Work/SEMA Cycle CountsAssociate app · Huge · 2014

Taking the weekly count off the clipboard

Every Lowe’s store counted part of its inventory each week on paper worksheets. At Huge we designed the counting, mapping and approval flows that moved the job into SEMA, the app already on the store’s iPhones.

Five SEMA cycle count screens on a dark background: the weekly count list, an item flagged for counting, the count keypad, the count map and the manager's weekly review
Client
Lowe’s
Agency
Huge, Atlanta
Role
Senior Interaction Designer
Year
2014
Scope
Associate counting flows and manager review flows for SEMA on iPhone
01The brief

A cycle count is a store checking a slice of its shelves against what the system thinks is there. At Lowe’s it ran on a paper template.

An associate wrote the counts down and handed the sheet to a manager, who adjusted the inventory. The list of what to count was a fixed matrix, the same for every store, and nobody could see from outside whether a count had been done.

Lowe’s asked Huge to put the count into SEMA, the associate app already on the iPhones stores carried: tell associates when and what to count, let them count in the aisle, and route the result to a manager for approval. Success would be measured in time to complete, number of taps and the accuracy of the inventory.

02Three decisions
  1. 1

    Start the count wherever the associate already is.

    There are three ways in. The weekly count sits on the home menu. A notification announces a new count, on the lock screen too. And scanning any product for any reason says so if that product is on this week’s list, with a Count button beside it.

    SEMA home menu for an associate, with Weekly Cycle Count among the options
    Home. Weekly Cycle Count on the menu.
    iPhone lock screen with a Lowe’s notification: You have a new weekly cycle count
    Notification. A new count, announced.
    Product page for a Kobalt tool set with a banner reading This item is on your Cycle Count and a Count button
    Scan. Any scan can start a count.
  2. 2

    Count with a thumb, check with a scan.

    The list shows what is left and what is done, with a due date and a progress ring. Each item opens to a scan that confirms the associate is standing at the right product, then a keypad big enough to use one-handed. Expected, counted and difference stay in view, so a surprising number is caught in the aisle.

    Weekly Cycle Count list for the Tools department: 33 percent complete, unfinished counts above completed counts with their differences
    The list. Unfinished above, completed below with the difference in units and dollars.
    Scan to Verify Item screen with a scanning window and a UPC option
    Verify. Scan the shelf tag or the UPC.
    Edit Count keypad showing 56 entered
    Count. A keypad and a single confirm.
  3. 3

    Put the count on the store map.

    A count map pins every item on the list to its aisle and bay, so an associate can walk the list in order. Products often live in a second place, on an end cap or near the registers, and those were the units that went uncounted. A new location can be added by aisle, bay and slot number, or by dragging a pin onto the map.

    Adding locations was outside what the store systems supported at the time. We designed it anyway and showed it: on a store visit, associates named it as the fix for a major pain point.

    Count Map: a store plan with pins for each item to count and a callout reading Hardware, aisle 11, bay 2
    Count map. Every item pinned to aisle and bay.
    New Product Location screen with a keypad: Enter products aisle number, or Map it
    By number. Aisle, bay and slot.
    Map New Location: tap and drag to place a pin in the approximate location of the item
    Map It. Drag a pin to the spot.
    Map New Location confirm screen with the pin placed near the registers, a location type menu and notes
    Confirm. Name the place, add a note.
03The manager’s side

A count is finished when a manager approves it. The manager’s screens are built for that decision.

  • This week’s counts and past weeks, each with how many are done and what is waiting for approval.
  • Every count grouped by department, with who counted it and the dollar adjustment it would make.
  • A filter down to one department, and tabs for complete and incomplete.
  • Item detail with the associate’s note and reason code, and two actions: approve, or ask for a recount.
  • A heat map of the store that shows where counts are done, pending or missing.
Manager Cycle Counts screen: this week 6 of 30 counted with 6 pending approval, last week past due, earlier weeks completed
Weeks. Progress, approvals and what is past due.
Weekly Cycle Counts for a manager, grouped by department with the associate, assortment and adjustment for each count
By department. Who counted, and the adjustment.
A submitted count for Kobalt Mech Wrench Sets with each item’s adjustment and an Approve Count button
Approve. One count, item by item.
Heat Map: the store plan with colored pins for count status and a View Assortment button
Heat map. Status across the floor.
04What we designed
  • AssociateSeven flows: three ways into a count, verify and count, the count map, adding a product location, and the review before submitting
  • ManagerWeekly overview, department view and filter, item detail with approve and recount, and the store heat map
  • DeliveredAnnotated wireframes and visual design for iPhone, in rounds with Lowe’s store operations and mobile teams, summer 2014
05My role

I was the Senior Interaction Designer on the project at Huge in Atlanta. I worked on the associate and manager flows shown here, from the client’s brief and requirements through the wireframes, alongside Huge’s visual designers.