Public Storage Store Management System

Public Storage, the largest owner and operator of self-storage facilities in the world started the process of overhauling its store management system in 2012.

The new web-based system would promise much less complicated transactions between its customers and store managers than the previous generation with an entirely new set of tools and user interface. Working in collaboration with RDLA and Phelps Agency, the task was to translate various customer and store manager experience scenarios into a purposeful user interface with wireframes and visual designs.

Wireframes

UX consultant team from Phelps provided technical requirements, conditions, and transaction scenarios between store managers and customers, sometimes involving edge cases. As there are countless situations and sequences of events that occur in daily transactions, the goal was to create a flexible framework in which modular units of different functionality reside. Shown below are a few samples out of many wireframes of workflows designed for the project.

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Customer Dashboard provides an at-a-glance view of a customer's current status, from account information, payment schedule, units rented, and activities. Its design allows displaying customers who are renting multiple units.

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For a walk-in customer to rent a storage unit, the store manager initiates the transaction from the dashboard, which displays all available units and attributes to choose from. It also shows script on the right to support the store manager in customer interactions.

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Payment Management flow was considered to include the modules for multiple situations such as reapplying/reversing payment transactions.

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Store Managers can report various issues from the Dashboard, in which he/she can add detailed notes, issue status, images, or schedule a repair appointment.

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District Manager Dashboard provides an overview of all activities and statuses at properties within the district.

Public Storage Wireframes

For the customer-facing screen interface, multiple designs were considered before settling on a version with a vertical sub-navigation on the right side of the screen (bottom), as opposed to versions with all-horizontal navigations. The vertical sub-navigation gives customers a better understanding of steps-within-step task flow.

Visual Design

With the high-fidelity wireframes drawn to scale and to provide a strict hierarchy of elements, the primal goal of visual design was to re-emphasize the clarity of workflow.

Dashboard Visual Design

The Dashboard is a launching point for all workflows. The three main tasks to be emphasized for Public Storage's store managers are managing existing customers, new customers, and merchandise, in order of importance. A variety of designs for the starting point were explored to highlight the priority.

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Customer-Facing Screen Visual Design

Customer-Facing Screen was designed to keep the focus of the customer on the task at hand while providing clarity while providing a clear indication of where she/he is in the process of the transaction.

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