Heini Inventory Mangament app.

Heini embarked on developing its inventory management app with the vision of becoming the go-to solution for businesses needing efficient and user-friendly inventory tracking, similar to leading industry tools.

This project aimed to create a stand-alone app that streamlines inventory management by addressing usability issues identified in the initial research phase and integrating critical features like real-time tracking, collaboration, and phone camera scanning for future iterations.

• Product Designer

• User Research, Interaction, Visual design, Prototyping & Testing

Heini is a forward-thinking company dedicated to simplifying inventory management for businesses through innovative technology solutions. Learn more about what Heini does.

I was the lead designer at Heini. I joined Heini a year ago as the sole designer in a company with a strong engineering and product management team. I support design across all aspects of our business and am responsible for leading UX and UI design for the inventory management app.

In the past year, I've achieved the following:

- Developed and Launched the Heini Inventory App: I led the design and development of a stand-alone app to help businesses track and manage inventory, integrating collaboration features and phone camera scanning.

- Implemented a Design Process: This has provided structure to our workflow, allowing better planning and visibility for upcoming sprints.

- Enhanced Usability: I conducted UX research and usability testing to ensure the app is user-friendly and meets business needs, resulting in positive feedback from stakeholders.

- Created a Design Kit: This has ensured consistency in the app’s look and feel across various features.

- Established a Design System: This has helped our Engineering and Product teams understand and implement design components consistently and effectively.

These accomplishments have significantly improved our product’s usability and streamlined our development processes.

Understanding the problem:

Before Heini established a product design team, a beta release of the inventory management platform was implemented based on conceptual designs from an external consultancy. These designs lacked usability testing and didn't fully consider user-product limitations.

I conducted research interviews with primary users (inventory managers) to identify pain points and understand user goals and needs, aiming to improve the user journey and task success metrics.

Following the implementation of the rebuilt Audience Wizard in Heini, we observed a significant reduction in service desk complaints and received positive user feedback regarding the streamlined configuration process, saving them valuable time.

Key takeaways from this project include:

1. Strategic MVP Planning: Launching a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) helps manage out-of-scope requests and ensures timely delivery of a quality product.

2. Continuous User Testing: Design is an iterative process, and user testing should continue even after development. Constantly collecting and listening to user feedback is essential for improving the user experience.

3. Early Engineering Involvement: Involving engineering teams early in the process helps reduce rework by understanding technical limitations upfront, informing the design strategy effectively.

These takeaways contribute to ongoing improvement and refinement, ensuring the delivery of user-centric and high-quality products at Heini.