ALTVIN - Case Study

I researched, designed and constructed the initial prototype. With a large focus on the visual language of the software as well and the information architecture and user experience. The prototype was used for market research and project scoping during the assembly of the development team.

As the software matured, we gained a lot of knowledge as to how wineries are run and what are the best practices when it comes to organising the bottling of wine. These learning were applied to Altvin 2.0 which saw a key structural change and new features added as a result of user feedback.

After logging into the app, the user is taken to the Event Manager and presented with all bottling events. A left side navigation is used for the sorting, filtering and searching through all bottling events. Bottling events can have a status of either live, draft, archived or design.A left-hand side navigation was chosen as the primary navigation element for each section of the application. The 3 main reasons for this are as follows

• This a is a convention that is followed in many web applications and websites.
• It allows the user to know what they are looking at and the context in which it sits in relation to the broader application.
• It allows for greater flexibility moving forward as the product develops.

The live events dashboard sits on the right hand-side of the screen and when clicked, slides out over the table of bottling events. Is has a drop shadow to give a 3D effect of physically sitting above all other components of the Product Manager. An inertia effect was given to its animation to further enhance its physical quality. It quickly opens and closes over the top of whatever the user is doing within Event Manager, given them instant access to the progress of all current live events. 

When opening a Bottling Event the user is taken to the Event Overview page. Once again there is a left-hand navigation panel, keeping with the convention established in the Event Manager.Users can be assigned, removed, and have their level of access set via a popover from this screen. The goal when creating this screen was to strike a balance between providing an overall snapshot of the event and provide some functionality while keeping things simple for making clear decisions.

It is from the Specifications Screen, the next menu item down, that key data is entered by the user concerning the Bottling Event. The third screen, Documentation is an area where the user can upload copies of all documentation concerning the bottling event. This includes certification documents. 

The final menu item brings the user to the Bottle/Product SKU’s that make up the Bottling Event. When clicked a sub list of Bottle SKU’s is revealed. Each SKU contains a series of screens accessed through a set of navigation tabs located at the top of the screen. This system of navigation was chosen because it follows an already established convention and allows for greater versatility going forward in the future. Each tab represents a different dry good component of a wine product. Combined the navigation systems allows the user to know exactly which area of the app they are currently in at any time.