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Matching the shelf, not the schema: Opla Fulfilment

Warehouse operations designed around the physical movement rather than the database structure.

Opla Fulfilment — SaaS
Role
UX/UI Designer
Timeline
2021
Team
Warehouse ops, engineering
The challenge

Warehouse software is usually a direct rendering of the database.

The interface matches how data is stored rather than how work is done, so staff translate between the screen and the shelf on every single task.

That translation is where the errors come from.

Opportunity

Model the process, not the tables

Receiving, putaway, picking and dispatch are different jobs. They should be different modes, not filtered views of one list.

The solution

Task modes that follow the physical process.

Each stage of the work gets an interface shaped for that stage, with scanning as the primary input.

Design decision

Modes, not views

Four jobs, four interfaces.

Each mode shows only what that stage of work needs, which removes the constant filtering that made the previous system slow.

Design decision

Scan first, type as fallback

The keyboard is the exception.

Input was designed around the scanner because that is what is in the operator's hand, with typing available for the cases scanning cannot cover.

Outcome

The interface follows the order the work happens in.

Reducing the mental translation between screen and floor was worth more than any feature added in the same period.