GS1 US Data Hub

A suite of tools for driving reliable data to grow your business

 

Even though access to GTIN.Cloud is included with the GS1 UPC Barcode Service, one of the promoted benefits of licensing a Company Prefix from GS1 is access to an optional online tool called the Data Hub. As part of GS1 Barcode Service/Support packages, our consultants personally assist members with assigning GTINs and managing their UPC product data using both cloud databases and the GS1 Data Hub. While the GS1 Data Hub is a conduit to the “Verified By GS1” initiative, it has some constricting limitations and should not be the sole source of managing UPC barcode product data.

While GS1 is a “non-profit” standards organization and the sole licensor of GTINs/Company Prefixes,  they also monetize the product data their members enter in the GS1 Data Hub.  To entice new members, limited access to the Data Hub is automatically provided with membership subscriptions and renewals.

GS1 US Data Hub is a suite of online tools for GS1 Standards-based product and location data, information about GS1 Company Prefix licensees, barcode creation, and sharing data with trading partners. It helps companies to improve the quality of data in their businesses and applications.

GS1 US Data Hub identifies, creates, manages, uses, and verifies data through one convenient, data-shareable platform. It allows users to select from several data sets and formats to fit their preferences and requirements. GS1 US Data Hub users can download files and information to use and integrate with other applications.

GS1 US Data Hub features include Remove guesswork and worry from creating barcodes, Improve product data security, Simplify sharing basic product data, Simplify managing GS1 Company Prefix, Improve location accuracy in operations, Add and manage location information easily, share and search location information easily, connect with trading partners and more. Its integrated tools within GS1 US Data Hub help improve key business processes.

GS1 US Data Hub^® combines three powerful online tools. Now you can easily identify, create, manage, use, and verify data through one convenient, data-sharable platform. Powered by GS1 Standards, the integrated tools within GS1 US Data Hub help improve your key business processes by:

• Creating and managing product identification data like U.P.C.s and barcodes
• Using accurate location data to drive accurate shipments
• Identifying companies and products associated with data and barcodes
• Creating, using, and sharing quality data
• Validating GTIN structure and availability of key attributes for Verified by GS1

Data Hub Basics

Out of the four components of the GS1 US Data Hub, the Product Create/Manage functionality is available to companies who correctly obtain a GS1 Company Prefix. Each member company automatically gets a limited free subscription for one user as a benefit of their GS1 US® membership.

Product – Create/Manage: This is the primary tool included with licensing a GS1 Company Prefix, which is a centralized location for managing GTIN assignments and limited product data. Only one user account is included – access for additional users may be purchased (starting at $1000).  Rather than recording UPC (GTIN) assignments in a local spreadsheet, companies can maintain their assignments online. It is important to note that although some retailers can access the Data Hub, they do not use the Data Hub to discover products or consume data for their internal systems. Most retailers and marketplaces, including Amazon and Google, require significantly more product attributes and images and require suppliers to enter their data directly on their own platforms.

Since we administer barcode compliance for numerous retailers, we commonly see mismanaged UPC assignments when an individual within a company has kept the product barcode data on a local computer or didn’t train someone adequately on what needs to be done to maintain accurate UPC assignments.  As an online repository, this allows new employees visibility on what has been previously assigned.  As part of the GS1 Barcode Service/Support subscriptions, our individual barcode consultants can either handle all aspects of managing GTIN information for the Data Hub or simply validate the data entered is correct.

When the first iteration of the Data Hub was released ten years ago, it was called the “Data Driver”. GS1 wanted to provide a mechanism to help members adhere by their global standards and act as a storage mechanism for UPC assignments. As a way to justify their annual renewal fees, GS1 wanted to bolster up and promote the Data Hub as their main repository. The issue is that GS1 also owns the large-scale GDSN (Global Data Synchronization Network) which is the infrastructure for trading partners to share product data with a wide array of attributes. The Data Hub does NOT synch with their GDSN network and does not provide the functionality to adequately share data. To new companies, this concept of product data catalogues and the GDSN is somewhat foreign and complex. Consequently, it is imperative to understand the fundamental purpose of the Data Hub and know it’s short-comings.

Data Hub Constraints

• Limited Export Capabiliites – Whereas a UPC (GTIN-12) is commonly used on the indvidual products (eaches), GTIN-14 are used for the varying levels of packaging. GS1 has standards on how to convert GTIN-12s to GTINs for case markings and the assignments/correlation can be saved to the Data Hub. Unfortunately, GS1 does not allow companies to EXPORT their own GTIN-12/GTIN-14 data unless they spend $4500 more on a “add-on” export function. Consequently, our consultants normally save GTIN-14 data in other cloud databases which enable clients to export ALL their product data without having to spend addional money with GS1.

• Support Constraints – Since GS1 is truly just the global standards organization, they do not provide immediate technical support for this ancillary tool. There have been numerous occurances when Data Hub functionality has been inoperable and the corrections took weeks.

• Confusing Barcode Functionality – Although the Data Hub conveys that the barcode images it provides are low resolution (.PNG files) and not for use on packaging or labels, our testing label constantly uncovers issues where a company made a mistake and used the PNG for package artwork rather than a for-position-only graphic.

• Limited Attributes – The Data Hub only requires a handful of data attributes ( i.e. name, size, weight, etc), and most trading partners’ data requirements involve 20-100 different data attributes. Amazon requires at least 30 different data fields for each product so the GS1 Data Hub is normally incomplete and not usuable as a central repository.

Design Process

User Research

Working with the customer support and business teams at GS1 we were able to identify a set of user archetypes for Data Hub. We looked at the types of customers using the current tools and identified usage patterns (number of times they’ve logged in, number of products created, etc.), and were able to boil the user base down into personas. These personas allowed us to customize different areas of the tool for different use cases.
Interestingly, we were provided with a few years worth of user “feedback” records which we were able to aggregate into recurring themes. This allowed us to pinpoint a few exact areas of improvement needed for redesign.

Journey Mapping

Once we knew who was using Data Hub, we were able to discuss with those users their journey through the tool. This journey map gave us insight to each user archetypes experience in using the current platform. We were able to identify painpoints in the experience, touchpoints between GS1 and their customers (whether it be by email or calls to support), and areas of inefficiency (why does it take so many steps to get through this part of the journey?). These journey maps helped us tailor the experience for those user groups with a real focus on building a great user experience.

User Story Maps

After we had identified the user base and their unique journeys (along with areas in which we could improve those journeys), we worked in a group setting to brainstorm what a great experience for those users might look like. We did this by creating user story maps. During this exercise we were able to break a GS1 customer’s experience down into tasks that they would perform to ultimately complete a goal. Using sticky notes as a platform for organizing these ideas, we made sure all stakeholders were able to express their ideas. This exercise helped to get everyone on the same page, and also helped the project management team build stories to be used during sprint planning.

Wireframes

Working with an agile environment, we then set out to design each of the features in a demonstrable format. One that the developers could use to begin their work. Each sprint involved designing a set of wireframes to be used as a prototype for the features to be completed.

Design System

Because there were many development teams involved in building out various features, one of our first tasks was to create a design system and styleguide for all teams to be able to use to maintain consistency and ensure quality front-end development across all features. I worked with the front end teams to build this style guide and living design system (with reusable code) to be shared among all GS1 sprint teams.

Mockups

Once all stakeholders saw and approved of the feature prototypes, we were able to put the finishing touches on the design using the design system.

nastya