The challenges for companies posed by digitisation and automation are significant. Automated small parts warehouses, driverless transport systems, cloud software, business intelligence and continuous improvement of logistical processes are now part of everyday life.
But it is particularly with such high levels of investment, that user-friendliness and user interfaces are often neglected. The knock-on effects are low acceptance by employees and falling productivity, escalating training costs and a heightened level of queries to Support.
In its Warehouse Management System, MIA Systems pays particular attention to the user experience (UX) with engaging user interfaces (UI). The user is the centre of attention. This results in transparent design and a clear and logical navigation structure that is intuitive to use. Employees are guided through the processes step by step, leading to greater productivity and consequent savings in time and costs.
Clear presentation of complex issues
When it comes to presenting facts, that on occasion can be very complex, our goal is to make it simple, clear and understandable. Alongside business functionality and capability, we believe it is a core responsibility of our technical designers to ensure thorough analysis of operational processes. “Nice-to-have” has been consigned to history.
In the modern business environment, users have also become accustomed to, and expect, slick, fast and fluent applications. The primary task, therefore, of the design team is to carefully study warehouse operations and accordingly design an application that delivers the greatest level of user experience.
Through our many years of hands-on experience and the accumulated know-how of our employees, we are intimately familiar with the needs of our customers across many sectors, from automotive to medicine, and food to industry.
The MIA product platform enables visualisation of processes that are precisely analysed using the most optimum end device. A full range of devices, from large to small, are supported. The MIA Monitor application allows visualisation of key figures and KPIs on a large screen, directly at the point of work. MIA Mobile is the mobile version provided for warehouse employees, who are equipped with a scanner and handheld device. MIA Touch is the interactive touchscreen for stationary workplaces, while MIA Cockpit is the web-based application for control and analysis of processes via a control centre.
Agile approaches and design conception to achieve the desired goal
Agile approaches provide the ideal complement to our methodology. Scrum is the methodology we use at MIA. It ensures that focus is maintained on the core essentials during implementation, while at the same time permitting quick reaction to changes.
The Product Owner, i.e. the allocated expert for the processes, defines the user stories in collaboration with the team. These form the specification for the desired goal, the acceptance criteria and the definitions for testing.
This frees up the UX/UI team to then focus attention on factors that make the feature user-friendly. During this concept development phase, detailed interactive prototypes are readily available to the customer and the development team.
The development team implements the requirements in short sprints of 3 weeks and QA carries out the rollout immediately after the sprints, with executable and tested partial results being available to the user during the entire project period.
Fail early, move forward quickly. The Design Approach at MIA.
The focus of attention during implementation is always on the user and the real primary goal.
By engaging the UX/UI design team through our proven approach to product development, we lay the foundation for an advanced and scalable software solution in intralogistics, which will not just empower your future: It will make it exciting!
