Retention form initiates return requests so broken parts could be shipped by dealer to the quality engineering center for quality analysis.
Unified Data Entry
The old way was to use different applications to document information from different phases, so the information is fragmented, manual, siloed (think of endless emails and fax printout). So I gathered and organized all necessary information required to be documented in each process, so a unified data entry could be created in the backend so users don't need to fill unnecessary text fields or constantly making calls to other stakeholders.
Form Layout
In low fidelity stage, the design was to divide the form into multiple pages for users to click through so it is less overwhelming. However, the pre-built solution (think of Salesforce) does not support such capability. For the sake of implementation effort, I ended up moving forward with this one page form.
Content Hierarchy and Arrangement
Therefore, in the form design, much effort and discussion were made about the content prioritization and layout. With proper groupings of information, required fields were put first and then optional fields in the middle, while shipping info bookended this form.
Multi-language Support
This application will be translated to other languages like Chinese so vertically stacked style were used on all input components like dropdown or textfields, aka header label is placed above the input field. In this way, when language changed, the variance of header label length will not impact the overall layout.
Dealer End shows all return requests assigned to a specific dealer, and all other operations and tracking info related to parts return.
User-centered Experience
When dealers prepares the shipment going out from the dealer shop, they want to combine parts requested by different retention requests but sharing same shipping method into one shipping box, which also meets the business needs. So in the return request page, I added a primary shipping method filter tab so in one look user can tell the how many returns they have for each shipping method and be able to quickly take actions.
Assistance Non-frequent User
Staff in dealer shop changes frequently, so tooltips and user guides were included to clarify on the instruction and concept clarification.
Horizontal navigation header was also adopted because it straightforwardly shows all accessible pages. This is also approved by users during testing.
Balance Business Value and User Needs
My client wanted this Decline button to be more subtle to avoid the tendency of dealers being actively declining return requests. Meanwhile, dealer want decline to show on every row so they can easily access when needed though it's not a frequent action. It was after a discussion of designer, client, and dealers, the design went with dealer(user's) preference after my client made compromise.
This side of application helps floor staff, using a scanner, to register received parts and bin registered parts.
Less Click
The labor union wants the application to have less repetitive clicks to protect workers. So I decided to avoid using any mouse when user is on the happy path, which means every scanning will register the received parts in success state. User only needs to use mouse to click on the screen when any exception happens, like parts missing or wrong part sent.
Visual Confirmation
Information like shipping info will show after scanning the shipping label, so user can check and confirm. Though a success feedback will show, this interaction is included for user's peace of mind.
Pictures of parts also shows in the list so user can double check if the part is right after scanning.
