stephchung.


serve at lexer.



IN STORE CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT BACKED BY RETAIL DATA



THE BASICS



COMPANY: Lexer, data analytics startup ROLE: Product designer
WEBSITE: lexer.io ​TIMELINE: 3 months





THE CHALLENGE



As the only designer working across 3 different developer teams, I was in charge of leading the creation of a new web application for a tablet use case that would enrich user touchpoints for the main software and introduced a new type of experience to the overall user journey. I had 3 months to take the end to end experience through to beta testing with clients while defining the foundations for a brand new design system.


Defining the problem:

  1. Sales associates who want to increase their ability to better serve customers in a retail environment need a method to understand the entire sales history of a customer.
  2. Head office want a way to better train their in store staff while making more use of sales associate down time when there are quiet periods during open hours.


The main challenges were:

1 Research tablet best practices for UI & interactions

2 Conduct competitor analysis in the industry & any adjacent solutions

3 Work alongside PM to set goals for beta & usability testing

4 Define foundations for a new design system


Here's how I took on these challenges.



ORIGINAL MOCKUP DESIGNS FROM CTO



ORIGINAL WORKFLOW FOR VIEWING CUSTOMER PROFILE





CHALLENGE #1: Research tablet best practices for UI & interactions



The main software for Lexer is a desktop based solution that has set breakpoints for optimal viewing on devices 1000px and up. As such, the company did not have any previous experience designing for smaller devices. I set out to make sure this new application would project the best practices where possible for tablet devices.


SOLUTION

  1. Looked into Apple & Material Design responsive design principles ​for smaller screens
  2. Collated interaction research from notable sources such as NN/g
  3. Guided discussions and documented agreed core principles to follow




CHALLENGE #2: Conduct competitor analysis in the RETAIL SPACE
& any adjacent solutions



Though was a solution that has been done before in the retail industry (i.e. Clienteling), my aim with the research was to understand the landscape we were about to dive into. Initial research showed that many retailers use a very manual process to keep track of valuable customers but a deeper exploration of the digital solutions was needed.


SOLUTION

  1. Deep dive into direct competitors: Tulip & Endear​
  2. Compare tablet experiences for adjacent apps: Lightspeed & Shopify
  3. Analyse findings against the original mockup created by the CTO




CHALLENGE #3: Work alongside PM to set goals for beta
& usability testing



Given the limited timeline to deliver the entire MVP solution within 3 months, we opted to defer more detailed user research to a Beta Testing phase with retail clients. While we had some base user studies from anecdotal examples witnessed by the PM, stricter success metrics were set to look for quick areas of improvement to move the product towards GA.


SOLUTION

  1. Discussed with CEO on benchmarch success metric to prove the value of the solution to decision makers at client offices​
  2. Devised specific criteria for task based usability testing for application setup & configuration to stores for head office users
  3. Conduct usability testing with 2 clients & 3 internal success team members
  4. Based on outcomes of both areas and with dev consolutation, deliver quick fixes where possible




CHALLENGE #4: DEFINE FOUNDATIONS FOR A NEW DESIGN SYSTEM



While there was a preexisting internal design system, it had very rigid guidelines for how each component could be used for a desktop environment only. Thus it was important to figure out how to approach a tablet use case for this new software.


SOLUTION

  1. Understand foundations of Luigi & Atomic Design principles​
  2. Worked with developers to understand any technical limitations
  3. ​Participated in workshops and courses on how to scale design systesm








conclusion



Even though several assumptions around the workflow were not fully tested during MVP development, I'm glad I could create the foundations of the UI and design system in a way that was scalable and incorporated tablet best practices. This also built trust and paved the way for my design recommendations to evolve the main design system because these designs I created "just worked".


It was also a highlight to have successfully advocated for internal testing with Success and conducting Beta Testing programs with prospective users. Something I still strive for with each subsequent project I worked on at Lexer.


Next steps: Consolidate and update guidelines on specific componets based on user feedback from testing



steph chung - UX/UI/PRODUCT DESIGNER


MELBOURNE, AU | WHATSUP@STEPHCHUNG.COM