Garmin B2B SaaS Inventory Management Overhaul
Built with legacy code and no UX influence, Garmin’s DRC product was so difficult for dealers to use that many avoided it. I led the 0:1 design of this B2B SaaS inventory management product for Garmin’s global dealer retail locations to overhaul the experience. I drove cross-collaboration with multiple global teams, including architects, engineers, and product owners, conducted user research of Garmin’s dealers for direct feedback, and educated leadership about systems-first design. I delivered a highly-usable, on-brand, systems-driven experience that enabled dealers to effectively manage their inventory purchases and returns, place and track complex bulk orders of hundreds of products, and strengthen their outlook of and relationships with Garmin. My UX overhaul of the product design for Garmin’s dealers, the #2 source of revenue for Garmin, increased global sales across all of Garmin’s business verticals (Automotive, Aviation, Fitness, Marine, Outdoor, Wellness).
Early “Order History” wireframes showing default and expanded views of order line items
The Problem
The Garmin DRC product had outdated legacy code and had never been evaluated from a UX lens. The product suffered from many problems including mobile/tablet incompatibility and accessibility failures. The product used clunky tables that did not provide users a streamlined view of necessary information, causing most users to bypass the product altogether and instead rely on external Excel spreadsheets. Users could not easily identify the status of their orders, organize dates and timelines, or manage the urgent need to replace “holes in the shelves” in their inventory. Additionally, the product had no UI design, did not match any of the visual patterns or components used across other major Garmin products like Garmin.com, and did not reflect the quality and prestige of the brand. None of the visual elements were consistent or scalable and everything was developed as a one-off, making it nearly impossible to deploy improvements to the many pages of such a large, complex product.
Early wireframes showing open and recently shipped orders
The Impact
The DRC redesign increased user engagement of the product, including introducing many new users who had been avoiding using the product at all due to the severity of its issues. Mobile and tablet usage skyrocketed. This B2B SaaS product became a consistent but distinct complement to the eCommerce experience of the B2C product Garmin.com, incorporating existing visual patterns and global brand design, which strengthened users’ outlook of Garmin’s credibility. The design of the product was also directly integrated with the Design System, including iterating upon existing components and creating new ones, to enable long-term global scalability, significant efficiencies for making updates and improvements, and better utilization of team resources. This UX overhaul significantly drove sales generated by Garmin’s dealers in retail locations, directly resulting in increased revenue for the entire business across all of Garmin’s business verticals (Automotive, Aviation, Fitness, Marine, Outdoor, Wellness).
Early wireframes showing single order view and alert messages
The Process
Through multiple rounds of feedback, I provided quick design iterations in the form of wireframes, mockups, and prototypes. I conducted research to understand the dealers’ roadblocks to placing and managing their orders and inventory, and to understand the benefits of the workarounds they had invented to survive the poor experience. I enhanced existing Design System components from the Garmin.com experience to enhance, as well as created new components that fit the rules of the system but met the specific user needs and product objectives for the DRC.
Final dev-ready mockups showing default and expanded views of order line items
My Role
As Senior/Lead Product Designer, I served as the centralized UX hub for multiple global teams to drive the overhaul of this product. I delivered wireframes, mockups and prototypes of the DRC product across desktop, tablet, and mobile. I drove cross-collaboration with architects, front- and back-end developers and engineers, business analysts, and product owners. I up-skilled and educated leadership about the significance of utilizing the Design System, global scalability, accessibility-first design, and UX best practices.
Final dev-ready mockups showing open and recently shipped orders
Final dev-ready mockups showing single order view and alert messages
Design System Integration
I enhanced existing global Design System components wherever possible for this product. For the unique needs of this complex product, I also created several new components to create a fully functional experience that served this product most effectively while also complementing the traditional Garmin.com flow. Here are a few of the Design System components created or enhanced for the DRC:
List Row Component: The List Row component in the Design System was very bare bones. I enhanced it with robust and complex functionality to support the needs of the DRC project, and then updated the global Design System component to reflect this enhanced functionality so it could be used across other products.
List Row Component existing in Design System vs. List Row Component enhanced for the DRC
Form Components: I built out many variations and states of form fields to support the many forms used throughout the DRC. These form field patterns and components were then utilized for other products needing forms.
Alert Banner Component: The alert banner component was enhanced to include additional colors, icons, messages, and placement options to support the DRC’s needs.
