CLIENT
John Lewis & Partners
ROLE
Product Designer
UI Designer
DESCRIPTION
I designed an award winning app which transformed the shopping experience.
THE CHALLENGE
To empower in-store employees, or ‘Partners’ and help them provide a better experience for customers when they visit John Lewis stores.
THE TEAM
I worked in an agile delivery team alongside:
1 Product Owner, 1 Delivery Manager, 1 Business Analyst,
1 UX Researcher, 2 x Developers, 1 Data Analyst , 1 QA.
PROJECT GOALS
1 . Increase Partner happiness.
2 . Increase Partner efficiency.
3 . Increase Partner productivity.
4 . Keep John Lewis customers informed and engaged.
PRODUCT FEASIBILITY
John Lewis provided our team with Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), these KPIs would determine if the Partner App initiative would secure funding.
We used a trial app (a stripped down and modified version of the existing iOS customer app) in the Cambridge branch of John Lewis, with a handful of Partners.
We conducted exploratory research by using a mixture of surveys and in-store user interviews with Partners to gain an understanding of opinions, needs and motivations.
The initial research findings contributed to a business plan, which was given, to the board of Directors who then determined that the Partner App was to be implemented in select John Lewis stores.
RESEARCH
Once we established that the product was feasible, we invited senior stakeholders, store managers and Partners from different departments into our head office in order to understand problems that they encountered while working in-store.
I synthesised this data and began to group it so we could identify trends. Two personas were identified, which included the ‘Stare & Share Partner’ a user that needs to share a screen with customers regularly (e.g. showing product specifications to a customer). And, the ‘Scan & Scuttle Partner’, a user who is much more mobile on the shop floor and doesn’t need to share a screen with customers as often (e.g. a Store Manager).
The main user pain points were:
Product Information - Partners would have to share a limited number of terminals (static computers) scattered around the shop floor in order to give product specifications and information to customers. This wasn't ideal during busy periods, or if they were covering other Partner’s shifts or beaks in unfamiliar departments.
Recommending the right product - At times, some Partners felt that they didn’t know which product would better suit the customer’s requirements. This was especially true in the Electrical Department where there are a host of similar products for the customer to choose from.
Stock levels - Partners would have to use terminals to check if items were in stock, however, in some cases, when the terminals were already in use, they would have to leave the customer on the shop floor in order to check the stock room for items.
Completing a sale - During busy times in store, customers would often prefer to shop online, rather than wait in a long queue (especially in flagship stores or during sale periods).
“Shyam is a joy to work with. He is a calm, considered and incredibly talented designer with a deep understanding of his discipline. Shyam is brilliant at creating ideas and solutions that solve customer pain points.”
- Senior UX Designer, John Lewis
TESTING DESIGN CONCEPTS
I began tackling the problem areas that we had defined by generating a range of ideas and designing concepts. I presented the concepts back to the team and we prioritised them and created a product road map. This was based on on the effort it would require to implement them, the impact it would have on in-store Partners and the return on investment to John Lewis as a business.
I created multiple prototypes that were representations of how the concepts would look and feel and returned to the Cambridge store several times to observe Partners and test the prototypes with them. Allowing them to use the prototype in their place of work helped me achieve a more accurate representation of how the app would be used in its real environment.
PRODUCT LAUNCH
After multiple tests and iterations, I collaborated with developers, who built the designs and QA Testers, who ensured that what was being built, looked and behaved as it should.
We launched a Beta version of the app to the Cambridge store and regularly released app updates with bug fixes, improvements based on feedback from surveys and data analysis and new functionality that addressed users’ problem areas.
WORKING MULTIPLE PROJECTS
Simultaneously to the Partner App project, John Lewis was undergoing a company rebrand. I worked closely with the Lead Designer of the rebrand project and contributed to the design system from an app perspective.
The rebrand was successfully launched on all digital platforms later that year.
RESULTS AND OUTCOMES
The solutions we implemented were tested with users and addressed the key problem areas that were defined during the early stages of the project.
Product Information - Partners now have access to information and specifications for over 300,000 products at their fingertips.
Recommending the right product - Partners are now able to use the app to view two products side by side, thus enabling customers to compare them at the same time.
Stock levels - Partners now have easy access to stock information for the store that they worked in, every other store across the UK as well as online stock levels.
Completing a sale - Partners were now able to complete a sale using the app, which means no more long queues for customers.
Keeping customers engaged - Partners are now able to create a 'basket' of products to share with customers via email. Allowing customers to complete purchases in their own time.
MEASURING SUCCESS
Before the Beta trial in Cambridge, John Lewis had the ambition of staggering the release of the app to selected stores over several years. After the success of the Beta trial, they decided to launch the app in all 48 stores nationwide within the space of one year.
A period of time after launching in all stores, we ran surveys to gauge Partner satisfaction, analysis revealed:
94% Increased Partner efficiency - since using the app at work.
84% Improved confidence - when working in an unfamiliar department with the app.
84% of Partners would recommend the Customer App - Improving customer engagement and giving a better omnichannel experience.
The Partner App also won an ‘Engage Award’ in the ‘Best Customer and Employee Engagement’ category.
KEY LEARNINGS
Some of the initial problems Partners faced were somewhat solved by using features from the existing Customer App.
We collaborated with the Customer App Team and adapted those features to suit our user's specific needs.
This saved us time and development effort, while allowing us to implement a solution quickly.
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