Multi-Brand UI: Brand Selection & Scoping Guide

by Alex Johnson 48 views

In today's dynamic business environment, many organizations manage multiple brands. Supporting a multi-brand user interface (UI) is crucial for efficiently managing and differentiating these brands. This article delves into the intricacies of multi-brand UI support, focusing on brand selection and scoping, and why it's essential for modern applications.

Understanding Multi-Brand UI Support

Multi-brand UI support is the ability of an application to handle and display different brands within a single interface. This includes allowing users to switch between brands and ensuring that the data and components displayed are specific to the selected brand. The discussion category involves key aspects such as the brand selector and scoping mechanisms, ensuring a seamless and brand-specific user experience.

Why is Multi-Brand UI Support Important?

Supporting multiple brands within a single application offers several advantages:

  • Efficiency: Manage multiple brands from a unified platform, reducing the complexity of using separate systems.
  • Data Integrity: Ensure data for different brands remains segregated, preventing mix-ups and maintaining accuracy.
  • User Experience: Provide a tailored experience for each brand, enhancing user satisfaction and engagement.
  • Scalability: Easily add and manage new brands as your business grows, without significant system overhauls.

Key Components of Multi-Brand UI Support

  1. Brand Selector: A UI element that allows users to switch between different brands.
  2. Brand Scoping: Ensuring that all data, components, and functionalities are specific to the selected brand.

Feature Description

The primary goal of implementing multi-brand UI support is to expose brand selection within the UI and ensure that API and UI flows respect brand scoping. This allows the application to support multiple brands, such as Mela Vitamins, without assuming a single active brand. By doing so, the system can effectively manage diverse brand portfolios, providing a tailored experience for each.

Exposing Brand Selection in the UI

To enable users to manage multiple brands, the UI must include a mechanism for selecting a specific brand. This typically involves a brand selector, which could be a dropdown menu, a list of brand logos, or another intuitive control. The selected brand then becomes the active brand, and all subsequent interactions within the application are scoped to this brand.

Ensuring API/UI Flows Respect Brand Scoping

Once a brand is selected, it’s crucial that all API calls and UI elements respect this selection. This means that any data retrieved or displayed should be specific to the active brand. This scoping is essential for maintaining data integrity and preventing cross-brand contamination.

User Stories

To better illustrate the importance and functionality of multi-brand UI support, let’s consider a primary user story:

As an admin/ops user

I want to switch between brands and see brand-specific components/SKUs/BOMs

So that I can manage multiple brands in one account without mixing data.

Breaking Down the User Story

  • Role: Admin/ops user – This user is responsible for managing the application and its data.
  • Goal: Switch between brands and see brand-specific data – The user needs to be able to easily switch between brands and view relevant information.
  • Benefit: Manage multiple brands in one account without mixing data – The primary benefit is efficient management and data segregation.

This user story highlights the core need for multi-brand support: the ability to manage different brands within a single system while keeping their data separate.

Requirements

To successfully implement multi-brand UI support, several requirements must be met. These requirements can be broadly categorized into functional and non-functional aspects.

Functional Requirements

Functional requirements define what the system should do. For multi-brand support, these include:

  • Brand Selector in the Dashboard/Layout: The application should include a brand selector in a prominent location, such as the dashboard or layout. This selector should allow users to switch between active brands, and the selected brand should be persisted per session or user.
  • Scope All List/Detail Pages and API Calls: All list and detail pages, as well as API calls, must be scoped to the selected brand. The system should also gracefully handle edge cases where no brand is selected.
  • AuthZ (Authorization): Users should only see brands associated with their company. Viewers should retain read-only access.
  • Optional: Brand Creation/Edit Admin UI: An optional but useful feature is a brand creation and edit admin UI, allowing administrators to manage brands within the system. Alternatively, brands can be managed via seed or configuration files.

Non-Functional Requirements

Non-functional requirements define how the system should perform. For multi-brand support, these include:

  • Usability: The system should provide a clear indication of the current brand. Safe defaults should be in place to prevent confusion.

Technical Context

Understanding the technical context is crucial for implementing multi-brand UI support. This includes identifying affected areas, related features, data involved, and dependencies.

Affected Areas

Several areas of the application are affected by the implementation of multi-brand support:

  • Frontend: The frontend needs to incorporate a brand picker in the layout and pass the brand context to pages and queries. It also needs to handle the “no brand” state gracefully.
  • Backend: The backend must ensure that the brandId is consistently required and scoped for queries. This ensures that data retrieval is brand-specific, rather than defaulting to the first active brand.
  • Database: The brand table already exists, but additional brands may need to be seeded. The database schema should support the relationship between companies, brands, and components/SKUs.
  • External APIs: In most cases, external APIs are not directly affected by multi-brand support, but this should be verified on a case-by-case basis.

Related Features

Multi-brand support is often related to other features within the application. For example, a Product Requirements Document (PRD) might highlight the readiness for multiple brands, such as Tonsil Tech and Mela Vitamins. The current UI may only pick the first active brand, which needs to be updated to support brand selection.

Data Involved

Implementing multi-brand support involves several data considerations:

  • New Tables: Generally, no new tables are required, as the brand table already exists.
  • Modified Tables: User-brand preferences may need to be stored, and additional brands may need to be seeded in existing tables.
  • Relationships: The relationships between companies, brands, and components/SKUs need to be maintained and enforced to ensure data integrity.

Dependencies

Multi-brand support may have dependencies on other features or fixes within the application:

  • Prerequisites: Tenant scoping fixes may be necessary to avoid cross-tenant data leaks.
  • Blocks: Features like multi-location support and integrations may depend on the brand context, requiring careful coordination.

Acceptance Criteria

Acceptance criteria define the conditions that must be met for the multi-brand support feature to be considered complete. These criteria should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).

  • Users Can Select a Brand and See Only That Brand’s Data: Users should be able to select a brand and view only the components, SKUs, BOMs, and transactions associated with that brand.
  • APIs Respect the Selected Brand: APIs should respect the selected brand and not default to the first brand silently. This ensures data retrieval is accurate and brand-specific.
  • UI Clearly Shows Current Brand: The UI should clearly display the currently selected brand, and switching brands should refresh the data appropriately.
  • Tests Cover Brand Scoping and Switching Behavior: Automated tests should cover brand scoping and switching behavior to ensure the feature works as expected and prevent regressions.

Verification Checkpoint

A verification checkpoint is a point in time where the implementation is reviewed to ensure it aligns with the requirements. Key aspects to verify include:

  • Last Verified Date: Track when the feature was last verified and any issues that were identified.
  • Pattern References Verified: Ensure that the implementation follows established patterns and best practices.
  • Similar Feature Identified: Check for similar features within the application or other systems to leverage existing knowledge and patterns.
  • Dependencies Confirmed: Verify that all dependencies, such as the existence of the brand schema, are in place.

Notes

Additional notes and considerations can help guide the implementation process:

  • Estimated Complexity: Assess the complexity of the feature to plan resources and timelines effectively. Multi-brand support is often considered a medium complexity feature.
  • Phasing Requirements: Determine if the feature can be implemented in phases. While not always necessary, phasing can help manage risk and deliver value incrementally.
  • Design Patterns: Follow established design patterns for persisting brand selection (e.g., using session/local storage) and updating page loaders to accept the brandId parameter.

Conclusion

Implementing multi-brand UI support is essential for organizations managing multiple brands within a single application. By focusing on brand selection and scoping, businesses can ensure data integrity, improve user experience, and enhance efficiency. Key considerations include functional and non-functional requirements, technical context, acceptance criteria, and ongoing verification. By addressing these aspects, organizations can successfully implement multi-brand support and reap its numerous benefits.

For more information on UI/UX design and best practices, visit Usability.gov.