Initial Ideas:

I composed a few digital wireframes using Figma and Filemaker to begin experimenting with how the data tables should be connected. The relationships between the tables would be the crucial pathways between the departments. Through my user and company research, I learned that Melville Candy's business model relied heavily on suppliers and inventory so those tables became the starting point of the process chain. I  determined that the ERP would utilize primary keys to connect the data between the tables, and those keys would be auto-generated by the database to replace previous man-made product ids. Past ids would be archived and used for reference only. The primary keys would be created when a product was connected with a client, and once the primary key was assigned, it would be used as a sku# for the client's custom instance of that product.

Custom Product Creation:

I designed the first user workflow targeting the Sales and R&D departments. Through my research, I determined that these 2 departments needed to work in unison to create custom products. Sales would receive requests directly from clients and would then deliver them to R&D. Whether the client was requesting a customization of a stock product, or a totally new product design, R&D would then turn the request into a new custom sku for that particular client, and record all of the product data in that new sku record. R&D would then create a list of the skus in a quote for the sales department. Sales would then access the same quote to add pricing and other client data. Once the quote was completed, it could be used to generate instructions and sample lists to give to the production staff. The Production staff would then use the instructions and lists to create the first sample run of the product, that would be reviewed by R&D, then shipped out to the client for their final approval. Colors were assigned to steps of the process to flag what stage each product was currently in. Red signified a new product that had not been approved yet. Purple signified that R&D had previously created a template of the product and it needed minimal customization.

Product Re-Orders and Final Release:

My research revealed that one of the most common scenarios that production would encounter was the "re-order". They needed a way to reference past orders and product data. I trained the production staff to look up products using their new sku# and review the recorded specification that was linked to that number. They were then instructed to follow the past order specifications unless the product had been flagged for changes by another department. Initial testing showed this method proved very successful in reducing the time production had to spend on collecting order data each day. It allowed the production manager, purchasing, and inventory managers to all plan for orders much more efficiently. It also made it possible for R&D to create product specifications and recipes in advance, instead of waiting for an order to trigger the process.

Organizing the Design:

With the initial design started, I began work on the information architecture. I used the App’s sitemap to guide the organizational structure of each screen’s design to ensure a cohesive and consistent experience. I made sure to consider the users journey when constructing the sitemap. My research suggested that most users would prefer to use a linear step-by-step process for each department, so I structured the site around that option.

Planning the Design:

After ideating and drafting some paper wireframes, I created the initial digital designs for the product records. These designs focused on guiding users through the product creation steps. It was essential to have a field to enter the data for each part used in the creation of the product. Each user would record the product data. Creating the record would automatically create the sequential sku# and add the date modified and the account details for the user that created the record.

Connecting the Design:

Using the completed set of digital wireframes, I created a low-fidelity prototype. The primary user flow I connected was creating a product record then creating a quote and and adding it to an order, so the prototype could be employed in a usability study.

Developing the Design:

I conducted user research to find icons that would make it easy for users to navigate to the appropriate departments from the home page of the database. I also included text labels to ensure there would be no confusion as to what button led where.

Refining the Design:

My initial designs were based on user interviews and focused on collecting and recording as much product data as possible. As I conducted more research, I modified the prototype to break up the product record into several related data tables, to prevent the user from having to enter redundant data.

Optimizing the Design:

I eventually built the product list to just be a superficial shell that housed only related data. Clicking on the arrow on the product list layout opens the product full build layout. The recipe, packaging, and inventory tables were all linked to the product build layout, and their subsequent data could be viewed from each related record. 

Improving the Design:

One of the main goals of the ERP was to replace the outdated and inadequate system that was being used. Below on the left is an example of the production slip that was traditionally given to the production staff. There were no images, and not enough fields to properly deliver all of the necessary data. The example below on the right is the final refined production slip design that proved successful in making order processing much more efficient.