Costco in-store exclusive app: Helping customers enjoy their shopping journey
Duration: May 2021
Team: Cai-Ling Wang, Yu-Hsin Chou, Yi-Chi Chung
Tool: Mirror, Figma, photoshop
My Role: User research, UX design, prototype
Project Overview
PROBLEM
From interviewing Costco customers from Hsinchu Taiwan, my team and I found out some situations that make their shopping journey less enjoyable.
OUTCOME
We built the in-store exclusive app to provide the assistance that customers need without being disturbed by staff and increase customer engagement.
Demo: how the in-store inclusive app increases customer satisfaction
01. INTERVIEW
We interviewed four participants with a focus on their emotional fluctuations and thoughts.
Q1. What do the participants do during the shopping experience in Costco?
What are their thoughts? What are the touchpoints?
Q2. Is it easy for participants to find a specific item in Costco?
Q3. Where do emotional highs and lows happen? Why?
02. PERSONA
We created a reasonable abstract user persona based on the four participants observed by picking out personal backgrounds, traits, and behavior that were shared in common.
03. USER JOURNEY MAP
We illustrated four individual journey maps based on the interview results about customers' emotions and thoughts. The final user journey map was generated based on not only the individual maps but mainly on the user persona we have created.
Solution
TO SOLVE PROBLEMS
01. A navigation system leading customers to the product
02. A number draw system for checkout to avoid wasting time queuing
03. An instant price calculation system of products in the cart
04. Rearrange dining area to increase dining place and prevent strangers’ gaze
05. Rearrange scooter parking place to be nearer to cart return area
TO IMPROVE THE OVERALL EXPERIENCE
We introduced the peak-end rule and designed two services to further increase excitement
01. An interactive game with prizes to stimulate a joyful and engaging experience
02. Notify customers when they are closed to the saved item in the shopping list
IDEATION
Considering customers might be busy searching for products or carrying their carts, I simplified the user flow and made all the in-app features and information easy to read and manipulate, such as enlarging the fonts or icons, to avoid increasing users' cognitive load.
Design Principle
Intuitive・Consistent・Minimalist・Delightful
Colors
Neutral
Supporting
IN-APP FEATURES: SHOPPING MODE
Customers will be notified to turn on the shopping mode as they arrive at Costco to enjoy the following services.
IN-APP FEATURE 01:
SEARCH PRODUCT & NAVIGATE TO IT
The simple and clear navigation instructions will lead customers to the product they want effortlessly
IN-APP FEATURE 02:
CHECK PRICE
Customers can check the price of every product if they forget by using an in-app camera, and the amount will be added into the cart.
IN-APP FEATURE 03:
JOIN THE CHECKOUT LINE
There is no more need to proceed or time wasted for checkout! The estimated waiting time for checkout will be displayed in the app, and customers can join the line right away.
IN-APP FEATURE 04:
SHOPPING LIST REMINDER
Customers will be reminded when they the items saved in their shopping list are nearby.
IN-APP FEATURE 05:
INTERACTIVE GAME
There are various limit-time stands in Costco, and we design the interactive feature to engage customers' involvement. When getting close to the stand, the customers will be notified to join the interactive game. By choosing one of the treasure boxes, customers will earn coupons that they can use in Costco.
TRAFFIC FLOW ARRANGEMENT:
PARKING & DINING AREA
We redesign the parking area and dining area to resolve customers' difficulties so that customers can enter and leave with ease and safety.
Usability Test
SUS RESULT
We invited three participants to complete six tasks and conduct a usability test with System Usability Scale (SUS) according to their experience with the app. The SUS score is between A and C, with an average score of 75. It means people love this system to some degree but there is much improvement to be made.
Tasks | Feedback |
|---|---|
Draw a number for check-out | Nice, but want to be notified before it is their turn |
Be reminded with the items saved in the shopping list | Nice, but phone battery may drop quickly if the location service needs to be turned on all the way |
Scan a barcode and see how much they have to pay | Nice |
Play an interactive game | Nice. An easy way to win a coupon |
Finding location of the yogurt | It will be better to have related keywords to be referred to while typing product names |
Turn on Shopping Mode | Shopping Mode button should be more distinguishable |
What I Learned
TESTING AND ITERATION MAKE PERFECT.
Considering the app often displays full of products on the screen, I tried to maintain minimalist while designing. However, the SUS test score is lower than expected as some of the users cannot find out the button to turn on Shopping Mode. If we conduct the test earlier, we will have a better idea of the user's mind and make our design more user-friendly.