Happy-path interface
Screens designed for the case where everything goes to plan: full quantities, correct labels, available stock. Short picks, partial receipts and rework have no path, so users handle them outside the system.
Table of Contents
Summarize with:
Key facts
- Short picks, partial receipts and rework are daily events in warehouses and on the shop floor.
- When exceptions have no path, users handle them outside the system.
- Exceptions end up recorded as adjustments with vague reasons.
- In a WMS, exceptions such as short, damaged or wrong item should be one tap away.
- Demos and acceptance tests usually follow the planned case, so the gap appears after go-live.
How to spot it
- Paper notes kept next to terminals
- Exceptions recorded as adjustments with vague reasons
- Support tickets asking how to undo a step
- Supervisors called to the floor to record what the screen will not accept
Protect entered data
When a task is interrupted or only partly completed, preserve entered data and provide a way to retain a draft.
Why it happens
Specifications describe the main flow. States, totals and edge cases are left to interpretation when a specification shows screens.
Demos and tests follow the plan. The flow is demonstrated and accepted with full quantities and correct labels, because that is the data at hand.
Design consideration
Exceptions look rare from the office
The people who write requirements see exceptions as edge cases. The people on the floor handle them every shift.
What it costs
| Missing path | Consequence |
|---|---|
| No manual path when a scan fails | Movements go unrecorded |
| No path for short or partial quantities | Exceptions recorded as adjustments with vague reasons |
| No undo for a step | Support tickets, and corrections made outside the system |
Adjustments with vague reasons cannot be analysed, so the business loses the record of why stock, cost or time differ from plan.
Where it shows up