MY ROLE
Product Designer
COLLABORATORS
Executive Manager
Developers
6 months
2020-2021
TOOLS
Figma
Miro
COMPANY OVERVIEW
Fluid Controls Pvt. Ltd, an automotive instrumentation manufacturing company, offers a wide range of instrumentation erection hardware to customers, including instrumentation fittings, valves, manifolds, and air headers.
MY CONTRIBUTION
I was the solo Product Designer. I designed to 0-1 product
PROBLEM
How might we enhance order traceability after packaging to minimize human errors, to client trust in the company's processes and deliveries?
Streamlining order and packing procedures by digitizing the process, allowing for real-time updates during packing activities in the field.
USER RESEARCH
The research aimed to comprehensively explore the journey of orders from placement to delivery, with a specific focus on understanding stakeholder requirements and uncovering the challenges faced by workers during the order packing phase. I conducted interviews to identify pain points, inefficiencies, and challenges within the current process.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
What specific challenges does the company encounter during the order completion process with the current system?
How can we enhance traceability process using technology?
What level of training and support do employees require to adapt to technology?
KEY DISCOVERIES
Manual data storage hinders efficiency and accuracy.
Lack of digital tracking hinders anomaly detection.
Supervisors spend significant time processing orders on paper.
Missing or incorrect orders impact customer experience.
Misread order details lead to incorrect picking and packing.
IDEATION
Identifying the need for digitalizing the packaging process, I embarked on a brainstorming session to generate potential solutions. This involved considering factors like:
Business Requirements: Addressing core business objectives.
Technical Feasibility: Evaluating the technical viability of each solution.
Economical Feasibility: Assessing the cost-effectiveness of implementation.
Following the initial sketches, I presented these solutions to stakeholders. This open discussion allowed us to analyze the pros and cons of each approach together. Through this collaborative process, we ultimately arrived at the "Pre-Generated Barcode" solution as the most suitable option considering all factors.
**Rough sketches for stakeholders
LOW FIDELITY WIREFRAMES
Through open discussions with the team and stakeholders, I explored the feasibility and potential drawbacks of each option. By iterating and refining based on valuable feedback, I shifted my focus to sketching out the low-fi wireframes for the product.
**Low-fi wireframes
Solution
After choosing customer from the database, create a designated "Order Box".
Each order box dynamically displays the details of its linked small box, providing a clear overview of the order's contents.
It also displays the current status of the order, allowing supervisors to monitor progress.
Streamlines organization by allowing you to create small boxes within orders, each with clear names and descriptions.
You can nest poly bags containing product items within these boxes, linking them to specific small boxes for a hierarchical structure that enhances efficiency and clarity in order fulfillment.
Upon finalizing all order details, the system automatically generates a barcode sheet.
Order Structure:
Big Box Level: One barcode for the main order box.
Small Box Level: An individual barcode for each small box within the order box.
Poly Bag Level: A unique barcode for each poly bag contained within each small box.
The number of barcodes generated dynamically adjusts based on the actual number of items and their organization within the order, ensuring scalability.
Workers scan and packs items in reverse order (bags, then boxes) using barcodes.
This automatically links everything to the order and keeps supervisors updated in real-time, minimizing errors and improving transparency while packing orders.
The supervisor's portal empowers them with real-time visibility into the status of all orders:
In Progress
Completed
All Orders
Searching any barcode associated with an order, retrieves and displays comprehensive details of the specific order linked to it.
This intuitive search feature empowers supervisors to quickly access critical order details on-demand, enhancing transparency and facilitating informed decision-making.
USABILITY TESTING
The user testing involved 2 supervisors and 3 workers responsible for packaging on the field, validating the design's usability. The usability testing resulted in positive results, reaching all the benchmarks we set before the project.
After the deployment of the product in the company, it was noticed that the rate of human errors while packaging was reduced by 83% within 3 months.
