Company: NorthScope

Website: myfoodsoftware.com

Technology Snapshot: ​​​​Driven to make life easier for users, NorthScope has been re-organized based on job functions. With functions grouped by functional areas, NorthScope, ERP software for food manufacturers, is more intuitive and easier to use than ever before.

This update came after a long line of development, which managing partner Tom Williams explains. “Since 2014, we’ve added new features and capabilities at an intense pace. The positive outcome was that NorthScope’s footprint grew by a factor of six but with all the rapid change, the cohesiveness of the system suffered. We decided it was time to simplify the user experience by cleaning up and re-organizing the entire application.” The goal of this reset was to create a uniform user experience that ensures:

  • The NorthScope menu is organized by functionality. Each functional area contains all the pages necessary for users to efficiently complete their tasks.
  • All pages throughout the application have been synched to ensure consistency between the names used on the navigation menu, pages and security setup.
  • Navigation follows the same approach for every functional area.
  • Online help and user guides are organized to match the menu structure.
  • System security is easy to configure.

An example of this more intuitive navigation is the Fisherman Accounting functional area that includes all fisherman accounting functions, such as receiving fish from fisherman, transferring balances between fishermen, writing checks to fishermen, selling product to fishermen, tender sales to fishermen and fisherman setup items.

In addition to making NorthScope’s navigation more intuitive, it was also simplified. For example, all company-level setup items have been moved to the Company functional area to prevent users from having to sift through other areas to achieve daily tasks.

“Our goal for these updates was to eliminate confusion and make NorthScope more intuitive for our customers so they don’t have to read help documentation to do what they need to do,” NorthScope’s product manager Jacob Swanson said.

After testing a demo of the new navigation, one customer said they wanted their live system upgraded immediately because “it’s that much better, it’s easier to use and it makes more sense,” says Swanson. 

As with its new navigation, NorthScope’s development is commonly driven by improving the user experience and focusing on what its customers need to continue successfully running their business. According to Swanson, the team behind NorthScope prioritizes updates based on the effect to the customer. “If a customer considers something a high priority, then we consider it a high priority. However, even if a customer doesn’t consider something a high priority but it causes confusion or extra work for their users, we still consider it a high priority and we’re going to take care of it. We will always prioritize the things that will improve the quality of life for our customers,” Swanson said.