5 min read
Farfetch · Catalogue Inventory Team · Oct 2022 – Feb 2023
I worked on evolving Farfetch’s stock management platform to support backorders, enabling partners to sell products even when physical stock was unavailable. The tool is used by internal teams and marketplace partners to configure and manage inventory at scale within a complex B2B system.
This initiative required introducing new inventory concepts (virtual stock, order types, limits) into an already mature and operationally critical platform.
My Role: Product Designer
Team: 1 PM, 1 Product Designer, 2 Data Engineers, 1 Backend Engineer, 3 Frontend Engineers
Partners were limited to selling only physical stock, which reduced flexibility and created operational friction for rare, made-to-order, or delayed inventory.
At the same time, the existing stock management interface was already complex. Adding backorders risked increasing cognitive load, confusion, and configuration errors if not carefully integrated.
The challenge was not just adding a feature, but making a new mental model understandable inside a dense, expert-facing system.
I began by learning the domain and collaborating closely with PMs, engineers, and internal operational teams who manage partner stock workflows.
To ground decisions in real usage:
Conducted interviews with internal stakeholders supporting partners
Mapped existing stock configuration flows and pain points
Identified confusion around columns, limits, and multi-step setup
I iterated through multiple structural explorations in Figma, focusing on:
Column clarity and hierarchy
Configuration flow guidance
Visibility of virtual stock and order logic
I did Two rounds of remote usability testing (6 participants, then 4) that validated comprehension, discoverability and task completion across the new backorder setup flow.
Back order stock mapping
Some of the mock that helped me explore the best options
Backorders were embedded into the existing catalogue and stock management experience, enabling partners to sell out-of-stock products without disrupting their current workflow.
Enable backorders directly at the product level in the catalogue
Automatically generate the required configuration through the stock settings tool (that can be edited if needed)
Add virtual stock units in the stock view to start selling immediately
By integrating the feature into familiar tables and flows, the solution reduced setup friction, maintained operational control, and introduced a complex capability as a natural extension of the existing inventory system.
Enabled selling without physical stock for the first time, while reducing reliance on internal support (~20% fewer setup-related questions) and improving clarity and confidence for operational teams managing inventory workflows.
This is a project snapshot
Contact me to know more. I’m happy to talk through the full process, constraints, and decisions behind the work.
contact@joanapedreira.com
