CafeRynok
Product Inventory Management System / Task Management / Android App
My role
Timeline
Team size
Link
Product
Minimarket product inventory is an Android app designed to simplify and organize accounting and inventory processes for a mini-market grocery chain. ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) or Inventory Management System (IMS). It is used to record, track, and manage the inventory of goods in real-time.
USers
The target audience was employees of the minimarket chain, so I always had access to them to involve them in surveys, interviews, workshops, and testing.
Context
I joined the project at the idea stage and contributed to the development from the ground up. As the sole designer, I collaborated closely with the manager and developers. Having direct access to employees allowed me to conduct extensive research, ensuring user-centric design decisions.
activities
- Business Model Canvas
- Service Blueprint
- Surveys & Interviews
- CJM Workshop
- Thinking Hats Workshop
- Usability Testing
Problem
The absence of an organized inventory tool led to confusion and inefficiency. Tracking deliveries and inventory became difficult, causing errors in updating and accessing stock data. Employees lacked a unified system for quickly adding and retrieving product information.
Solution
Developed an app for quick goods accounting, simplifying delivery tracking and expiration date management. Added produce code scanning for easy info search and updates. Implemented notifications for low-stock and soon-to-expire items. Introduced a task tracker to monitor daily duties.
Main Functional
Login
Considering employee rotation among different stores and that each location has its own goods database and required daily duties, it was necessary to introduce the login system allowing employees to enter the system by choosing their location and scanning the QR code from the staff ID.
Home screen & scanner
As the result of research & user testing the home screen contains the app’s main function options.
The main purpose of the app is to access information about goods (ex. expiration dates, units left in stock, etc.) through a quick code scan to introduce timely discounts and re-stock the necessary produce.
Tasks
Designed the task section which provides every employee with their personalized duties & the area of responsibility within the store.
The track system allows monitoring the time of task completion to boost employee productivity and provide management with an average required time to complete certain duties.
The track system contributes to easy calculation of the acceptable workflow per shift to ensure the store’s success while avoiding overwhelming the employees.
Notifications
The system informs of the expired produce to be removed from the shelves as well as soon-to-be expired goods to be discounted.
Additionally, the notifications remind employees to conduct the inventory of essential sections and place the order for goods that require restoking.
Supply
The supply section allows quick inspection of delivered goods.
To reduce manual checks & labor, the system allows to scan the product code and insert the number of delivered goods for the system to notify whether the delivery was executed accordingly to the original order.
Inventory
The system allows quick inspection of available products as well as ordering the goods that require to be restocked
Critical Terms & New Prices
The system works to notify of soon-to-be expired produce with reoccurring reminders a month/week/few days before the expiration date.
Crucial for foods like pre-cooked meals, fruits, vegetables, etc. to review the price and promote on sale
The category helps monitor the store's current prices to understand the net cost of discounted goods.
Write-off
Allows to write-off produce due to the list of most common reasons, such as:
- Expired/defect
- Compliment on the house
- Inventory/shortage
- Employee lunch
- Trial preparation of cooked produce
In Development
- Planogram - the system was created to develop the most effective display of goods on the shelf. Planogram was designed based on goods’ marginality, popularity, expiry dates, seasonality, supplier efficiency, etc.
- Price monitoring - provides insights and statistics on the in-house prices vs competitors’ prices.
- Feedback - designed to allow the employees to briefly share their challenges, successes, and suggestion at the end of the shift
- Sold - the system allows accessing the information about the most sold goods over a certain period to provide predictions & simplify the planning of upcoming orders.
Work Process
To ensure the system truly met the needs of employees—who were also the primary users—I actively involved them throughout the design and development process. Each activity helped shape the final product by uncovering pain points, validating ideas, and refining solutions.
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Business Model Canvas
Helped define key business processes, stakeholders, and value propositions, ensuring the system aligned with both operational and business goals.
Service Blueprint
Mapped out every touchpoint employees had with the system, revealing pain points in their workflow and identifying opportunities for automation and efficiency improvements.
Surveys & Interviews
Conducted directly with store employees and managers, these provided firsthand insights into daily challenges, enabling data-driven design decisions.
CJM Workshop
By visualizing the employee journey, we pinpointed bottlenecks and frustration points, allowing for a more seamless user experience.
Thinking Hats
Applied this method in brainstorming sessions with employees to explore different perspectives, uncover hidden usability issues, and refine the feature set.
Usability Testing
Conducted with actual store employees, initially using interactive prototypes and later testing on the live product. This approach helped identify critical usability flaws early on, leading to design iterations that significantly improved navigation and workflow efficiency.
Usability Testing Insights
Problem
The initial app version relied on a hamburger menu for key navigation, which usability testing revealed to be unintuitive and inefficient for users.
Solution
A redesigned version was implemented, featuring critical options directly on the main screen to enhance accessibility and improve the user experience.
Problem
The system did not support automatic data synchronization, leading to inconsistencies between the information available to managers and employees.
Solution
An update button was introduced, allowing employees to sync data from the in-store application, ensuring managers working with spreadsheets on desktops have the latest information for deliveries and operations.
Main challenges
ERP & IMS
Working with ERP and IMS solutions, I dedicated significant time to researching and adapting general inventory management principles to fit the specific needs of a minimarket chain. This involved not just understanding the technical side but also aligning it with real-world workflows, employee behaviors, and operational constraints.
* IMS (Inventory Management System)
* ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning)
Data Accuracy & Synchronization
One of the biggest challenges was ensuring real-time data accuracy across multiple locations. Throughout the process, I encountered and addressed:
- Real-time synchronization issues – discrepancies between the database and actual stock levels, especially when stores operated on different update cycles.
- Manual entry errors – the human factor played a huge role, requiring UX improvements to minimize mistakes.
- Duplicate or missing records – when multiple users updated inventory simultaneously, leading to inconsistencies. Implementing a more structured update system helped mitigate these issues.
User Roles & Access Control
Defining clear user roles was crucial to maintaining data integrity while ensuring employees had the right level of access:
Role-based permissions – managers could modify records, while store employees had read-only access to prevent accidental data corruption.
Audit logging – implemented detailed tracking of changes (who, when, and what was updated) to maintain accountability and transparency.
Automation & Smart Notifications
To enhance efficiency and reduce manual workload, I worked on implementing:
Automated stock updates – reducing reliance on manual entry and improving inventory accuracy.
Low stock alerts – ensuring key products were always available by notifying managers before shortages occurred.
Demand forecasting – integrating analytics to help optimize procurement based on sales trends and historical data.
Selected projects
I've gained valuable experience in both B2B and B2C environments, with a focus on industries like SaaS, E-commerce, Fintech, and Marketing.
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