MY ROLE
Lead UX designer & research
TIMELINE
6 week project
CVS
Photo app Redesign
OVERVIEW
CVS Digital Innovation Labs wanted to excel over their competitor convenience stores with photo capabilities by optimizing their photo app.
The Problem
There was known frustration expressed around CVS photo centers and apps. I did initial recruiting and research using usertesting.com to determine what was successful about current photo apps in the market.
THE TEAM
7 members across product, engineering & design for the sprint
Insights
The competitor research resulted in data around specific features users most desired when editing photos, which informed what to include in final functionality.
I also observed qualitative data in terms of which UI elements were successful in terms of helping users navigate and select photos.
In addition to the competitor user testing, I was able to personally visit few CVS storefronts with a product manager to interview store managers who regularly assist customers with their photo services. They expressed that the app was difficult to find, navigate, and was slow loading. This was the problem that our team solved using Google Design Sprint methodology. Learn more about design sprints here.
Note: Outside of the project, I reached out to friends and family who I knew used Walgreens as their photo printing service. They expressed that they use Walgreens because the actual store setup is better. They don't have to wait in the regular checkout line to get photos printed, as Walgreens as their own photo counter and it is a more personal experience. I believe this was a larger problem for CVS than the one we solved for using the app. While I proceeded with the design sprint wholeheartedly, I brought this problem to the team and I expressed that I think it should be heavily considered by upper management to truly accomplish the goal at hand.
Process
In a rush? Skim the bolded text below for my direct contributions
USER JOURNEY
I created a simple user journey and broke it down into clear steps and areas that needed attention. This was referenced and presented to the team as part of the early stages of the design sprint.
DESIGN SPRINT
I helped facilitate a Google Design Sprint and was the lead designer for the project. This five day process resulted in many of my ideas and wireframe sketches being voted on by executives.
Solutions & Results
IMPROVED NPS SCORE
Some debate the reliabilty of NPS scores, but the additional feedback below supports the 60% improvement in NPS score of the CVS photo app.
FINAL DESIGNS & USER
PROBLEMS SOLVED
Here is the full summary of user testing that I conducted and tested on usertesting.com to conclude the project. Overall I was able to solve for a multitude of existing problems in the app through design.
The final designs are accompanied by real user quotes noted during testing.
INITIAL DISCOVERY
Users no longer had trouble finding the photo center and understanding that is was clickable, thanks to the improved design.
NAVIGATION OF PHOTOS
Users no longer had trouble navigating the photos on their phone with the CVS app.
ORDERING CORRECT QUANTITY & SIZES OF PHOTOS
Users no longer had trouble navigating the photos on their phone with the CVS app.
IDENTIFYING PRINTING ISSUES
Users were now able to recognize when photos were low resolution to avoid printing.
ADDITIONALLY
When asked "How would you compare this process to how you normally print photos?," users answered:
“I would say it’s easier, honestly. It’s very straightforward, intuitive, and you eliminate a lot of unnecessary steps.”
“I normally take my phone to Costco and plug it in from photos. Quite honestly, this is a lot simpler because you have to scroll through so many photos there – there’s no categorizations – and so I think this is a lot simpler.”
“I would say the process itself was relatively easy – easy to use in an app form, which is nice. It was missing a few features, like adding text and borders, but I really liked it.”
“Usually I print photos at home, but not on photo paper, so this would be a bonus.”
“I think this is comparable to, if not simpler, than how I usually print photos.”
“It’s fairly similar. I like that I can upload them from my phone so I don’t have to plug my phone into a kiosk and maybe that not working. And that I can pick them up whenever I want and don’t have to worry about waiting around.”
Deliverables
WIREFRAMES & FLOWS
I created and presented these wireframes and user flows to executive stakeholders to get buy in.
...as well as these simplified flows for executives and developers.
DESIGN FILES
Here is a sample of the files I prepared these files for developers, including notations.
CONTINUING THE JOURNEY...
As next steps for stakeholders to envision, I hand-illustrated what the efforts to redesign the photo app might look like as a pathway for even more increased revenue by CVS.
