During the annual meeting at the Columbus Chamber of Commerce’s Logistics Council, we shared our case study on developing a medical device trading platform for InQ. The focus was simple: how thoughtful marketplace app development can turn a rigid inventory process into a flexible, behavior-driven platform that supports the circular economy.
The platform took months to design and hundreds of thousands of lines of code to build. In the end, InQ’s circular economy app did more than enable inventory trading. It also improved inventory accuracy, changed user behavior, delivered smarter trade recommendations, reduced IT friction, and drove real adoption across users.
Let’s explore this case study in detail below:
Inventory Management Systems Aren’t Perfect, and That’s OK!
If you’ve used inventory management systems (IMS) like SAP or Move Medical, you know how rigid and complex they can be. When introducing InQ’s new trading app for industry use, the biggest pushback was around inventory accuracy. Many organizations didn’t trust their existing IMS data to start a trading program. They also weren’t confident that their sales force maintained accurate inventory counts for their territories.
Initially, we treated this as a software problem, but it wasn’t. It was a behavior problem that became a huge selling point. Let me explain.
Once we launched the trading platform, salespeople immediately recognized its value and leveraged it to improve their bottom lines by accessing on-demand inventory and shortening sales cycles. Overnight, sales reps and inventory managers began working together to locate missing inventory and update the IMS accordingly. Contrary to what organizations initially believed, InQ actually increased IMS accuracy!
Behavior Change Begins with Great UX and UI
A critical component of our app development process was creating a user interface (UI) that felt modern, responsive, and accessible. Legacy systems like SAP are notoriously difficult to use. We knew our app had to be the opposite: fast, intuitive, and centered on the needs of all stakeholders.
So we asked the right questions to validate our app development approach, including:
- Inventory Managers: What tools do you need to track inventory effectively?
- Directors and Above: What KPIs are critical for evaluating inventory efficiency?
- Sales Managers: When should approvals be required, and who needs visibility?
- Sales Reps: How can we make this app a daily tool that helps you serve your customers?
This deep dive into user requirements enabled us to better tailor the app for each user type. The result was a streamlined platform that integrated with medical device companies’ existing workflows, enabling better adoption without overwhelming users.
Big Data Requires Big Thinking
App development for large organizations always involves scale. InQ’s platform had to process massive amounts of data in real time, including trade distances, shipping costs, product priorities, and more.
No two companies had the same logic or preferences for trades. So we built a modular engine using AWS, combining serverless functions with dedicated processing power.
The result: a robust backend that could compute millions of trade permutations on the fly and adjust according to organizational needs.
This wasn’t just about UI and UX; it was about sound architecture. Strong app development means balancing a sleek front end with a scalable, reliable backend.
Tech Integrations Must Always Be Frictionless
Our users weren’t only sales reps, managers, and inventory specialists. We had to win over the IT departments, too. That meant ensuring the platform fit smoothly within each organization’s tech ecosystem.
We collaborated with IT managers to comply with:
- SSO (single sign-on) requirements
- IMS update frequencies
- Credentials and certifications
- Can we get permission to integrate directly with your IMS, or do we need an alternative data dump?
We also focused on minimizing UI friction. From login to trade completion, IT monitored each action, and the less they asked about the UI, the better. Great app design eliminates barriers and should make the experience as effortless as possible for end users and tech managers.
When Faced with Emotional Hurdles, Reframe Them
One of our biggest challenges wasn’t technical; it was emotional. Many users feared that our software would replace their jobs. But the reality was quite the opposite. This app was designed to support inventory professionals, not to substitute them.
We had to lean into our marketing to change the narrative. We doubled down on the benefits of using the platform:
- Automation reduces manual tracking errors.
- Notifications trigger shipping and receiving workflows for better visibility.
- Trading rules prevent bad trades from happening.
- Less time with the nitty-gritty means more time making big inventory decisions.
After fully understanding the benefits, inventory departments saw that the app helped them perform their jobs better.
Marketing Was the Final Key to Success for InQ
Despite powerful UI/UX and a solid backend, internal adoption within medical device companies still needed a big push. That’s where our common sense marketing agency came in.
Our team further supported client adoption through:
- Sales sheets for crucial conversations.
- User guides for faster customer onboarding.
- Quick-start manuals to alleviate sales support.
- Info sheets tailored to stakeholder concerns.
- Customer success representatives to ensure happy clients from the get-go.
Our web design, creative, and app development teams collaborated to deliver marketing collateral and support for InQ’s real-time sales conversations and onboarding process.
The Bottom Line
This case study highlights that real transformation happens when technology drives behavior change. By combining thoughtful UX and UI design, scalable cloud architecture, frictionless integrations, and clear communication, InQ’s circular-economy app proved that even the most rigid inventory environments can evolve.
For organizations exploring digital transformation, building a successful marketplace or circular-economy app is about designing solutions that increase accuracy and adoption, and unlock new value from existing infrastructure.
Want to build an app that drives real change?
Connect with Uplancer to learn how our app design and development services can transform your ideas into digital solutions that drive behavior change.
