Brief
Grocery listing app that need to be quick and easy to use based on specific users habits of young adulthood population in Italy. I had 1 week to work on this project, the product could be improved but for a lack of time I couldn’t conclude it properly. This is a non linear process but I will try to keep it linear to explain what I did.
Problem
On the app store there are many grocery listing applications that loses the love of users.
- Too much minimal design (sometimes not intuitive)
- Irrelevant options and content
- Too much iteration for weekly tasks (you always have to add the same products you buy every week)
Goal
- To build an intuitive grocery listing
- To help them retain their long-term loyalty
- Avoid iteration and save time with functions that allow fast accessibility to the latest products purchased
Competition
Other grocery listings application from recent to older.
My proposal
Give a clean and intuitive design that could help young adulthood population to shop to the grocery store and get emotionally bond, many products are available in different sizes, quantity and brand. People can add their own custom products and add title and description (extreme users) and modify the quantity whenever they want, I will provide also a database of standard products (standard users).
Design process
Research
I researched the age range and habits of users that most likely do the shopping.
How do people organize the shopping currently?
- Grocery list written on paper
- Grocery list written on apps (note, whatsapp etc)
- Dedicated grocery list applications
- none of those listed above
When they use mobile phone?
- Wakeing up
- Meals
- Coffee Break
- Waiting for a meeting
- While traveling
- In public transport
- Before Bed
Target Users
Is a 1 week project, I have set myself a boundary to design a simple solution, and I have interpreted a possible solution for the users.
Scope
Users: people aging 35 to 45 years old that most likely do the shopping.
Market: Young adulthood population in Italy.
Potential user interview
I have selected this age range because they usually do the shopping, in Italy people usually leave the parents home very late and start they own life and own grocery shopping list. I chose this category of people to understand the pain points and their day to day challenges.
- I conduced an initial field research
- I have interviewed 3 friends of mine in the age range I set
- Creation of a persona
My Persona
Empathy map
Ideation and validation
I came up just with a few concepts to solve the problem.
- I have tested the idea with some users
- I inquired my friends to vote for the best idea
User journey
Scamper method
Substitute:
Q. Can i substitute a list of grocery products with a grid with grocery products ?
A. Yes technically is possible to have a grid instead
Q. Can i substitute the search bar with a voice function ?
A. Yes technically we could connect the app to the recording hardware of the device
Combine:
Q. Can i combine whatsapp app and gmail app to share content from my app?
A. Yes by using an “intent function” to pop up other apps with our content and share them.
Q. Can i combine different layouts on the app ?
A. Is possible but could get more confusing we should keep same simple layout.
Adapt:
Q. Can i adapt the layout to all mobile and tablet screen ?
A. Yes technically is possible.
Q. Can I change the app to be also desktop version ?
A. Yes could really be useful to manage grocery list from desktop (big restaurants)
Modify:
Q. How can I add extra value to the app ?
A. Adding a section with promotion and discount that could work with geolocalization.
Put to another use:
Q. Can be used for other purpose and not just for grocery items ?
A. Could be used from handyman that need items for building things, or people that need stock for any kind of business.
Q. Can children use it ?
A. Not for the main purpose of the app.
Q. Can old people use it ?
A. Yes, we should keep it simple to allow old people that are not used to technology to be able to understand how it works.
Eliminate:
Q. How can I make the app even more simple ?
A. Change list layout, make a grid layout instead so that we can fit more items on the phone
Q. What should I eliminate to avoid confusion ?
A. On the main pages we should display only items name, description will be available if we get in the item detailed page.
Rearrange:
Q. Can I rearrange the way users can add or modify an item on the list ?
A. yes we should do a research on touch points and see what works better testing out on real users.
Q. Can I rearrange the way share grocery list ?
A. Instead of sharing on external app, we could keep users on the same app give them the possibility to have accounts and share live lists.
Storyboarding
Visual storyboard to study how they will explore this feature and what are all the circumstances they use in this app.
Wireframes
wireframes based on feedback
Final Prototype
After a quick brainstorming I came up with this design
Conclusion
Based on the research on the age range I set, this would be a good way to display products and functions for a grocery app. The time available is short so I had to make choices based on this as well.
What can I do better?
- More research on competitors apps
- Increase quantity of user testing
- Some functions on the app could be reduced and save more time (this came out while testing the final prototype.)
What I learned?
I learn that time is very important for a project, could change the ways we get to a solution, even the smallest change could improve or make it worst, take time to organize your self on the long run is a good investment.
