Inventory Management App for Medical Stores
About the Client
A client from Canada needs to design and develop an inventory management app for pharmacists to keep track of their inventory.
Their goal is to design the experience from the perspective of the pharmacist who wants to keep an easy check of the medicine inventory and also wants to speed up the process of managing it.
Target Users
The research included the following methods:
Surveys: We distributed surveys to a large number of pharmacists to gather general information on their inventory management practices and to identify common challenges and pain points. The surveys were designed to be user-friendly and easy to complete, and they were distributed both online and in person.
One-on-one Interviews: Our team conducted one-on-one interviews with pharmacists to learn more about their inventory management practice’s and to identify specific pain points and challenges. During these interviews, we inquired about pharmacists’ expectations for a solution as well as their preferences for specific features and functionalities.
Observations: We conducted real-time observations of pharmacists managing their inventory. This enabled us to comprehend the actual processes and practices employed by pharmacists, as well as identify areas for improvement. We also recorded any difficulties or pain points encountered by pharmacists while managing their inventory.
Based on the user research conducted by our team, two personas were created to represent the target users – pharmacists.
Name : Steve
Gender : Male
Age : 35 years
A 35 year old pharmacist, working in the field for 10 years and manages a medium-sized medical store.
Role
Experience in managing inventory and a keen eye for detail.
Challenges
Difficulty to keep track of their inventory using manual methods such as pen and paper. He also struggles with stock management and experience discomfort when informing customers that a particular medicine is out of stock.
Name : Paul
Gender : Male
Age : 25 years
A 25-year-old pharmacist, who just started working in the field and manages a small medical store.
Role
He is tech-savvy and is familiar with using computers. He handles all operations.
Challenges
Difficulty to manage inventory using existing software solutions, which is confusing and time-consuming. He also experiences difficulty in keeping track of his ordered inventory and generating monthly/annual sales reports.
Title : Employee
Gender : Female
Age : 25 years
Role
Responsible for managing a team of employees and overseeing HR processes.
Goals
Quick access to HR data and reports, such as employee headcount, benefits utilization, and turnover rate, to make informed business decisions.
Challenges
Limited time to review HR data, and difficulty navigating the current HR management system.
Problem Statements
The main problems identified through the user research conducted by our team were:
Use of Outdated Manual Methods for Inventory Management: This resulted in a time-consuming and error-prone process, making it difficult for pharmacists to keep accurate inventory records.
Difficulty in Recording Sales and Tracking Stock Levels: Pharmacists struggled to record sales and track stock levels, making it difficult for them to know when to reorder certain medications.
Out-of-Stock Situations Leading to Customer Dissatisfaction: This was a major source of frustration for pharmacists who want to provide a positive customer experience and maintain customer loyalty.
Time-consuming and Error-prone Process for Generating Monthly and Annual Sales Reports: This was difficult for those who manage their inventory manually, as it requires manual data entry and calculation, increasing the risk of errors.
These problem statements aided in the design of the inventory management app, ensuring that the solution addressed the pharmacists’ pain points and challenges in managing their inventory.
User Journey
Our team created a user journey map to understand the pharmacist’s experience in managing their inventory. The journey map highlighted the following key touchpoints and emotions:
Recording Sales: Pharmacists have to manually record sales on a daily basis, which is a time-consuming and repetitive task.
Monitoring Stock Levels: Pharmacists need to keep track of stock levels to ensure they don’t run out of inventory.
Reordering Medicines: Pharmacists need to reorder medicines when stock levels run low, which is a complex process that involves contacting suppliers, comparing prices, and tracking delivery times.
Generating Sales Reports: Pharmacists need to generate sales reports on a monthly and annual basis, which is a time-consuming and error-prone process.
The user journey map assisted in identifying pharmacists’ pain points and provided a clear understanding of the end-to-end process of managing inventory in a medical store.
User Research Pain Points
- Pharmacists reported that they spent a significant amount of time manually tracking inventory levels and recording sales data, which was a repetitive and time-consuming task.
- Pharmacists struggled to manage stock levels and make informed decisions due to a lack of real-time visibility into their inventory levels and sales data.
- Pharmacists reported that manual data entry is prone to errors and inconsistencies, which impacted the accuracy of their inventory and sales data.
- Pharmacists reported that creating sales reports is a complex and time-consuming process, with errors frequently introduced during the data entry process, affecting the accuracy of the reports.
These pain points were taken into consideration during the design of the app, and solutions were developed to address these challenges.
Paper Wireframes
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- User interface and navigation
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- Information Architecture
- Interactions and animations
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Digital Wireframes
- Our team provided feedback on our paper wireframes and assisted us in refining our ideas and designs into digital wireframes.
- We solicited feedback by sharing our digital wireframes with pharmacists to ensure that our designs met the needs and expectations.
- We considered accessibility from the beginning and made sure that our digital wireframes were designed to be accessible to users with disabilities.
- Digital wireframes were created with usability in mind, taking into account user research pain points.
Low-Fidelity Prototype
Our low-fidelity prototype was designed with the following goals in mind:
Test the app’s overall flow and functionality: Using our low-fidelity prototype, we were able to test the app’s basic functionality and ensure that all key features and processes were functioning properly.
Collect early user feedback: We shared our low-fidelity prototype with pharmacists and solicited feedback on the overall flow and functionality of the app. This allowed us to identify any problems early on and make any necessary changes.
Usability and accessibility: It was tested during this stage because our low-fidelity prototype was designed to be accessible and usable.
Validate our concepts: Our low-fidelity prototype allowed us to validate our designs and ensure that the app would meet our expectations.
Usability Studies
- To validate the user journey flow and identify areas for improvement.
- To assess the app’s usability and overall user experience.
- Gather feedback from target users on the app’s design and functionality.
Usability Study Findings
- The interface of the inventory app was praised by pharmacists for its fast and error-free features.
- The app’s clarity of inventory data was a key strength.
- The app gave pharmacists greater control over their sales monitoring and tracking stock levels.
- Users highly valued the ability to easily generate Monthly and Annual Sales Reports
- The findings were used to improve the app further, ensuring that it met the needs and expectations of target users.
Mockups
Our team created detailed mockups of the inventory app to showcase the final design and user interface after analyzing the results of the usability studies.
Mockups were an important part of visualizing the user experience as they helped to validate design concepts and ensure that the app met the needs and expectations of the target users.
The goal of these mockups was to bring the inventory app to life and provide a clear picture of how the app would look and function in real-world scenarios.
It was also used to improve the user flow and interaction design, as well as to ensure that the final product was accessible and usable for pharmacists.
High-Fidelity Prototype
Based on feedback from previous usability studies and mockups, the high-fidelity prototype was created. It incorporated the most recent design updates, such as visual design and interactions.
The prototype was created to be as close to the real app as possible, allowing users to test the app in a realistic setting.
This enabled us to identify any remaining issues and make any changes necessary to improve the software.
Accessibility
Our team adhered to accessibility best practices and guidelines to ensure that the app was usable by all users, regardless of ability.
This included features like clear, high-contrast text, simple navigation, and compatibility with assistive technologies in the app’s design.
We ensured that the inventory app would be inclusive and accessible to all pharmacists, making it easier for them to manage their sales and stock in a transparent way.
Takeaways
- Inventory management became fast, error-free, and accurate.
- Sales recording and tracking stock levels became easier and more transparent.
- Re-ordering medicines became more efficient, resulting in fewer out-of-stock situations.
- Pharmacists can now generate error-free Monthly and Annual Sales Reports in record time.
Next Steps
We intend to take the following steps to expand on our solution:
Continued iteration: We will continue to evaluate our design’s performance and make changes as needed to improve its efficiency and usability.
Accessibility: As we improve the app, we will keep accessibility in mind to ensure that it is usable by everyone, regardless of ability.
Feedback: We will collect user feedback and incorporate their suggestions and ideas into our design process.
Upgrades and enhancements: We will keep up with the latest technologies and incorporate new features that improve the performance of the inventory app.