Improving the grocery shopping experience
Project Overview
As part of the admissions process for General Assembly’s UXDI program, I was asked to complete a design challenge to show why I am a good fit. I chose to create a simple design for a mobile app that would improve the grocery shopping experience.
My main goal was to investigate the pain points of grocery shopping and design an app that resolves them.
To visualize and better understand my findings, developed user personas of grocery shoppers to build the necessary digital platforms and models to meet their needs. This was an individually done project.
UX Toolkit
Google Survey
Excel
Balsamiq
Canva
UX Skills
User Research
Survey Design
Data Processing
Wireframing
The Process
User Research
In order to better understand my users, I made an anonymous survey using Google Forms. The survey was piloted and circulated among my social media network. I used a combination of multiple choice and open ended questions in order to support quantitative results with qualitative anecdotes.
Research Questions
What are the pain points experienced when grocery shopping?
What makes people choose the grocery store they shop at?
In what situations do people feel anxious while shopping? How do they address this?
Are there parts of grocery shopping that are enjoyable? What are they?
What are the difference between people who cook vs. people who dine out? How do they choose?
Do people regularly go to difference grocery stores? For what reasons?
Survey Design
15 participants collected over 24 hours
10 females, 5 males
Data Processing
I used affinity mapping to find patterns and aggregate qualitative findings into visuals and personas. These findings would later inform my design.
How often do you dine out or order in?
Those who dine out every day indicated that they do so because they (1) can’t cook and (2) cannot manage their time.
How often do you cook?
For those who cook, 6/15 said they do so because it’s healthier, and 7/15 said because it’s cheaper.
“I enjoy shopping other than carrying the heavy bags back home”
"Too much time spent at cashier line up”
“I’m afraid of buying stuff I don’t need”
Key Findings
Two distinct groups emerged out of the data patterns: students and professionals.
Students’ main pain points:
- not having transportation to the store
- inexperience in cooking
Professionals’ main pain points:
- produce selection
Both groups were concerned for time and prices.
Personas
Student Persona
Professional Persona
Design
App Features
Considering the above key findings, I included the following features in the app:
Recommends a store based on your current grocery list and grocery experience preferences (distance to store, prices, line up at checkout...)
Helps you learn new recipes
Finds you a ride to the store or allows you to give rides
Wireframes
Homepage
User is first prompted to an initial survey page to personalize their app experience. Grocery experience preferences will be used to inform results in “Find a Store” feature.
Homepage is a basic grocery list builder. This makes for a simple and useful interface.
Find a Store
“Find a Store” feature provides list of recommended stores based on current grocery list. User can either navigate to store, or can view details of the store recommendation.
Recipes
Designed for cooking newbies, “Recipes” feature allows user to browse recipes and directly add ingredients to homepage grocery list.
Carpool
“Carpool” feature solves transportation pain point by encouraging carpooling between users. Uber-like system gives users option of providing a ride or receiving a ride.
