Shippy is revolutionizing online grocery shopping with its innovative delivery notification system. By pairing smart devices with a temperature-controlled smart box, users can securely receive their groceries, even when they're not home.
Starting with the basic functionality and getting Shippy into the hands of users would help to establish what features or functionality users would want added.
Employing an iterative process, we utilized an agile framework to develop Shippy. Agile process helped the team to build a Minimum Viable Product, which allows us to get Shippy in front of real users to discover what does and does not work in its current form. Using this agile framework, it was important to understand that Shippy will be a constant work in progress and that we needed to first focus on getting its core functionality right before adding on more complex features and offerings.
When thinking about the Shippy experience, the team considered the app from the experience of both the receiver, Lauren, as well as the shipper, Daniel.
When envisioning the appearance of Shippy, our utmost focus was on ensuring user safety. We opted for the color blue as it represents a sense of security, trust, and loyalty.
In addition to our color choices, our aim was to create a contemporary and uncluttered aesthetic for Shippy. We wanted users to feel assured that our product was specifically crafted for the demands of the modern world.
The decision to choose Shippy as our app's name was backed by several factors. Once we defined the fundamental and essential functionalities of the app, it was crucial to gain the support and approval of stakeholders. To achieve this, we crafted mock-ups showcasing the app's key features and value through carefully designed "happy paths."
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We wanted to remind stakeholders that Shippy would be used by real people, in real scenarios, so we provided a quick step-by-sten overview of Lauren’s use case.
Two higher fidelity screens were shown to help establish a picture of the Shippy app in the stakeholders mind.
The inclusion of happy path screens in the Shippy app project effectively established a strong mental model for users, showcasing the app's potential as a valuable tool. By demonstrating our commitment to creating a simple and elegant design, these screens played a crucial role in helping stakeholders grasp the overall flow and functionality of the Shippy app.
Our team conducted user testing sessions with both experienced and inexperienced grocery delivery users to gain valuable insights into the design's usability and identify areas for improvement. This approach helped me understand the effectiveness and intuitiveness of the interface for users with varying levels of familiarity with grocery delivery services.
Gauge the general usability of some of the core flows of the Shippy app to inform future iterations.
These tasks covered the basic functionality that would be offered in the MVP. Determining if/how successfully users could complete these tasks would inform future iterations.
I want you to imagine that you’ve just received Shippy, a temperature controlled, lock box where you’ll be able to receive your incoming packages and grocery deliveries. Can you show me how you would link your phone to the new Shippy box?
Now imagine that you have a grocery delivery scheduled for today, but can’t remember what time it’s supposed to arrive and you need to plan your day. Can you show me how you would figure out what time your delivery will arrive?
After checking the delivery time, you realize you might be out during the delivery window. You know you ordered some frozen food, so you want to make sure the Shippy box is cool by the time the delivery arrives and until you get back. Can you show me how you would make sure your frozen food stays cool?
You are out while the groceries were delivered, but just realized that your [roommate/child/partner] is home. You’d like the groceries to be put away by the time you get back, so you want them to be able to open the Shippy box, so they can get started unloading them. Can you show me how you would do this?
Is there anything you would change about how that process worked ?
First impressions? How did it feel for you to complete that task ?
Was there anything you found particularly difficult about doing this ?
During research synthesis, we looked for common themes among participant feedback that could give direction to future iterations.
Participant 1 was able to successfully complete all 4 tasks, and commented that they wanted more confirmation of action. The participant also wanted greater navigation ability.
Participant 2 was able to complete all 4 tasks and frequently commented about how a certain feature or element felt “familiar” and wanted the Shippy app to have similar conventions to other Apple products.
Overall, participant 3 was able to successfully complete all 4 tasks provided in the Shippy app. Participant 3 felt that there should be additional elements that would help show the system status.
This participant was able to complete all 4 tasks provided in the Shippy app usability test. Overall the participant enjoyed the app, but had the following suggestions and key pieces of feedback:
Our team then organized them into broader themes, such as "lack of feedback." To substantiate these themes, we evaluated which of the Nielsen Norman Group (NN/g) heuristics they closely aligned with. This systematic analysis enabled us to determine the most critical areas for improvement and implement effective design changes that addressed user concerns.
Participants were able to easily discover how to complete a given task, but after doing so, were uncertain if they had completed the task or not. Some participants specifically voiced that they would have expected to see some kind of feedback or confirmation after completing a task. For the feedback, participants expected to see a confirmation modal screen or text confirmation of some sort on the screen.
Participants were able to easily discover how to complete a given task, but after doing so, were uncertain if they had completed the task or not. Some participants specifically voiced that they would have expected to see some kind of feedback or confirmation after completing a task. For the feedback, participants expected to see a confirmation modal screen or text confirmation of some sort on the screen.
Participants were able to easily discover how to complete a given task, but after doing so, were uncertain if they had completed the task or not. Some participants specifically voiced that they would have expected to see some kind of feedback or confirmation after completing a task. For the feedback, participants expected to see a confirmation modal screen or text confirmation of some sort on the screen.
On some screens, participants were unable to navigate backwards to the previous screen. Participants used the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen as a work around when they were unable to return to the previous screen.
Our logo represents safety. The safety icon was created to also represent the letter “S” from Shippy.
The Masterbrand Logo should always be given sufficient breathing space. The recommended guideline for determining this space is by considering the width of the letter "H" in the logo.
Based on the insights uncovered during usability testing, we iterated on our mid- fidelity prototypes to create high-fidelity prototypes that not only had more screen- level detail, but also took into account the feedback we received from users.
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