Endless Aisles Kiosk Solution
BestBuy + Microsoft
2022
Service Design
Visual Design
Interaction Design
Adobe XD
Miro
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
Endless - Aisles is an omnichannel strategy to increase footfall in retail stores and reduce the loss of conversion that happens due to a shortage of in-store inventory.
What is 'Endless Aisles'?
Retailers are missing out on nearly $1 trillion in sales because they don’t have on hand what customers want to buy in their stores, according to a study of about 600 households and several retailers conducted in 2018 by IHL Group.
All told, worldwide, shoppers experience $984 billion worth of out-of-stocks, $144.9 billion in North America alone, according to IHL.
Reasons for losses
58.9%
Empty Shelves
13.8%
Can't find help
Endless Aisle refers to the concept of enabling customers in your stores to virtually browse or order a wide range of products that are either out of stock or not available in-store This adds virtual merchandise that is not physically present – but still available for in-store purchase. You can shop from the shelves or pick from the virtual selection. This means customers will either leave the store with shopping bags or online tracking numbers, but they will not have to leave empty-handed.
My Roles and responsibilities
Designing the endless aisles solution through a Kiosk interface design at an MVP level within 4 weeks. Exploring various solution offerings that align with client goals and user needs.
Building a framework to best offset customer dissatisfaction with 'out of stock' items while shopping in a retail store.
Conducting secondary research, ideating, brainstorming, and exploring how might we(s) to analyze the various scenarios that can be considered within the restraint of time and scope.
Mapping the traditional journey to incorporate a match between the system and the real world.
Building information architecture, wireframes, and interactive mockups, as well as various visual assets that present the solution's capabilities.
The Timeline
Week 1
Week 2
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Discover
Secondary Research
Brainstorming
Discovering Pain Points
Define
How might we(s)
Affinity Sorting
User Journey
Design
Fail Points
IA
Low Fidelity
Wireframes
Prototype
The Brief, the scope and the possibilities
The project called for the design of an MVP Endless Aisles solution, with the primary objective of delivering a proof-of-concept, within a challenging timeline. As a result, a straightforward flow tailored to a single-user persona was created.
The scope of the MVP was limited to designing a demo kiosk experience for a hypothetical consumer electronics retailer – ‘SmartBUY’ based out of California, USA. The screen design was made considering a 55” kiosk screen.
To ensure a successful focused experience during the showcase, the flow to reach the desired product page was kept the shortest- with the minimum number of clicks.
The core focus of the kiosk design was to effectively showcase the available inventory. While the prototype design is a promising start, there's room for improvement and opportunity to incorporate additional use case scenarios from multiple user perspectives. Accessibility- with the physical kiosk and its interface design is a huge point of consideration as well. As the project scales, this expansion would be facilitated thorough research into the purchasing behaviour of the target audience to facilitate a holistic buying experience.
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Persona: Sam Smith
About
Age 25
High Tech Proficiency 🥸
Lives in California with his friend in an apartment
Enjoys watching movies & reading books in his free time
Needs
As a young professional in the workforce, he needs to upgrade his gadgets regularly that aid him in his work and personal life.
Goals & Motivations
He likes to experience the gadgets before making a purchase, and enjoys the experience of buying from a physical store.
He is specific about the products that he wants to buy. He prefers to research before making a purchase so that he makes an informed choice.
He is always on the lookout for discounts and best deals while buying a product.
Paint Points
He is used to quick deliveries and does not like when he has to wait for many days to get his product delivered.
Going to large store to pick up gadgets can get exhaustive and daunting as one may not be able to find what they want easily without assistance.
He gets frustrated when he does not get a full visibility of a product and its features when shopping online.
Scenario
Sam is looking to upgrade his iPhone12 to iPhone 13 Pro and intends to go to the nearby SmartBuy Store to take a look at the product and the best deals available on it. He would be open to buying other related apple accessories if he gets a good deal.
He is not looking to buy any large ticket item on his visit today.
How might we(s)
Based on the Pain points and requirement gathering, the areas of concern were redefined as How might we questions and the solutions for them were brainstormed upon.
Tap to expand
Some of the topics discussed were- How might we replicate and elevate the traditional retail experience with the Kiosk, How might we make the kiosk stand out, How might we provide multiple delivery options with limited cognitive load, How might we extend the scope for later iterations etc.
Affinity Sorting
For Analysis and driving insights from How Might We, they were grouped under three categories of interest: How might we attract users to kiosk, how might we create a seamless kiosk experience and how might we design our product’s USP. Under these three categories, the ideas were sorted into thoughts ideation and features.
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Traditional User Journey
For the product to create a seamless experience, there has to be a match between the system's flow and the real world. To better understand the user’s thought process, needs and motivation, the team mapped a traditional user journey of the user making a purchase at a physical store. This would ensure that the design would consider the user's interactions with their surroundings, while also catering to possible edge cases.
Tap to expand
Proposed User Journey
After analysing behaviour of a user in physical store, a new user journey was mapped out for kiosk experience focusing on the interaction of user with kiosk throughout the purchase process and the possible friction points that user might experience.
Tap to expand
Insights
And Opportunities
The customer would not be accustomed to the kiosk interface
The user flow needs to assist the user and prevent information overload.
The kiosk display would play a key role in inviting the customer to use the kiosk.
Design an inviting interactive display, that provides information about the Kiosk's abilities
Since the kiosk is a public device in a retail store, a single user should spend minimal time on the Kiosk to allow more users to access it
The design should facilitate a linear flow that prevents distraction.
Not having the wanted product in the store can be disappointing for the user.
The kiosk’s purchasing options should be able to offset that disappointment to some degree.
Typing on the kiosk would not be comfortable and would require too many taps.
The user should be able to reach the product the require in the easiest manner with least number of clicks possible.
Additionally, we decided to incorporate a movable floating menu, so that its placement can be altered by the users as per their comfort.
Information Architercture
With consideration of the project being a time bound MVP, an information architecture was built for a single task flow, in order to determine the layout and navigation for the screens that the user would interact with to complete the task.
Style Guide
The design principles were defined as the first step of Visual Design to ensure a shared vision between the team members in terms of what we wanted to achieve with the look and feel.
Familiar
Patterns
Intuitive
Design language
Consistent
Simple
Navigation
Time Efficient
Design
Principles
Bold colors that draw attention and give a modern look
Colors
Typography
The alias SmartBuy was created for the product, and this logo to represent the brand
Logo
Wireframing
Multiple iterations created
Visual Design
Challenges and thoughts
The research was mainly conducted at/from desk with insights and requirements shared by the stakeholders as the experience at an electronic retailer is different in India when compared to the US. Conducting user research to gain more insights and receive feedback will definitely lead to improvement in the product.
There was no access to a 55” screen where the prototype could be tested for clarity and ergonomics. However, we tested the prototype on 42” TV screens for clarity regarding scale and aesthetics. The prototype was demonstrated on a touch-screen interactive wall at SVIC, California. Therefore ergonomic testing for the kiosk design was not possible.
High contrast colors were chosen to ensure that the content was visibly accessibility. However, there is huge scope for considering accessibility of use. This can be an opportunity for later phases of the product.
Visibility
The Endless Aisles MVP was launched as a part of Retail Innovation Experience at SVIC, California in November 2022. It was also showcased in the NRF 2023 at New York.
Feedback
"Team on the ground has been very diligent and passionate about this engagement. Even during the second phase team stretched and acted on last-minute requests promptly."
Rajesh Shetti
Director - Microsoft Sales, Wipro
"Great work by the design team and I would take this moment to appreciate their creativity and efforts. Congratulations and keep up the good work!"
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Chaitr Hiremath
Practice Head - UX Design, Wipro
