One-click error recovery for inventory adjustments and moves.
DATE
Q2 2025
ROLE
Lead Product Designer
TEAM
Riley Hendrickson, PM
Anastasiya K, FE Engineer
Roman V, BE Engineer
CONTEXT
Fixing accidental moves or quantity updates in Sortly used to be time-consuming and error-prone. Users had to retrace steps through reports or memory, often leaving errors unresolved. Undo provides a safety net: the ability to reverse these two critical actions in a click, either immediately through a toast notification or later through the Activity History report (up to 7 days).
CONTEXT
PROBLEM
Mistakes happen, but fixing them was harder than it should be
When users accidentally moved items or entered the wrong quantity, correcting the error often took more effort than the original task. They had to track down the right folder, adjust counts manually, or dig through reports. Small slip-ups snowballed into inventory inaccuracies and wasted time.
SOLUTION
Undo was designed as a safety net, so mistakes could be reversed in one click, instead of turning into operational headaches.
1
Toast Notification
Undo is possible for quantity updates and item moves immediately when they happen, for those dreaded 'oh sh*t!' moments.
original action, undone
undone action
4
Mobile Experience
Translated undo solution onto mobile, with parallel behavior. Undo in toast, or within 7 days in Activity History.
Undo from mobile success toast, display time increased to 6 seconds.
Use of sheet overlay to allow for undo reason & notes
TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Designing for trust— making undo feel reliable, not risky
Undo only works if users believe it will. The challenge wasn’t adding a button — it was defining when that button should appear, when it shouldn’t, and how to make every state feel predictable.
Action Performed
Undo Immediately
Undo within 7 days
Defining when undo appears,
and when it doesn't
Undo isn’t universal — it’s contextual. We limited V1 to the two most common, high-impact actions: moves and quantity updates. Users can undo immediately from the toast or later through the Activity History, for up to 7 days. To keep reporting clear, I also redesigned the Activity History filters so users can choose whether to see original actions, undo actions, or both.
Designing clarity for when undo isn't possible
Undo seems simple — until something changes after the original action. We mapped out every edge case where undo could fail, including:
Deleted folders or items
Merged or cloned items
Insufficient quantity
Permission restrictions
Each scenario surfaces a consistent, plain-language message that explains why Undo failed and what to do next. The result: users never feel stuck or confused.
Multiple checks required to determine undo eligibility & success
Activity History Updated User Flow
Turning chaos into simple toast messaging
MEASURING IMPACT
Small button, big behavior shift
Undo turned one of the most common support pain points into a one-click fix. After launch, usage data and support insights showed clear gains in accuracy, confidence, and efficiency.
Some key metrics worth highlighting now 6 months post-launch:
42% drop in CX tickets
relative to move and quantity errors.
97% success rate on undo's
clear validation that edge-case handling worked.
Top 3 mentioned features
based on customer feedback across Q2, Q3
Undo quietly strengthens Sortly’s foundation—making every action safer, faster, and easier to trust.
