The Charity

An Inventory Management system for the seraj societ

To address the challenges faced by a non-profit organization-The Seraj Society, the system aims to improve inventory management by enabling the director to efficiently organize, track, and record donations. By doing so, we hope to reduce the director of the charity organization's workload and improve the overall operational efficiency.

Project Type: UX Research & Design, Inventory Management System

Duration: 10 Weeks

Role in Team: User research, prototyping, user testing, and accessibility improvements

Tools: Figma, otto, Google Docs, Microsoft Excel

The Background

The Story

The Seraj Society is a non-profit organization, committed to supporting refugees by providing essential supplies such as clothing, furniture, and household items. However, due to the absence of a digital tracking system, donations often pile up in disorganized stacks, making it difficult for staffs and visitors to find items. Also, the reliance on director’s manual record-keeping, using notebooks, make the problem even worse. Manual record stops effective information sharing as well as tracking the donation and visitors coming history.

Why did The charity project inspire us?

When we first met with the Seraj Society, we are so welcomed by the director there. During our observation, we found the overwhelming workload shouldered by the director, who not only manages the inventory but also handles other choses including but not limited to donor organization, and refugee reception. Her dedication to helping others, despite limited resources, deeply resonated with our team.

We were deeply moved by the mission and goals of the Seraj Society. However, existing management challenges are limiting their impact. This inspired us to design a simple and user-friendly inventory management system to help the organization improve efficiency, reduce administrative burdens, and better focus on serving the community.

Challenges

How can we design a simple and smartphone-friendly inventory management system to improve the organization, tracking, and sharing of information for The Seraj Society, while addressing its current resource limitations?

Lack of Digital Tools

The director is unfamiliar with digital devices (except for cellphones) other than notebooks, making manual record-keeping the only option.

Bad Information Sharing

Due to the absence of an information-sharing mechanism, only the director is aware of inventory and pricing details. thus, the director has to be there 24/7.

Disorganized Inventory

Donated items are not categorized, and the storage area lacks clear labels, making it really hard to locate items.

Safety Risks

Some storage shelves have deformed over time due to heavy loads, posing potential safety hazards

THE Research

  • GOING THROUGH THE TARGET USER, THE METHDOLOGY, AND THE KEY FINDINGS

  • DECIDE THE CORE PROBLEM AND THE SECONDARY PROBLEMS

User research insights

  • The director of The Charity, an Iraqi woman who is resistant to most digital technologies except smartphones

    • Conducted on-site observations of inventory rooms.

    • Interviewed the director to understand her challenges and expectations.

    • Used qualitative analysis methods, including empathy mapping

METODOLOGY NO.1 : on-site observations of inventory rooms

Current Challenges

Manual Record-Keeping:

Handwritten recording, on the notebook, leading to diffcult item-tracking.

Lack of Digital Knowledge:

The director’s non-tech savvniess required the smart-phone compatiable app instead of a laptop one.

Information Syncing Issues:

There is no effective mechanism for sharing inventory information among the director and the volunteers

Disorganized Inventory:

Donations, including clothes, furniture, and household items, are stored in a messy and unorganized manner.

  • ENTRANCE

  • THE FURNITURE ROOM

  • THE CHILDREN ROOM

  • THE CHILDREN ROOM

  • THE "EXPENSIVE" ROOM

  • THE "EXPENSIVE" ROOM

  • THE "EXPENSIVE" ROOM

  • THE HALLWAY

  • THE HALLWAY

  • THE MAJOR INVENTORY ROOM

  • THE MAJOR INVENTORY ROOM

  • THE MAJOR INVENTORY SPACE

  • THE MAJOR INVENTORY SPACE

  • THE MAJOR INVENTORY SPACE

  • THE MAJOR INVENTORY SPACE

  • THE MAJOR INVENTORY SPACE

  • THE MAJORE INVENTORY SPACE

METODOLOGY NO.2 : the interview with the community director and volunteers

Director & Volunteers’ Needs and Pain Points

Overwhelming Workload:

  • Tedious work for the director only

  • Limited time and resources

Dependence on the Director:

  • Director:  knows all the details of the inventory, such as item prices, availability, and locations. 
  • Volunteers:  lack of information, cannot operate independently without her guidance

Need for a Tracking System:

  • A simple and efficient system is required to track the location, quantity, and condition of items in stock, as well as the refugees' visit history.

Language Barrier:

  • The director is more comfortable with Arabic than English. This emphasizes the need for bilingual features in any proposed solution

THE PROBLEM DEFINITION

We created a comic strip to illustrate a situation frequently encountered by the director. The director struggles to communicate with volunteers, leading to situations where some refugees repeatedly collect items over a few days without the volunteers knowing. This lack of communication creates challenges for effective management. Based on this comic, along with field observations, interviews, and the user empathy map, we identified the core problem and outlined the secondary issues.

THE CORE PROBLEM

  • Lack of a non-tech-savvy inventory management system to track, organize, and record items efficiently

SECONDARY PROBLEMS

  • Over-reliance on the director for inventory knowledge.

  • Inefficiency in locating items.

  • Limited information sharing among staff

IDEATION

  • Generate creative ideas to solve the challenges faced by The Charity

  • Visualize the ideas generated during brainstorming.

  • TO SOLVED THE CORE PROBLEMS

BRAINSTORM

We used brainstorming and mind mapping to identify potential solutions for a non-tech-savvy inventory management system. The process helped us explore various aspects, including recording, tracking, organizing donations, and enhancing user experience.

Sketch & SELECTED FUNCTIONS

SKECTCH

We created the sketch during the brainstorming phase are visual representations of the ideas we developed. These rough layouts were designed to simulate the prototype's core functionalities, such as donation uploads, customer tracking, and inventory search.

selected functions

Upload Items

Search Items

Add/ Search Customers

Customers Tracking

Prototype

  • using Figma to provide a realistic representation of the final product

  • selected the key features and explain more details about it

high0fidelity prototype

Figma Link Provided: https://www.figma.com/proto/vBQaBlFXS8gb10SDklauTJ/The-Charity?page-id=0%3A1&node-id=116-2&starting-point-node-id=116%3A2&t=OyIWeFrB4cLvBxfa-1

upload items

key screenshot

Step 1: login (setup a new account or just sign in)

Step 2: click upload item.

Step 3: the button will navigate you to a new page, click place item.

Step4: then you add a new item sucessfully, you can either see the item details or back home

add new customers

Step 1: Access the "Add Customer" section from the homepage.

Step 2: Input customer information, including name, contact number, financial status, and family details.

Step 3: Review the entered details and click the "Save" button.

Outcome: A success message confirms that the customer profile has been created, with an option to view the profile or return to the homepage.

search items

Step 1: Search for an item in the inventory using the search bar.

Step 2: Select an item from the results to view its details.

Details Shown: Name, category, condition, size, and availability status (e.g., "In Stock" or "Out of Stock")

Outcome: Enables staff to quickly check item information or prepare for distribution

Track customers

Step 1: Search for a customer using the search bar on the "Search Customer" page

Step 2: Select a customer from the results to view their profile, including their item-receving history.

user testing

We conducted a Think Aloud Test with key stakeholders, including the Seraj Society's director and volunteers, to evaluate the usability of our high-fidelity prototype. The goal was to identify potential improvements and ensure that the design addresses the specific needs of the organization.

testing Process

Key Findings

Easy Of Use

Both the director and the volunteer found the app intuitive and easy to navigate, confirming the non-tech-savvy design meets the usability goals

Family and Financial Information Separation

The volunteer suggested separating the family and financial situation sections in customer profiles for better clarity

Additional Features Request

The director requested an exchange/return function and size and condition fields to improve item tracking, especially for clothing donations

INACCURATE ARABIC TRANSLATION

The director noted that the “Give away” button was mistranslated as somthing else in Arabic. Correcting this will improve clarity for Arabic-speaking users.

“It’s effective overall, it’s helpful, I love this app”

Volunteer I.

“Although some arabic translation is weird. it’s good, it’s super easy to use”

Director S.