OVERVIEW
Warehouse Optimizer was the second project I worked on as a designer. Its goal was to develop an MVP, alongside a Backoffice for operations' support. I wasn’t greatly familiar with the logistics industry, nor, as a newcomer in the IT industry itself, the concept of Augmented Reality and what it entailed. This time, I didn’t have access to a Business Analyst who had gathered insights on the users or a senior UX/UI designer to helped guide the very first steps (please check out BlueWave ID’s page for more context), so I felt quite intimidated. This meant I needed to focus on researching about warehouse operations and operators’ and team managers’ pain points, as well as drawing on the knowledge of one of the greatest project’s stakeholders, who happened to work in the logistics industry at the time.
Client : internal – KCSiT’s R&D Department
Team : the team’s composition also varied greatly throughout the project’s time frame, however, in total, 9 people, who carried out multiple roles at a time, contributed to this project - 2 Product Managers, 3 Business Analysts, rotating roles of Product Owner and Scrum Master, 1 UX/UI Designer, 8 Full-stack Junior Developers.
Project Management Framework : SCRUM
Time frame : June 2022 - June 2024
My Role : multi-disciplinary. This project encompasses sui generis objectives, one of them being the provision of opportunities for the consultants to hone t-shaped skills. For this reason, even though I continued to operate mainly in the field of UX/UI (as a team of 1), my focus wasn’t exclusively on that front, expanding also to Business Analysis, to any of the Scrum team role’s functions and, when our senior Product Manager couldn’t be as present in the project anymore, to Product Management.
Problem statement & INNOVATION
the Order Picking process is still subject to improvements, as it represents a significant cost in logistics activities. Moreover, errors resulting from this process affect the delivery quality and the relationship between customers and suppliers, leading to a loss of trust in the service provided, with financial consequences. Hence, observed difficulties that are susceptible to improvement are: the difficulty locating product(s) in the warehouse; picking /collecting the wrong product; errors in product picking quantities; high number of operators working simultaneously; collisions and accidents.
Innovation : A solution which uses state of the art technology (Augmented Reality and route optimization), prioritizing simplicity of use and efficiency, to best minimize processual and human errors.
My contribution
My contribution : I contributed, - and still do (however, at this stage in the product's roadmap, I'm mainly left with quality assurance and development support and guidance) - to this project on a part-time basis, while simultaneously working on other projects within and beyond the R&D department.
Given the nature of the R&D context, some responsibilities are transversal
Given the nature of the R&D context, some responsibilities are transversal
- Proceeded to do research whenever needed and transmitted findings to the team;
- Promoted design reviews;
- Built low and high-fidelity designs, from wireframes to prototypes;
- Prepared and delivered presentations to stakeholders, to effectively communicate design value increments;
- Performed iterative design hand-offs and supported developers during the development stage.
- Performed design quality assurance;
- Understood the importance of adaptability and managing multiple projects simultaneously;
- Collaborated in the marketing strategy and resources for product sales;
- Provided guidance to my colleagues in their UX design efforts for the project.
PROCESS
Even though I had started doing UX 2 months prior, I knew I could improve the structure and method to how I designed. Warehouse Optimizer was, and keeps being a playground for experimenting in this regard.
UX Research
Here I was, taking on the UX research stage of the User-Centered Process and, in short, these were some of the found out about the user, their needs, how the interface and Augmented Reality should be of service to those:
- Warehouse workers are hands-on people and strive for efficacy, productivity and gratification, above all else;
- Given the fast pace and practical nature of the logistics industry, a flexible, practical design and instructions which leave no room for doubt are ideal.
- Warehouse work should be made easier and never overload the worker. A low mental load increases quality and productivity. Activities’ facilitation which relies on simplicity is encouraged, since complexity can induce unwanted operational errors. Only indispensable information is needed to execute a task;
- A visual representation of the goods to be collected also aids in preventing human errors and overcomes language barriers.
- The augmented reality layer (over the real world) shouldn’t be too crowded. Only what is strictly essential must be presented;
- Immediate content must always appear in the natural viewing area and not in the peripheral or other areas;
- The color of the UI elements should make their perception more natural and visible, contributing to harmony. (I ended up inverting this principle, prioritizing a visual distinction aspect above naturalness, so we could achieve obvious and immediate identification of crucial elements and boosting effectiveness);
UX Requirement Gathering & Design
We were working under SCRUM, and I kept alive the UCD process for any design needed. I'd research, define requirements, take those and knowledge acquired to interview our high power/high interest stakeholder/Product Manager and confirm if my research aligned with business goals. I'd design solutions, based on those requirements, meet with the team for feedback on feasibility and critique, and iterate (or not) as necessary. At the sprint review, I'd present the solution to all the stakeholders and receive feedback. If the design were validated by them, we had a design Increment, if not, the solution would be revisited in the next sprints.
The app's screen flow as of January 2024.
The Backoffice is used by the team manager to best orient logistics activities.
The authentication page
The dashboard: highlighting goals and statistics, important metrics for operations and team and their averages
The task management page allows the team manager to assign tasks, as well as create new ones, if needed
The warehouse management page is where the team manager can overview everything that is going in the warehouse - from products to racks' availability, and designate rules and areas for the workers' navigation