Flowhub
Retail Management UI Design
Flowhub's software is used by retailers large and small, with apps that touch nearly every aspect of their business.
The legalization of cannabis in many states gave rise to a new and unique retail industry. Traditional POS software lacks crucial functionality for operating within states' legal requirements. That's where Flowhub comes in.
Flowhub's POS was a success out of the gate but had scalability issues. As long as it was in need of a major refactor, the organization wished to take this opportunity to improve the user experience for their customers' retail staff.
Process Highlights
Defining the Problem Space
Using methods of contextual inquiry, established a baseline of user happiness and frustration with the current platform.
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On-site observation
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Remote user interviews
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Interviews with subject matter experts
Collaborative Research Synthesis
Gathering and making sense of user insights involved everyone: designers, product managers, engineers, and stakeholders.
Major Findings:
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Fragmented app structure inflated click counts and screen changes for every transaction
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Visual hiearchy failed to emphasize key actions and data
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Non-responsive layouts kept retail staff tethered to the counter
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No support for online order fulfillment
Rapid Iteration and Testing
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Approached workflows mobile-first to ensure modular, responsive layouts.
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Quickie wireframes kept us from falling in love with ideas prematurely.
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Concepts were tested regularly with users to see what worked and what didn't. Design fidelity increased as we became more confident in the UI patterns we established.
Initial Release Outcomes
Initial feedback indicated the product was headed in a promising direction...
Our shop's sales continue to grow 24% month over month
It was easy for our staff to learn, and the user experience is wonderful
But... it became immediately apparent there was still much room for improvement.
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Feature parity with the legacy platform proved a significant barrier to adoption, and a challenge for roadmap prioritization.
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Retail staff still felt tethered to the counter – a tablet experience was available, but layout responsiveness still wasn't quite there.
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Searching inventory proved clumsy in ways we hadn't accounted for in user testing.
Opportunities for the Future
Enabling sales from anywhere with a truly mobile checkout experience.
A major need for supporting delivery sales.
While improving search, embracing a visual hierarchy driven by customer insights.
Empower the budtender with data-driven recommendations from their customer's purchase history.
