Idea

App Room is the leading ERP provider for bicycle retailers in Switzerland, supporting both small shops and large chains in managing inventory, sales, planning, and administration. As the product evolved over eight years, the interface no longer reflected modern expectations or the company's new brand identity.
The goal was to redesign the ERP to reflect current design standards, incorporate user feedback, and create a maintainable design foundation without losing any functional depth.

Key components

Technology & Integration

Product Design

Figma for product redesign and design systems.

Main Features

• General Information Architecture
• Left Navigation System
• ERP Feature Modernization
• Administration Experience

General Information Architecture

The existing ERP had grown over many years, resulting in functions being mixed across different areas, misplaced in navigation, or difficult to understand for new users. This made onboarding and product evaluation unnecessarily complex.
Our first major step was to completely rethink the information architecture. We introduced clearly defined main areas that separate core ERP functionality from administrative tasks. These areas are visually and structurally distinct, allowing users to immediately understand where they are and what type of actions are available.
Global actions such as component switching, notifications, and language settings were positioned consistently and remain accessible at all times.
This restructuring significantly reduced cognitive load and made the system easier to explore, especially for first time users.

Left Navigation System

To support fast and confident navigation through hundreds of functions, we designed a modern left navigation tailored to daily ERP usage.
The navigation is expandable and structured into clearly labeled, collapsible categories that reflect real user workflows.
Frequently used functions are displayed directly, while less common actions are placed behind a contextual show more logic to avoid clutter. Visual hierarchy, spacing, and hover behavior were carefully designed to guide the eye without overwhelming the user.
This navigation system allows users to reach their target function quickly while maintaining an overview of the entire system, even as new features are added in the future.

ERP Feature Modernization

More than twenty core ERP functions across operations, planning, and rental management were redesigned and in many cases restructured.
These functions include stock levels, product management, rental handling, and employee planning across multiple locations.
Each feature was analyzed individually to understand its purpose, dependencies, and usage frequency. Based on this, we redesigned screens to surface the most important information first and move secondary details into contextual views.
Reusable components such as tables, tabs, alerts, cards, and contextual menus were designed as part of the system, ensuring consistency across all ERP areas while allowing flexibility for function specific needs.

Administration Experience

Administrative functions were previously spread across different areas, making global configuration difficult and error prone.
We separated administration clearly from operational workflows and consolidated all related features into a dedicated area.
This includes billing, global settings, user and role management, license handling, add ons, and integrations. Information is displayed progressively, ensuring that administrators see the right level of detail at the right time.
The goal was to make administration powerful yet easy to understand, enabling companies to manage their ERP confidently without requiring constant support or training.

Main Challenge

Most Special Step

Designing a full scale ERP was a unique challenge for our team.
Unlike consumer apps, ERP systems require extreme clarity, consistency, and respect for existing workflows. By transferring best practices from leading SaaS products and combining them with deep industry understanding, we created a modern yet familiar experience.
This project marked our entry into large scale ERP design and established a long term partnership built on trust and shared responsibility.