Aurra Crystal Studio B2B Wholesale Inventory Management & Operations Platform
Desktop App | End-to-End UX Design | UI Design | Design System | UX Strategies | New Feature Development | Content Design | Problem-solving | Iconography | Prototyping
This project is a B2B wholesale inventory management and operations platform built for the people who keep things running smoothly, like admins, customer service staff, and managers.Before this platform, running a wholesale business meant relying on spreadsheets. Admins had to enter orders in one Excel file, check inventory in another, and constantly switch between files. The aim was simple: combine all these tasks into one system. Now, inventory management, order processing, customer records, payment tracking, and reporting are all in one place, connected and easy to see.
Project Goals
Give admins one platform to manage everything, so they can work efficently without switching between tools.
Build trust with wholesale buyers through transparency and smoother workflows.
Help admins make better decisions with the right insights, so they can plan ahead instead of reacting.
Approach
01.
Understand & Research
02.
Define
03.
Design solution
04.
Validate
MY ROLE
UX Designer | Product Designer | UX Researcher
Timeline
1 Year
Cross-functional collaboration
PM&BA | Engineering
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Wholesale admins handle a lot each day, from orders and inventory to customer contacts, invoices, and fulfillment. But all this information is scattered across different places. Without a single system, they have to juggle several tools, check details by hand, and keep track of everything in their heads. This means the team spends more time managing their tools than running the business, and mistakes often surface only after it’s too late.
DESIGN CHALLENGE
How might we create a single platform that lets wholesale admins see everything they need, make daily tasks easier, and spot mistakes early? This way, the team cann feel confident and stay ahead, rather than always trying to catch up.
DESIGN SOLUTION
We aim to design a platform that moves admins from chaos to clarity, and finally to control. Giving them one place to see everything, at without friction, and stay ahead of what's coming.
Before starting my research, I wanted to understand how admin users currently manage wholesale operations end-to-end and how to make their days more efficient.
To explore that, I framed my research around 4 key questions:
What does "Working efficiently" mean to an admin? How do admins define a successful day? And what would a better platform need to do to meaningfully improve their work?
Where do things break down or slow down? Which part of managing wholesale operations cause the most friction, errors, or time loss?
What tools are currently being use, and why? What kind of tools, spreadsheets, or manual processes do admins reply on everyday? And what gaps are they working around?
What information do admins need to make fast decision? What kind of data do admins need at a glance to act confidently?
Competitor analysis
I'm conducting a competitor analysis to identify which design patterns and features are commonly used across B2B wholesale platforms, understand the gaps and frustrations admins face today, and find clear opportunities to design an admin portal that is more unified, intuitive, and admin-friendly.
I’m analyzing 3 existing apps listed below. Because they share some of the same goals as our app.
Faire is effective at managing buyer relationships, but its marketplace rules limit admin flexibility and control.
Shopify B2B supports both DTC and wholesale businesses, offering strong pricing and order management, but its inventory features are weaker, and many advanced functions require developer support.
Cin7 is feature-rich for warehouse and operations teams, but its complex and fragmented interface creates a steep learning curve.
All three platforms share a core issue: buyer information, order history, communication records, and inventory data are stored separately, requiring admins to manually compile a complete view. Additionally, many features need technical expertise to configure, further restricting admin control.
No current platform provides wholesale admins with the autonomy, visibility, and simplicity to manage all tasks in one place.
Interviews & Mapping
After completing the competitor analysis, I had a clearer picture of what current platforms do well and where they fall short.
However, understanding the tools was only the first step. To gain deeper insight into users’ needs, I conducted user interviews with wholesale admins to understand how they handle daily tasks, what frustrates them most, and what could make their work easier.
Later on, I created an affinity map to brainstorming and analysis all the findings based on our user interview responses.
Every cluster pointed to the same feeling:Users felt judged. Users felt ashamed.
Where we need to Improve:
1
Low-Energy Friction
Too much effort at the worst moment.
2
Unsafe Onboarding
Sensitive questions before trust is built
3
Shame & Guilt Mechanics
Streaks and scores that punish instead of support
4
Tracking & Data Reliability Issues
No space for "I don't know" and multiple moods
5
Context-aware Compassion
Users need flexibility, not pressure
6
Crisis Support
Critical moments the app couldn't recognize
Results
After organizing all the interview datas into an affinity mapping, clear patterns emerged that directly affected our design decisions. This research process revealed not only what frustrates users, but also why apps fail at the critical moments people need them most.
Key Findings:
Apps don’t work when people are actually need help, there’s too many steps for them to do
Judgmental tracking metrics make people feel worse at the exact moment they ask for help
Heavy text readings， too many steps and options makes people want to abandon the apps
Onboarding questions and gamification harm users when they’re most vulnerable
There’s too much emotions for BP1 patients, they don’t know which mood to log in
This research revelaed something crucial:
App abandonment isn't motivation problem, it's a design accessibility problem.
Persona
To better guide our design and make informed decision, I created two personas that represent our primaryuser groups. These personas capturing their goals, behaviors, needs, pain points and motivation to keepthe product experience user-centered throughout the project.
User mental state map
Because our users are emotionally sensitive, I created a User Mental State Map to better understand their thoughts and feelings across the entire journey. This map captures key actions, emotions, and pain points at each stage, helping us identify real struggles and emotional triggers, and enabling design decisions that are more empathetic, frictionless, and grounded in real behavior
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