Inventory Information, how to design

Question

I'm looking for a good solution for Inventory Information. I have a minimum, maximum and current stock information.

This was my first idea. Any thoughts?

Answer 1

Your design shows more than the minimum, maximum and current stock information. The colour code also tells how close to the limits you are.

I see a few issues:

• can't the current value go below the minimum? What if the stock goes to 2? Same for high values.
• you need to identify each item. If it's a label you might lack horizontal space. Maybe use horizontal gauges.
• be careful with colour blind people. You could hatch to top and bottom areas to indicate they are not desirable.

Answer 2

I like the idea and your design communicates the min max stock information well. There is just one small issue I see. The way you designed it it seems that it is actually a manipulatable input control. The stock information looks like it would be possible to interact with it and slide it up or down.

What I can not comment on is how it works in the context it is used. Is it one of these controls per page, is it part of a list etc. I say this because the control is quite high, which could make it difficult to use in a list or similar settings.