Z5 Inventory Project Dashboards Redesign
Project Outline
The Assignment: Project management is the most critical aspect of the Z5 Inventory system, encompassing the entire inventory count process. The results from this process enable leaders to make key financial decisions regarding current and future inventory growth. Our objective is to enhance dashboards, making them more relevant and decisive in reporting, thereby empowering users to make well-informed decisions.
User can track different counts (for each level) like, Priced Items/ non priced items/ high dollar items/ not found items/non matched/ Audited/ owned/ consigned/ expired/ count sheet variance items.
Duration - 6 - 10 weeks
UX Methods used - Research, Ideation, rapid prototyping, Testing
Tools used - Figma, Loom, Confluence, Google Meet, Whiteboard
The Research
Existing Project Module-
The Existing project module resides in the Left Hand Side Nav Menu. Users can create and monitor project progress with project dashboards. Within the count module the user can do the following functions-
Create a new project (specify start/ end date/ project type/ customer type etc.)
Monitor/ edit count data/ item information.
Generate excel data dumps to generate custom reports outside of platform.
Monitor and edit Audit activities
Manage location( like open/ close location to make locations available/ unavailable for count)
Monitor counter performance.
User Press CHOOSE action dropdown to enter a project. Filters enable to select projects by customer, project type (Types explained Right hand side bubble)), facilities Sort is by start date/ end date/ ascending/ descending
All user types have access to Project module (Problem- Project module contains critical features like Counts/ performance metrics, which may be edited/ manipulated by any user to their benefit)
What are some types of Count projects
A count project is set up for a customer and facility/ facilities. The project type could be
ANNUAL, - Count happen Once a year, Eg Nuvance, Yale Health
PERPETUAL, - There is an expected quantity tied to an item. Min and Max no. Count Happens with a count sheet.
CYCLE, - Happens periodic (once or month or quarterly) eg Baylor Scott and White
EXPIRATION and To Specifically take note of expired inventory.
REALLOCATION - to move excess stock from one location to another Or sell excess inventory, or Donate excess.
The customer counts the items and according to the project type takes necessary actions.
Once the user gets into the project- the module is designed as box within the box model, i.e. the user has to click through several levels to get to the relevent datafacility data >dept.>room data> to get to location data. (Problem- engage in multiple clicks to get to relevant data).
The Operations is monitoring both Value and Quantity. Where as the Financial is looking for the Value in terms of last count.
User can also look at a separate RM- resource management dashboard containing information on Locations and Users metrics.
Who is looking at the data? and what are they looking at?
User Interviews
I spoke to PMs @ Z5 inventory the following questions-
Set up a Project.
What information are you looking for when the counts are happening?
How do you manage Devices?
What is the Post count project like?
What are your deliverables in the end?
What about the existing PM the irks you and the clients?
Explain how the project ends?
Click here to view Interviews findings in details- USER INTERVIEWS
Insights
Ideation
After the initial round of ideation, about 2-3 weeks, the design went through multiple rounds of iteration. In the span of 9 months, dashboard design was paused to introduce new features like video count processes, introduction of new roles, like remote counters, video tools, data mapping. The Dashboards went through multiple rounds of changes to accommodate all such additions. below is the image showing a small glimpse of the same.
Final Design
The design is broken down into multiple phases,
Prototype 1 : Create a New Project : This allows the user to create a new project, define the parameters like, project start/ end date, adding a comparison projects for in-depth analysis, choosing specific locations to run the project and so on.
The new design has made it easier to carve out the most important details upfront for the smooth running of the project.
Prototype 2 : Project Settings : Once the project is created, if the user wants to make any changes to the settings they may do so here. there are additional features like closing / deleting the entire project or if the user sees lag in data updates, thy may RE-run valuations to update to real time. Features like such were designed to eliminate the need to revert to backend team to re-run project if some glitch happens.
Prototype 3 : Financial Dashboard : This is the first dashboard the a user would see once they open the project. Mainly aimed at the facility and department heads to get a wholesome picture of the inventory in the system. this dashboard talk about metrics like, total inventory dollar value (for the project and specific facilities), non priced items, count accuracy, hours spent on counter (a cost to run the project).
All this data helps our user make future financial predictions and help plan next round of inventory.
Prototype 4 : Inventory Dashboard : It is the operation centric dashboard, helping Project managers to smoothly run the project. The managers get real time data on inventory counts, non priced items, high dollar items, Count speed / hr. , and much more. Helping them to allocate necessary resources to high impact locations and also control the overall cost of running the project.
Prototype 5 : Location Management: This dashboard type gives an in depth information on all location. Data like, total dollar value in a location, expired value, Owned/ consigned $ values, Inventory count, and so on. The project manager can make bulk changes to these locations that will reflect in the native app used by the counters to count.
Prototype 6 : Resource Management: this dashboard holds all counter performance metrics, like count accuracy by each counter, total counts in an hour, No. of hours/ days worked by each counter, no. of location counted and so on. The manages can take prompt decisions if the find any counter deviation from the desired count metric type.
Retrospection
The main goal of this redesign was to provide clear insights, improve functionality, and streamline workflows through an enhanced user interface and experience. We achieved these objectives by involving users and customer support teams early in the research phase, which allowed us to implement interactive charts and advanced filter options for better data insights.
However, the project presented significant challenges, particularly when the company shifted from manual counts to a video-based offsite count process, drastically altering the dashboard requirements. This change necessitated the integration of video libraries, in-dashboard auditing capabilities, remote counter experiences, and additional performance metrics. Additionally, we had to cater to different audiences—CEOs, Department Heads, Operations teams, and Human Resources—by creating four distinct dashboard types that displayed key metrics without overwhelming users with data.
A major learning from this process was the importance of data scalability. As the business underwent significant changes, it became clear that both user and business needs evolve, and the dashboards must adapt accordingly. Looking ahead, we plan to introduce sub-dashboards, particularly for video management, a critical function in the count process that is currently handled separately. We also aim to add customization options, enabling users to monitor the most relevant data, and to introduce enhanced notification and messaging features for timely alerts on critical functions.