This was part of an 8-week internship with electronics distributor Berrylink Cellular. The overarching objective of the internship was to research, design, and prototype a demo app for Berrylink Senior Management to gauge if an app would be a good or bad long term investment
Duration: 2 Months
Roles: User Researcher, Interaction Designer
Deliverables: Competitor Analysis, User Survey, User Personas, Wireframes, Mockups, Prototype
Tools: Adobe XD, Adobe Photoshop, Invision
Understanding how to analyze and use research data to put myself in the user’s shoes. No matter what your assumptions are, and how you think the product “should” look and work, nothing beats user research and finding out how users “actually feel” and what they are “actually thinking.”
When designing a new product, there are moments you may not have all the answers on what to do, always be humble and be open to asking for advice.
Every new project, no matter how easy small, large, easy or difficult is an opportunity to learn. Try new projects especially if they are outside your comfort zone and be ready to learn and grow.
Berry Link Cellular currently serves as the premier electronics store on the island of Tobago. When customers are interested in finding out what is in stock, out of stock, or have questions, the only currently available option is to call the store or visit the physical store which can be inconvenient depending on their location.
A great user experience is one which meets user’s needs and expectations while achieving business goals. To achieve this, I gathered deep meaningful insights about the topic through interviewing 7 individuals to learn more about their shopping habits and experience with Berrylink.
A few of the questions asked during the interview:
1. What does your typical work day look like?
2. Tell me about the last time you tried to find the best deal on electronics?
3. Do you trust Berrylink when shopping for electronics ?
4. What do you like about shopping at BerryLink?
5. What do you like the least about shopping at BerryLink?
6. What are you currently doing to make this problem easier?
7. What do you think can be improved about the shopping experience?
As part of my research, I conducted a competitive analysis to identify the top 3 competitors in the market, identify opportunities and threats of this market, and analyze the weaknesses of each product to determine a gap that Berrylink can fill.
Competitive analysis of Top 3 Competitors
Post Evaluation
Existing shopping resources available on the island of Tobago also do not have a mobile app to find out what is available and face similar challenges as Berrylink. Competitors currently try to outcompete each other based on price-point rather than quality of service.
1. None of the stores currently have mobile apps
2. No store has a quick user-friendly way for loyal customers to find out about deals and what products are in stock
3. Customers would reach out to stores via email and direct messages on social media to avoid going into stores
4. Customers find it challenging at times to stay up to date on what deals and products are available at Berrylink
5. Customers not currently doing anything to make problem easier, they just call when they have a question or visit social media
6. Customers want quicker service in stores and when calling with questions
7. Want quick updates when there is a deal before it is gone
8. Amazon was their favorite international shopping app but import costs when items get to the country are expensive.
9. All participants would love a solution to avoid calling or visiting stores to get updates
The development of user personas is pivotal when designing a product that solves a real problem in order to get a good understanding of our target audience attributes, goals, and pain points. Using research insights, I created two main Personas to represent the users of this product.
The pain point IS significant! Current customers are active seek a way to stay up to date on deals, discounts, inventory and order status without the hassle of calling, visiting the store or emailing.
User scenarios assist in visualizing how the user will interact with your product or service. Some of the scenarios explored included: Discover products, Check order status , Edit Profile, Ask Berrylink a question, Enter Credit Card Info
After developing the basic user flow, and user scenarios for the app, I went to ideate the key features and the interactions a user takes. Below is a quick snapshot of the 3 main screens.
SCREEN 1
Users have the option of easily selecting from a variety of categories with a quick scroll. They can see what's new, what's popular and new deals are available.
SCREEN 2
Prospective customers get a well organized snapshot of the product, key decision making information and can learn more by clicking "See Product Details"
SCREEN 3
Wohoooo! A customer made the decision to purchase a product. They can easily enter their card information or select from a variety of payment methods to complete the transaction then save this information to make future transactions easier.
To learn more about what current customers would respond positively or negatively too, I crafted a few mockups to test with current customers, gather feedback and then iterate to create the final product.
After developing the high fidelity mockups, I reached out to 4 of the initial interview participants from the research phase to get some feedback on the solution developed. Due to time and location constraints, the test had to be conducted virtually.
Some of the usability test questions asked during testing of the prototype:
1. If you were looking for cell phones available, where would you expect to find it?
2. When you see amazon alexa product page screen, what is the first thing you notice?
3. Do you like the interface? Is it easy to use?
4. What do you think about how information and features are laid out?
5. If you could modify the homescreen, what would you change about it?
6. What did you think of the on-page explanations?
7. What did you dislike about the Berrylink Express application experience?
8. What did you like about the Berrylink Express application experience?
9. What did you think of the checkout experience?
1. 3/4 individuals did not like the font size and wanted it to be larger
2. All participants loved the concept since there was no other electronic store on the island with an app to see what is available. They asked if it was possible to download app now and start using it.
3. 2/4 participants mentioned the homescreen should have more information about categories of good available without having to click around.
4. 2/4 participants said the checkout experience feels long. They wish they could just take a picture of their credit card and auto-fill the fields to save time. I then showed them the that feature was available. They did not notice it at first glance and I need to make it more noticeable.
