Availability & Substitutions
Automating equipment alternatives and enhancing cart indicators to reduce order cancellations when inventory is unexpectedly low.
B2B
Dashboard Design
Product Design
Data Visualization
Overview
The Substitutions project focused on improving order fulfillment across United Rentals. By introducing clear low-availability indicators and an integrated substitution workflow directly within the shopping cart, users can quickly swap out out-of-stock gear for high inventory options before checking out.
Project Goals
Replace Static Data
Role-Specific Customization
Multi-Dashboard Support
Cross-Module Integration
Evolve rigid, uniform displays into a flexible, visual, and highly interactive framework.
Allow users to build tailored workspaces focused on their primary operational priorities.
Enable users to create, save, and switch between multiple dashboard views.
Align data cards with existing TCX modules to ensure seamless platform consistency.
Project Goals
Improve Fulfillment
Reduce cancellations caused by low or no inventory at united rentals branches.
Cohesive Cart Design
Update base cart UI patterns to seamlessly integrate availability warnings and replacement flows.
Automate at Scale
Shift from manual substitutions to an automated recommendation algorithm.
FLEXIBLE CARD ARCHITECTURE & DATA VISUALIZATION
To give users complete control over how data is displayed, a modular card system was established across four distinct visualization types: Summary, Trending, Data Visual, and Comparison. Cards were organized into high-level platform categories, enabling intuitive browsing, configuration, and layout customization. This design pattern ensured seamless visual and functional alignment across all TCX modules.
The Process
Historical swap data was mapped to design a friction-free replacement flow. Because cart designs were actively in progress at the time, base cart UI was updated simultaneously to introduce clear low-availability indicators, ensuring the entire checkout experience felt cohesive, clear, and visually unified.
Key Features
Low-Availability Cart Indicators
Updated base cart UI with visual status badges that immediately alert users to low-inventory or out-of-stock equipment before order placement.
"Find & Replace" Modal
Triggered directly from cart availability alerts, allowing users to compare high-availability alternatives and swap items in a single click.
STRATEGIC MVP SCOPING & WORKFLOW DESIGN
End-to-end user flows were crafted for creating multiple dashboards and configuring individual cards. Starting with a high-fidelity ideal vision, the experience was systematically scaled back in collaboration with product and engineering to establish a lean, impactful MVP. This approach eliminated friction in the setup process, reduced technical complexity, and accelerated time-to-market.
TECHNICAL ALIGNMENT & API ADVOCACY
Delivering actionable metrics required tight coordination with development to evaluate backend infrastructure. Where data limits existed, design advocated for new API endpoints and data structures to power essential card types. Establishing early alignment allowed engineering to build necessary data tables in parallel with design production, leading directly to a successful MVP launch.
Smart Inventory Matching
Rules-based logic automatically filters recommendations to ensure suggested items are published, actively rentable, and currently in stock at the local branch.
Unified Cart Experience
Redesigned base cart layouts and component patterns in parallel to ensure substitution touchpoints felt natively integrated rather than tacked-on.
Additional projects
Reports
Ideation & Concepts
Dashboard