Unblocking the Pipeline: Reducing Shipment Processing from 1 Week to 2 Days

The program depended on knowing who handled each device, and when

LA County ran a digital equity program that distributed 7,000 grant-funded laptops to underserved communities. The people managing this program—warehouse staff, administrators, and distribution coordinators—had to track every device from arrival to final handoff to community members.

The users ranged from tech-comfortable administrators to warehouse workers who weren't comfortable with complex software. The stakes were high: if the county couldn't account for devices during audits, grant funding could be pulled, ending the program.

A week-long bottleneck with no audit trail

Before the app, tracking shipments (ranging from 1 to 1,000 laptops) happened entirely on paper. Staff followed a complex manual process that required re-verifying every serial number against paper logs before distribution events—a process that took up to one week per shipment batch.

The process was so tedious that it created "inventory avoidance"—staff were hesitant to move or verify devices because any movement required starting the manual paper check from scratch. While staff wrestled with paper, devices sat in warehouses. Every day a shipment was stuck in "processing" was another day an underserved family went without a necessary tool for education or work.

But the speed problem was compounded by an even more critical issue: accountability. Paper forms could be lost. There was no centralized record of who last touched a device, where it was stored, or what happened to it after distribution. Stakeholders—DTD administrators, the Director of the Internal Service Department (ISD), and several ISD employees—needed transparency for audits, reduced risk of fraud, and accountability for every person involved. Failure to track these assets accurately could jeopardize future funding, trigger investigations, and compromise the entire program.

"If we can't account for these laptops, it could put our entire program at risk. We need a system that not only tracks every movement but also ensures compliance and accountability."

The dual challenge: We had to make the process fast enough to eliminate inventory avoidance, yet rigorous enough to satisfy grant auditors who required a "cradle-to-grave" record of every device. Speed without accountability would fail audits. Accountability without speed would never be adopted.

Three decisions that turned a week-long process into a two-day workflow

Decision 1: The "1-Tap" Entry Point

The Problem: Testing revealed 9/10 warehouse staff couldn't find scanning—it was buried three pages deep. The homepage had unimportant items that distracted from the core task.

My Thinking: Scanning was the most frequent task, yet required the most effort to reach. If the primary function is hidden, adoption fails. I needed to make the homepage itself the entry point—remove friction entirely, not just reduce it.

The Solution: The homepage asks "How many laptops are you scanning?" with two main buttons: "One" or "More." When the user tapped either button, they got a modal to select the specific action they were going to do.

Why It Worked: 10/10 staff were able to start scanning immediately, which meant the tool was intuitive and wouldn't slow them down. If they couldn't perform the application's primary function, it would fail adoption.

Decision 2: Flagging for Flow

The Problem: When scanning 50+ laptops, staff would discover damaged devices but forget which ones had issues by the end. They'd have to scroll through the entire list trying to remember serial numbers, or stop their workflow to take manual notes.

My Thinking: I couldn't stop the workflow to force documentation—that would destroy adoption. The flagging had to happen *during* the natural scanning rhythm, then surface the results *after* without interrupting momentum.

The Solution: Flagged devices automatically moved to the top of the list with a title "Flagged" and a yellow icon to indicate a need for review.

Why It Worked: Staff never broke their scanning flow, but problematic devices were impossible to miss. They could handle all issues at once before submission instead of losing track mid-process.

Decision 3: Surface full custody history with one scan

The Problem: When auditors asked "what happened to this device?", staff had to dig through paper logs across multiple storage locations. No centralized record meant hours searching for a single device's journey.

My Thinking: The County's grant funding depended on audit readiness. I needed to give staff instant confidence they could answer any device question. The history couldn't be buried in a menu—it had to be one scan away.

The Solution: I designed a History feature. When staff scanned the asset tag, it would instantly surface the device's full chronological custody history—who touched it, where it moved, and its current status.

Why It Worked: Turned an hours-long search into a 10-second confirmation. Staff gained the confidence to answer auditor questions immediately, protecting the County's millions in grant funding.

Behavioral shift from avoidance to proactive verification

• Staff started proactively verifying inventory before events (the old process made this too painful)
• Administrators gained confidence they could answer "where is this laptop?" during audits in seconds, not hours
• The app became trusted enough that other LA County departments expressed interest in using it for their own asset management

Design principles I would apply again in any high-frequency workflow