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Role
UX Researcher & Designer
Timeline
3 Months
Actions
Interviews & Mockups
THE PROBLEM
The global pandemic the novel coronavirus caused changed the way many stores–and shoppers–operated. People lacked and continue to face problems caused by out-of-date information.
THE GOAL
Reduce stress around shopping through community-based sharing of information by providing shoppers with the confidence that information in the app is up-to-date.
OPPORTUNITIES
Research
Study Size
15 people
Ages
18-36
Location
United States/Remote
I used screening surveys on social media. I was curious about young shoppers in particular as young professionals were likely the ones shopping for family or juggling work and life priorities during the pandemic. After interviewing these participants about their shopping habits, I developed the following affinity map of user behaviors and potential solutions to user needs.
The Bottom Line
Users felt frustrated by time spent going to stores for out-of-stock items listed as available online.
Users also expressed increased readiness to trust information from an attendant, rather than an automated answering machine.
80%
Reported inability to buy necessary items.
75%
Currently use digital apps to access store inventory information.
65%
Regularly identify inherent bias in crowd-sourced information.
60%
Agreed that inventory information access would save time before visiting stores.
Design
When creating KrowdShop, I focused on a clean interface which people of all ages could use, given some study respondents spoke of helping elderly neighbors or family members during the pandemic. A description of the home screen is included below:
Initial Revisions
I spent time revising the search screen users would leverage to find information about local inventory levels. View the results below:
Inspiration
Due to user feedback, I decided to focus on location for data visualization. As a data analyst, I knew professionals relied on the Live UA Map for Syria to understand event reporting from geolocated social media.
I realized Krowdshop’s dedication to providing users real-time updates about stocking issues could benefit from this style of information visualization.
I designed the following prototype to display a map at the top portion of the screen. The user has the ability to select a radius which prompts the map image to show comments within that geolocated radius.
Users may then narrow their search with by searching a food item or term. I also added a profile icon for users to fill out location and preferred store information to automate searches if they prefer.
Prototype
OUTCOME
The final design incorporates a color scheme representing recycled products. It conveys to users the comfort of sustainable shopping. The app also makes use of modern design elements for rewarding and useful interactions.
Overall, users care about transparency and reliability when using crowd-sourced information.
They understand the inherent dangers of crowd-sourcing, but trust the human experience over a recorded or uninformed digital one, especially when panic-buying ensues and inventory changes quickly.
Users also care about leveraging community knowledge to plan ahead and reduce time spent searching for items, placing value on their personal and professional lives.
KrowdShop addresses these issues by providing clear visuals users can change to meet their needs, easy access to live and local information, and a rating system for information.