Passing the screen test

RESPONSIBLE FOR the new generation of user interfaces with my team at Witron, I spoke with Franziska Müller from Migros Verteilbetrieb Neuendorf AG, a leading Swiss food retailer. She said: “Simple screens as we know them from apps would be good for many users. They would help us define simple operating steps that can be learned quickly.” 

The message got through to our experts in Parkstein. Our priorities used to be more on other areas such as the function of our systems. But as already mentioned before: the balance in the solution must be right. That is why we pursue the topics of usability, user experience, and connectivity with just as much passion for innovation as the core factors. In 2021, Franziska Müller and her colleagues will be presented with several new developments from Witron. 

In the past, WMS developers at Witron were responsible for the design of the user interfaces, which was definitely evident in the complexity of some dialogues. Today, employees from the process management take care of this, who are deliberately no technicians. The development of function and design was actively separated from each other.

We are simplifying interfaces, focusing on processes, and on the user. Because the customers’ employees have also changed. On the one hand, we are dealing less with tech-savvy people and, at the same time, with a generation that is growing up with smart phones. They demand that the picking app runs basically the same way as the weather app. But still, more important than chasing trends is that the development works and benefits the user.

Before developing dialogues, our team are frequently on site at logistics centres, observing users, their behaviour, talking to them about their needs, and analysing habits. After all, the user should click as little as possible to fill a shipping tote with goods. In Parkstein, the developers then model the processes and design the first click dummies, which they take back to the users to test for practical feasibility together with them. 

Can the success of a user interface be measured? The customer demands change because the processes must not be complex and training new employees should be quick and easy. In the past, this was hard to measure, but now we use tools that can analyse how well employees can work with the interface. We save time, create high acceptance, and process reliability. User interfaces can create a positive work and machine feeling. This is an argument for both the efficiency of a system and the competition for specialists.

Good user interfaces are now an important decision criterion in project negotiations. Customers want a highly available system. Equally important are leading-edge workstations. Therefore, if we can also present state-of-the-art interfaces in negotiations, many customers will immediately verify whether the designs fit their individual requirements.

But not every customer implements a logistics centre with the same supplier. Do we therefore need standards for user interfaces to allow employees to switch flexibly from a frozen goods warehouse of supplier A to a dry goods warehouse of supplier B in the future? There is no standard, but there are initial voluntary approaches. Material design is a guideline that we have internalised. And many other manufacturers use it as well. That means: Menu icons no longer differ from each other. But too much standard would not make sense from his point of view either; after all, usability and UX are competitive factors. 

We think modularly in our interfaces. The logistics manager needs different visualisations and operations than the person responsible for the control centre or the picker – and yet the interface must be all in one piece. Then, in principle, we could also react quickly and flexibly to technical trends such as gesture controls or voice requirements.

Dominik Simbeck, head of the Competence Centre – Basic Project Support at Witron

For more information, visit www.witron.com