App Design
iOS stock management app
At Timely, I led the design of a new iOS stock management app built specifically for hair and beauty professionals.
The goal was simple:
Help busy salon teams manage stock quickly, accurately, and in real time—without interrupting their day-to-day work.
Timeline
Over 12 months, I worked closely with product and engineering to design and deliver a mobile-first inventory experience that improved data quality, reduced friction, and made stock management feel effortless.
Inventory management was a consistent pain point for our customers.
From research, we saw that:
Stock data was often outdated or inaccurate
Manual processes were slow and easy to forget during a busy day
Existing tools didn’t fit naturally into how salon staff actually worked
This led to poor visibility, stock shortages, and unnecessary admin overhead.
The opportunity:
Design a solution that fits into the flow of work, not something users have to stop and think about.
Product Designer
End-to-end design ownership
Led research, concepting, and interaction design
Partnered closely with product and engineering
Contributed to product strategy and rollout approac
This wasn’t a one-off design project—it was a continuous, research-led product effort.
Deep customer understanding
We invested heavily in understanding real workflows:
Customer interviews and site visits
Journey mapping and service blueprints
Jobs-to-be-Done thinking
Ongoing user testing
This helped us design around real behaviours, not assumptions.
Incremental delivery
We took an iterative approach:
Designed and shipped in small increments
Tested continuously with a beta group
Used a community of power users for rapid feedback
This allowed us to learn quickly and refine the experience in real time.
Designing for context
A key shift was designing for in-the-moment use:
Standing up
Mid-appointment
One-handed
Time-poor
Every decision came back to:
“Can this be done in seconds, without thinking?”
A mobile-first stock management app built around speed, accuracy, and ease of use.
Barcode-first experience
We centred the experience around barcode scanning to:
Reduce manual input
Improve data accuracy
Enable instant product lookup
Real-time stock updates
Users can:
Write off stock as it’s used
Add new products quickly
Keep inventory up to date throughout the day
Clear visibility
See what’s running low
Generate stock orders in minutes
Stay in control without spreadsheets or guesswork
All designed to feel lightweight, fast, and intuitive.
This work delivered meaningful improvements for both customers and the business.
Overview
Improved inventory accuracy through better data capture
Reduced friction in day-to-day stock tasks
Enabled customers to manage stock as part of their workflow, not as an extra task
Supported first-time inventory users as well as more advanced businesses
We saw strong adoption across our core audience, with customers able to manage stock more confidently and efficiently.
This work delivered meaningful improvements for both customers and the business.
Design for real behaviour, not ideal workflows
Understanding the messy reality of salon environments was critical to success.
Speed is a feature
When users are time-poor, reducing effort matters more than adding capability.
Small iterations drive big outcomes
Shipping incrementally allowed us to learn faster and build something that truly worked.
How I think about this work
This project reflects how I approach product design:
Start with deep customer understanding
Focus on solving the right problem
Design for simplicity and flow
Measure success through real impact
The result wasn’t just a new app—it was a better way for customers to run their business.