Service

UX design, Web App, Design system

Sector

Inventory Management,

commerce

Year

2024


01 Context

01 Context

Business Owners Rely on Inventory Management

Business Owners Rely on Inventory Management

Business owners rely on inventory management to maintain accurate stock levels, reduce waste, optimize cash flow, and ensure they can meet customer demand efficiently.


A well-managed inventory system helps prevent overstocking and understocking, while improving supply chain operations, enhancing forecasting accuracy, and streamlining vendor management. Ultimately, effective inventory management boosts profitability and operational efficiency while reducing costly errors.

Current Issues in Inventory Management

Most businesses rely on manual methods (41%), spreadsheets (26%), or third-party software (26%) for their day-to-day inventory management operations, such as inventory tracking and goods distribution (Unicommerce, 2024.)

From a mixture of secondary research and user interviews, we learned that the challenges for small businesses using their current solutions included:

  • Poor inventory visibility


  • Increasing dependence on manual inventory processes


  • Lack of processes that effectively coordinated between product vendors


  • Lack of automation in receiving a shipment


  • Recognizing and tracking obsolete products


  • Understanding demand volatility

Most businesses rely on manual methods (41%), spreadsheets (26%), or third-party software (26%) for their day-to-day inventory management operations, such as inventory tracking and goods distribution (Unicommerce, 2024.)

From a mixture of secondary research and user interviews, we learned that the challenges for small businesses using their current solutions included:

  • Poor inventory visibility


  • Increasing dependence on manual inventory processes


  • Lack of processes that effectively coordinated between product vendors


  • Lack of automation in receiving a shipment


  • Recognizing and tracking obsolete products


  • Understanding demand volatility

Project Constraints

Our team was given the challenge of an end-to-end process from research, to design, to development all within 8 weeks.

Another restraint came about when our team started brainstorming ways AI could be incorporated to enhance user workflow. Our developers let us know that we would have to leave out AI for this iteration, but we could utilize simpler methods of demand forecasting.

Our team was given the challenge of an end-to-end process from research, to design, to development all within 8 weeks.

Another restraint came about when our team started brainstorming ways AI could be incorporated to enhance user workflow. Our developers let us know that we would have to leave out AI for this iteration, but we could utilize simpler methods of demand forecasting.

My Role on the Team

I was contributed to two teams, UX Research and UX Design, and proactively collaborated with developers along the way.

My contributions included analyzing competitors and synthesizing findings, user interview synthesis, task-based user flows and wireflows, the information architecture of the platform, the development of the design system, and final designs that were prototyped for usability testing.

02 Process

02 Process

User Interviews with small business owners and retail teams

User Interviews with small business owners and retail teams

Common issues included inaccuracies in inventory data, the time consuming nature of manual entry in their third party solutions, and no integration with the manufacturer.

Common issues included inaccuracies in inventory data, the time consuming nature of manual entry in their third party solutions, and no integration with the manufacturer.

“The one thing that I would like to see is to be connected directly to a manufacturer. That way, as soon as the price rises or they add a new product, it is instant.”

Secondary Research Uncovers a Surprising Insight

Secondary Research Uncovers a Surprising Insight

At first, our assumptions led us to believe that pulling reports would be a top necessity for small businesses. However, we discovered through secondary research and user interviews that this was not the case.

This shifted our focus to inventory control features, vendor management, order management, and demand forecasting. While the platform has a space for pulling reports, we spent significantly less time on formal reports and chose to incorporate easy to digest snapshots as widgets on the user’s main dashboard.

At first, our assumptions led us to believe that pulling reports would be a top necessity for small businesses. However, we discovered through secondary research and user interviews that this was not the case.

This shifted our focus to inventory control features, vendor management, order management, and demand forecasting. While the platform has a space for pulling reports, we spent significantly less time on formal reports and chose to incorporate easy to digest snapshots as widgets on the user’s main dashboard.

Competitors have certain strengths but don't check every box

Competitors have certain strengths but don't check every box

In all, we reviewed 6 top competitors (Square, Soho, Cin7, InFlow, Katana, and Lightspeed.) InFlow and Katana were more niche solutions for B2B and software for manufacturers. Square and Zoho appeared to be the most relevant industry leaders.

Square, for example, has a top-rated POS system that deducts from a retailers’ stock. However, they are limited to very basic inventory control and offer no solutions for vendor management.

Zoho is a leader for e-commerce platforms, but their main pain point was the lack of integrations between other applications.

In all, we reviewed 6 top competitors (Square, Soho, Cin7, InFlow, Katana, and Lightspeed.) InFlow and Katana were more niche solutions for B2B and software for manufacturers. Square and Zoho appeared to be the most relevant industry leaders.

Square, for example, has a top-rated POS system that deducts from a retailers’ stock. However, they are limited to very basic inventory control and offer no solutions for vendor management.

Zoho is a leader for e-commerce platforms, but their main pain point was the lack of integrations between other applications.

Discovering Solutions based on User Stories

User Stories from the point of view of business owners and retail associates set the stage to uncover QuantIQ’s unique value.

The opportunity for QuantIQ would present itself as an intuitive, easy to use platform that would incorporate a broad array of features a small business needs: real-time inventory updates, demand forecasting, point of sale checkout processes, vendor management, and quick data visualizations.

User Stories from the point of view of business owners and retail associates set the stage to uncover QuantIQ’s unique value.

The opportunity for QuantIQ would present itself as an intuitive, easy to use platform that would incorporate a broad array of features a small business needs: real-time inventory updates, demand forecasting, point of sale checkout processes, vendor management, and quick data visualizations.

Business Owner


As a business owner, I want to customize my inventory tracking dashboard to display key metrics and alerts so that I can quickly understand how my business is doing.

Business Owner


As a business owner, I want to receive low stock alerts so that I can reorder products in a timely manner.

Business Owner


As a business owner, I want to manage incoming shipments of products from vendors so that the receiving process runs more smoothly.

Retail Associate


As a retail associate, I want to scan barcodes to update inventory quickly so that I can reduce manual errors.

Retail Associate


As a retail associate, I want to view products by categories so that I can easily reference and locate products using unique identifiers

Retail Associate


As a retail associate, I want to be able to move through the check out process easily so that I can focus on creating a better customer experience.

Data Visualization

Onboarding the user guides them through the Ungrade features to provide essential context.

Onboarding the user guides them through the Ungrade features to provide essential context.

Vendor Purchase Orders

A student would only have to enter their courses enrolled one time— at the start of the semester.

A student would only have to enter their courses enrolled one time— at the start of the semester.

Adding to Inventory

Tier Assessments separate foundational skills into three tiers. Competency tests were combined into course assessments for ease of tracking what skills apply to certain courses, and to cut down on the amount of tests.

Tier Assessments separate foundational skills into three tiers. Competency tests were combined into course assessments for ease of tracking what skills apply to certain courses, and to cut down on the amount of tests.

Receiving the Shipment

The occupational map section faced a complete overhaul, breaking down job related competencies in a way that was easier to understand— and for the user to see how their skills measure up.

The occupational map section faced a complete overhaul, breaking down job related competencies in a way that was easier to understand— and for the user to see how their skills measure up.

Adding a New Team Member

Adding a New Team Member

Students are able to see how their pre and post scores compare, and can view different filtering options such as yearly progress or by semester.

Students are able to see how their pre and post scores compare, and can view different filtering options such as yearly progress or by semester.

The Checkout Process

Users can search for courses and view the skills they'd gain by taking the course.


They can also compare courses side by side.

Users can search for courses and view the skills they'd gain by taking the course.


They can also compare courses side by side.

03 Results

03 Results

Reiterations to further eliminate manual entry in the Final Design

Reiterations to further eliminate manual entry in the Final Design

An issue we were still thinking about after the first iteration was how they would still be manually entering in products, and that there was more we could do to make the process easier.

We created the option for business owners to save the products from the purchase order as a draft that will be updated as soon as the products are received. That can be seen from the modals that pop up at the end of the purchase order process and the receiving process.

Impact and Next Steps

The main difficulty seen initially in usability testing was understanding how purchase orders, adding products, and receiving the shipments related to one another. The success rate improved once we made it more clear that manual entry of products could be eliminated, and the process was more automated as a result.

92% of users tested were satisfied with the user interface, and the previous 82% overall success rate across tasks ncreased to 95% in the second round of testing.

In this project, I enjoyed collaborating with developers and the project manager. The small team overall made it very easy to communicate changes every step of the way. I learned better ways of collaborating through this, as well as improving the hand-off process with developers.

The main difficulty seen initially in usability testing was understanding how purchase orders, adding products, and receiving the shipments related to one another. The success rate improved once we made it more clear that manual entry of products could be eliminated, and the process was more automated as a result.

92% of users tested were satisfied with the user interface, and the previous 82% overall success rate across tasks ncreased to 95% in the second round of testing.

In this project, I enjoyed collaborating with developers and the project manager. The small team overall made it very easy to communicate changes every step of the way. I learned better ways of collaborating through this, as well as improving the hand-off process with developers.