Starbucks
Description
Working on the Partner Digital team, which focuses on employee facing tools, I was tasked with the discovery phase for the re-design of the Decision Center, a business tracking application. The application is currently being utilized by multiple levels of company executives, from Store Managers to Regional Vice Presidents.
This project involved working closely with developers, as the application was to be built using the MicroStrategy platform.
UX/UI Designer
Responsibilities
User Research, User Interviews, Comparative Analysis, Personas, Journey Mapping, Wireframing, Card Sorting
the problem
The Decision Center is a tool currently being utilized by Store Managers, District Managers, Regional Directors, and Regional Vice Presidents. The platform houses a large amount of content that make it difficult to navigate and digest. However, the hierarchy of this information differs with each position.
As an MVP, the company asked that we help them create a more simplified, elegant application, with greater visibility to desired metrics, in order to reduce inefficiencies. User research & documentation, persona development, journey mapping, and wireframing were some of the project requirements. Major factors to consider included the unique business metrics utilized by Starbucks, and the difficulties it created with outside-hires. Other factors worth considering were the pain-points unique to store experiences, that would result in an inability for deeper dives on the part of Store Managers.
Requirements Included
1. Conduct and analyze user interviews to refine and finalize characteristics of defined user groups. Also, to map the different user journeys and visualize key moments of opportunity
2. Conduct an audit to evaluate existing content to identify the areas of opportunity where the experience could be improved, and what its strengths are. Also, to review the technological environment the platform was built on and note the constraints surrounding it
3. Create and annotate lo-fidelity wireframe designs of key screens and components in the product experience
heuristic evaluation
I began my research by conducting a heuristic evaluation on the existing application, as well as the MicroStrategy platform, the software currently being utilized by Starbucks to build out the Decision Center application. It was through this, in addition to working alongside Senior Developers, that I was able to understand the capabilities and limitations of my future design.
comparative analysis
I conducted a comparative/competitive analysis on four companies, each selected to better understand current market trends.
interview data
From there, I proceeded to move forward to user interviews. Store Managers (SMs) and District Managers (DMs) were the primary focus of this process, as their unique situation of being in the field yielded more unique pain points and scenarios. These interviews also served to explore and validate observations made through the heuristic evaluation.
findings
1. Although training is provided to assist Store Managers (SMs) on how to run the business, no training was provided on the use of the application. They largely relied on other SMs for assistance, which would be problematic in areas that have a smaller number of stores
2. Time was the largest hindrance for both personas; multi-factor authentication (MFA) greatly slowed the login process. Also, redundant information/sections on the home page, numerous system lags, and unclear informational groupings created an extraneous experience
3. SMs had a unique pain-point with the spontaneity of customer traffic, & having to terminate their session. This made accessing & digesting the material (often times a very specific sub-metric) incredibly difficult when deeper dives were required, as sessions/metrics couldn’t be saved
personas
Through the research, I created personas for the SMs & DMs, but also created proto-personas for Regional Directors & Regional Vice Presidents. As previously stated, Store Managers and District Managers were the primary focus of this project, hence proto-personas were created for the other higher-lever executives.
Journey Maps
wireframes
Future Iterations
Currently, more data is required to move forward on this project. With so many different variables needing to be considered to satisfy such a broad user base, extensive reiterations backed by usability findings will be the key to this applications success. Some of the foreseeable challenges facing this application include simplifying the login process, organizing the database of content to suit the needs of the targeted demographic, and producing a clean design aesthetic for easier visibility. Therefore, standardizing the experience, a strong information architecture, and a minimalist design scheme will play a major role in the future success of this application.
I created some higher-fidelity mockups for how I envisioned this application to turn out.
Tools & techniques
Pen & paper, Sketch, InDesign, Illustrator
Market Research, Heuristic Evaluations, Comparative Analysis, User Interviews, Personas, Journey Maps, Wireframing, Card Sorting