Data-Driven Club Management
Leveraging Data to Build a Club and Inventory Management Platform
📊 Powered by Auto-scrubber data
Overview
Sam’s Club uses autonomous floor-scrubbers with computer-vision cameras to scan aisles and log real-time product data. This data powers an interactive tool for leaders to search stores, track item conditions, and compare performance—from national trends to individual clubs.
Problem
Build a 0→1 product that converts auto‑scrubber data—now buried in a developer tool—into a clear, actionable interface for club managers and leaders.
Solution
Created a unified home hub that turns auto-scrubber data into a real-time, searchable index of every Sam’s Club. From one landing page, employees can:
Search products instantly by UPC, item number, or keyword to check stock, condition, and location.
Browse hierarchically—region → market → club—to compare stores and spot gaps.
Act on shared insights across the network, enabling faster restocks, cleaner aisles, and smoother club operations.
Role
UX, visual design
Duration
5 sprints
Tools
Miro, Figma
Team
3 designers, 1 product manager, 3 developers
Analysis
Where we started:
Designing a tool for club and corporate managers
Developer Tool
The current tool is only for developers to manage the data, but the UI isn’t still the best for any users.
Confusing UI for any new users
Lacks user-friendliness in usability on top of confusing UI
Not enough contents to guide users
Product Team’s Ask
Deliver a desktop- and mobile-friendly interface that lets any Sam’s Club employee (market manager, regional manager, club manager and home-office associate):
Input basics – choose a club, select a date, and enter an item / UPC number.
Get results instantly – surface the exact bin location of the product, or display the bin image with contextual details (aisle, section, stock level).
Search & locate – quickly confirm which club(s) carry the item and where it sits on the floor.
Design Approach
Research - Built a structure of the product, comparative research on how leading inventory-search experiences surface products and locations, then distilled guiding patterns for a search-first journey.
Alignment - Led cross-functional reviews to confirm goals, gather feedback, and verify technical feasibility.
Iterations - Sketched key flows (product cards, drill-downs, Finder-style panes) and evolved them into interactive prototypes
Research
Figuring out necessary features for MVP
Key Steps
Requirements Sweep
Collected stakeholder needs (left column of sitemap): navigation levels, searchable fields, filters, and MVP vs. Phase-2 scope.
Hierarchy Mapping
Translated Chain → Region → Market → Club → Area → Aisle → Bay → Item into the core sitemap to clarify how users drill down to a shelf.
Search & Filter Definition
Captured primary inputs (UPC, item #, location, date) and secondary filters (status, category, price) shown in yellow and cyan nodes.
Result Model Outline
Specified what each result must display—image, stock qty, damages, etc.
Scope Split
Marked data-viz, planogram, vendor views as Phase 2; kept MVP to single-date lookup and direct image retrieval.
Reference Patterns & Inspiration
Internal benchmarks (Sam’s Club)
Website search bar and faceted filters for quick product lookup.
Existing merchandising / supply-chain dashboards for data-dense layouts.
External retail leaders
Home Depot, Old Navy, Zara—strong search + filter flows that guide users from broad queries to aisle-level results.
These examples informed the new tool’s search-first model and filter hierarchy.
Ideation
Landing Page Purpose
Give users an instant starting point with two clear actions:
Search Products – global bar for UPC, item #, or keyword.
Browse Clubs – a guided drill-down that walks them from region → market → club.
The design challenge is making that hierarchical path obvious and effortless without cluttering the screen.
Approach to Region → Market Navigation
Transformed the static region-market map into an interactive explorer: tap a region, zoom to its markets, then select a club.
Progressive disclosure keeps only one level visible at a time, preventing information overload while maintaining quick drill-down.
Stay Focused on the Core Purpose
During working sessions with product and engineering, we tightened the MVP scope to just two goals: (1) search for any product and (2) drill down to a specific club. Extras like interactive maps or shortcut tiles added complexity and pushed us beyond that mandate, so we stripped them away to keep the experience laser-focused.
Simplicity wins: a single search bar and a browse-by-club path cover all core tasks, so we dropped everything else.
Smart Filters, Open Browsing
Our filter system follows one rule: show only what’s asked for—otherwise stay out of the way.
When users enter a UPC, keyword, or location, filters instantly narrow results to the relevant items and clubs.
With no criteria, the tool defaults to an unrestricted view, letting users freely explore the full catalogue and drill down at their own pace.
This balance keeps power users laser-focused while still supporting open discovery for everyone else.
Start Open, Stay Relevant
Most managers either arrive with a precise SKU in mind or begin by browsing broadly. Our filter strategy respects both behaviors:
Open by default – The first view shows the full inventory, encouraging quick scanning and serendipitous discovery.
Relevance on demand – As soon as a user enters a term or picks a location, contextual filters appear to trim results without cluttering the screen.
Borrowed best practices – Inspired by Sam’s Club e-commerce and leading retail apps, the design balances exploratory freedom with rapid funneling—setting the stage for our more detailed Progressive Discovery Design approach.
Progressive Discovery Design
Start broad, then narrow – Surface the full inventory first, then let users add filters to zero in on specifics.
Top-to-bottom navigation – Enable free exploration through Region → Market → Club without forced steps.
Pattern-backed – Mirrors successful approaches from Sam’s Club e-commerce and best-in-class retail apps.
Interactive, Filter-Driven Navigation
Inspired by mall-kiosk maps: tap a region, zoom to its details.
Leverages Sam’s Club’s existing club-search pattern for instant familiarity.
Adopts macOS Finder’s column view for rapid drill-down—from Region to Market, Club, and bay.
All-in-One Product Snapshot
Auto-scrubber shelf images combine with live SKU data to give managers a complete view of any item: category, condition, on-hand quantity, and units per pallet. The same screen lists every other club that stocks the product, making transfers and restocks effortless.
Borrowing from the Customer Playbook
In early discussions we dissected Sam’s Club’s consumer product page—images, specs, reviews, “also bought” modules—to gauge which elements could translate to an internal tool. The takeaway: while rich media and cross-sell ideas inspire usability, most marketing-level details add noise for managers focused on inventory.
An Inventory-First Product Page
The final design centers on operational data: a live shelf photo with nearby SKUs highlighted, real-time stock metrics (on-hand, per-pallet, status), and quick links to every club carrying the item. No marketing fluff—just the essentials managers need to restock and re-route product fast.
Final Design
Sam’s Club Product Finder — Real-Time Stock & Shelf Locator
🎯 Landing Hub — Clear Entry Point
Built on Sam’s Club’s design system, the page gives two obvious choices—search products or browse clubs—cutting past the old tool’s clutter.
🔍 Search & Filters — Pattern-Aligned Clarity
Uses Sam’s established field order (description → item # → UPC) in a minimalist UI, guiding users to precise results without distractions.
Search results and applying filters (Desktop)
Search results and applying filters (Mobile)
📹 Auto-Scrubber View - Live Shelf Data
Shows captured shelf images alongside item description, item #, and UPC in the familiar sequence, all in a clean layout that surfaces key details at a glance.
Auto-scrubber captured product info
🧭 Shelf Finder — Area → Aisle → Bay
Finder-style panes—Area → Aisle → Bay—let users jump straight to any shelf; choosing a bay opens a live shelf photo with that item and nearby SKUs for instant restock checks.
Browsing a specific location at Club
Conlusion
Takeaway
Linking nationwide product search with club-level browsing looked straightforward on paper, but translating it into a smooth flow was complex. I leaned on Sam’s Club’s existing design language and external best practices for guidance. The toughest piece—region-to-market filtering and club drill-down—taught me to lead users step-by-step, from broad to specific, so they stay oriented instead of overwhelmed.