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Zippy: Your personal shopping mall companion

An app which will help you find items on your list easily and navigate the mall hassle-free. It will guide you directly to what you need for a smarter shopping experience.

Client
Self Project
My Role
UX Designer and Researcher
Duration
3 weeks
Team
Myself

Problem Statement

Customers often struggle to locate products in supermarkets, leading to a frustrating shopping experience. The solution must help users verify their location, confirm product availability, and provide the exact aisle along with relevant information. The app should cater to all shoppers with a device, ensuring ease of use and accessibility.
Solution
Created a mobile app that capitalises on the fact that users often have their phones while shopping and that's where they usually have a list of items to buy. The app allows users to create, save, and share their shopping lists, navigate to specific aisles, view current offers, and check the queue status of checkout counters. It also provides a feature to digitally store receipts for future reference.
Zippy Home screen

Design Steps

Discover & Define
Secondary research, Empathy mapping (User scenerio and personas), User research, assumptions.
Develop
Information Architecture, User journey, wireframes, testing and refining
Deliver
Hi- Fedility mockups (Mobile Interface and experience) Prototype

Discover & Define

Secondary Research

I explored multiple websites, research papers, blogs, and survey data to better understand the problem. Below are some of the main findings.

03%

of the users say they purchase their grocery via Internet, although this figure is increasing.

40%

of the users say they go to more than one store due to unavailablity or price of the item.

69%

of the women say they make a list before going for shopping whereas to men this no is 52%.

38k

is the no of supermarkets that exists only in USA, 7o % of which are conventional grocery shops.

70%

females are the primary shoppers for any multi- person household.

57%

of the women say they collect coupons and look for offers for cutting grocery cost.

83%

Of the shoppers use conventional supermarkets regularly for their edible purchases.

68%

of grocery shoppers say they’re solely responsible for doing all the shopping for their family.
The average shopping trip takes 41 mins and if we consider 1.5 trips per week it sum totals to 53 hours in a year.
Source Time Use Institute Food Marketing Institute Progressive Grocer

Role smartphones are playing in supermarkets across the globe

Legends
List of itemsMobile appWifi and connectivityCopy of biils
Source: Nielsen E-commerce and the New Retail Survey

Present technologies and companies working in the field of Building navigation System

MALLY
Computer vision and 3D technology .
Google Indoors
Offers a static view rather than an interactive one
MApp
Provides access to a database of PDF maps
Google’s Project Tango
A prototype smartphone, features a vision processor that will allow it to create 3D maps of interior spaces.
Apple’s iBeacon
Uses Bluetooth low-energy (BLE) wireless technology to provide location-based services
Mubaloo
Combining Wi-Fi with BLE beacons to create indoor navigation
Path Guide
Users can easily find the correct path to their destinations by simply following traces created by a “leader,” or user who has been to the location before.
Navigine
Set up beacon layer and then by integrating the SDK into the mobile application provides navigation inside any third-party mobile app.
Map icon

Primary Research

Due to time limitations, I was unable to contact many people, but I interviewed a few family members and friends to gather their viewpoints. I spoke with 5 individuals, and here are some of the insights I gained.
HEAR
  • Suggestions from family members on the grocery list what to buy  
  • Friends and collegues recomendations
  • Pros and cons of the product
  • Existing offers on the day of buy
HEATHINK AND FEELR
  • Wish to track the expence and shopping details
  • Can locate the product easily and precisely
  • Complete shopping with less effort
  • Don’t want to wait at the checkout queue
  • Can it be done online
Image of shopping lists
SEE
  • Lots of products to choose from
  • Tons of shelves to locate the product on
  • Last months list/bill to get the idea of expense and requirement.
  • Existing offers on the day of buy
  • Long bills
PAIN
  • Making the list of items everytime they go for shopping
  • Locating products
  • Waiting in the queue at checkout
  • Unable to keep track of paper bills
GAIN
  • Buying grocery at once from a single place
  • Can explore and try new items
  • Can avail offers
SAY AND DO
Shopping list
Make a list of grocery (on paper/smartphone)
Queue
Ask family members if they need anything else.
Volunteer
Ask volunteers for help to locate products in supermarket
Checkout counter
Wait in queue for checkout

User Persona

With insights from my literature review, user research, and empathy mapping, I refined my understanding of the problem. I then crafted a user persona to represent a hypothetical user, which informed the design of our solution.
Priya
Priya Bhardwaj
37, married Gurgaon, India
BIO
Priya is a teacher in an international school in Gurgaon. She is married and have three children. She takes care of the family and loves to cook for them. Since she has a busy schedule she prefers buying entire month’s grocery at once. Since the family relies on her so everytime she goes for shopping she confirms with every one if they need something. She also likes to keep track of her expenses and take advantage of the running offers.

"I find it incredibly frustrating to search for every item on my list amidst the seemingly endless rows of a supermarket. It feels like an exhausting task to navigate through countless aisles, and despite my best efforts, I often struggle to locate specific products quickly."

GOALS
  • Buy grocery for an entire month.
  • Track the list of items she needs or bought previously.
  • Locate the products she needs easily.
  • Hastlefree checkout.
PAIN POINTS
  • Unable to locate the products.
  • Product being unavailable after searching for it.
  • Making list of items to buy every month.
  • Long queues at checkout
NEEDS
  • Save time
  • Track expenses
  • Easy navigation and checkout

Develop

In the develop stage, I mapped out user journeys to understand interactions, crafted information architecture to structure content effectively, and created wireframes to visualise the initial design concepts and test usability.

User Journey

The app journey should memic the real life journey of the user. This would help users accomplish the task without any additions steps.
User journey

Information Achitecture

In the information architecture stage, I organised and structured content to ensure users can easily navigate and find information, creating a clear framework for the application's layout and functionality.
Information architecture

Wireframes

In the wireframing stage, I created basic, schematic representations of the interface to outline the structure, layout, and functionality of the design, focusing on the arrangement of elements and user flow without detailed visual design.
Wireframes

Experience Design Solution

Lastly I developed detailed and polished designs that include final visual elements, typography, color schemes, and interactive components. This stage involves refining the look and feel of the interface to closely resemble the final product, ensuring that all design elements are visually cohesive and functional.
Final app section background

Key Screens

Zippy Home screen

Creating a shopping list

Creating a shopping list should be easier and smart so we allows users to add item and their quantities, which is automatically sorted into categories. It also suggests items previously added as reminders. Users can share the list with others, allowing them to view and make adjustments.
Map of supermarket section

Locate: Navigating to facilities and departments

Once in the supermarket, users can see their items organised by department, making shopping quicker and more efficient by minimising unnecessary movement. The app also displays departments based on their distance from the user, allowing for efficient item retrieval. Additionally, essential supermarket facilities like exits, escalators, and restrooms are easily accessible for convenient navigation.
List of items

Locating items on the list

Users can quickly see if an item is available or out of stock on their list. They can then select the item, and the app will direct them to the appropriate aisle or section. Once the item is picked, users can mark it as such, removing it from the live list and helping them track any missing items or confirm that their list is complete.
Image of offers and Queue screen

Offers and Queue status

Users are always on the lookout for deals, and finding a great offer can excite anyone. Offers section of the app highlights all available promotions at the supermarket. By referencing the items on a user’s list, it suggests relevant offers first, and then organises brand and card deals later to ensure nothing is overlooked.
Additionally, the app addresses checkout traffic issues by showing live updates on the congestion at each counter, allowing users to choose a less crowded checkout line for a quicker transaction.

Overview

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Learnings

  • When primary research is limited due to time or resource constraints, secondary research can still provide valuable insights that significantly aid in designing an experience.
  • Replicating a user's real-life journey when creating a digital experience can improve adoption by eliminating unnecessary steps and reducing obstacles.
  • Often, features stem from users’ pain points, so it’s important to ensure each feature addresses a problem, whether minor or major.
  • Explored a new 3D app for map design, which offered a great learning opportunity to grasp the basics and master creating an isometric view.