Delivery receipt warehouse guide: content strategy and design
As part of the Bin Receiving Operations team at McMaster-Carr, I was tasked to redevelop a job aid on notating delivery receipts from external suppliers for McMaster-Carr warehouse personnel.
The problem
Existing content was overly complicated
McMaster-Carr is known for extremely detailed descriptions of their products and services. Resources meant for employees to quickly glean information to aid in their job functions followed this level of description, creating confusion.
One document provided to all warehouse Bin Receiving employees in their team handbooks included a six page document on how to notate delivery receipts. Many noted confusion when reading the delivery receipt guide, leading to a project to redesign the resource.
Original job aid
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1. Dense copy
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It is important to note that this guide is in a handbook that warehouse employee access frequently. Nearly each section of content has heavy text, immediately overwhelming employees looking for a quick guide to help them notate delivery receipts throughout their day.
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2. Overwhelmed by jargon
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Although the technical terms used in this document are relevant to teams working directly with external suppliers, such words cause confusion to the Bin Receiving team. As a guide meant for quick use directly related to notating the receipt, there is no need to include it.
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3. Extra content was confusing to employees
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It is important to document the importance of delivery receipts and their use throughout the business. However, this extra content causes confusion for a warehouse job aid where employees may feel that they must read it in its entirety to understand how to notate delivery receipts.
The process
Creating a new content flow
The strategy team decided to retire the original job aid in favor of a more simple guide that focused solely on how to notate delivery receipts, its original purpose. We defined new goals and principles to complete this task.
Content creation process​
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1. Solidify the purpose
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The original document resembled a resource traditionally meant for our company intranet in its depth of information and jargon atypical for a handbook guide. The team focused on reworking this document as a job aid meant for quick references.
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2. Outline key points
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The key groups and instructions for notating delivery receipts were outlined for highlight in the new documents. Any other information was to be removed to maintain the integrity of the job aid.
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3. Mock up, test and iterate
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Simple copy and designs were written and tested and reviewed by warehouse employees to help them guide us toward the best decisions.
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4. Publish and print
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Tested versions were printed to be inserted into employee handbooks, but the team seeks to reevaluate these document with time to determine if they are still serving to improve warehouse job functions.
Content strategy principles​
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1. Clarity is key
Writing new, simple copy meant avoiding unexpected language.
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2. Design for the purpose
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Tailoring content for this resource meant writing with an understanding of when and how the document would be used and how frequently.
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3. Help non-experts succeed like experts​​
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It was important to write in a way that assisted our warehouse personnel without talking down to them.
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4. Organize your words
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The document was divided into sections of copy to avoid cluttered text.
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The solution
Simple, focused content
In this iteration of the delivery receipt job aid, instructions are made the focal point to make the document the quick, easy resource that can be glanced over, with real world examples on the right. This version is succinct, avoiding context that is needless to complete the task and jargon that would not be relevant the warehouse team. Content is sectioned into two boxes on the left, with examples on the right.
What I learned
Centering content guidelines in the warehouse
Content is a priority for McMaster Carr. This project demonstrated how important it is to tailor content to specific audiences. While the original job aid would have been useful as an archival intranet document that outlined the importance of delivery receipts as well as guidance on how to notate them, the instructions on how exactly to complete notation needed to be parsed out and simplified to create an easy to use job aid for the warehouse floor. Doing so provided a more enjoyable experience for warehouse personnel. Great content creates great outcomes.