top of page
Walmart Global Tech
UX Design Exercise
Overview
1. The Walmart app offers a vast array of services and departments that are available to customers. However, most customers utilize only several of these services on a regular basis.
2. I will be highlighting some ideas and designs for ways to make services more prioritized and discoverable for each user. This way they can have a more personalized and efficient experience when using the Walmart mobile app.
Opportunities for UX Improvement - Services and Departments
Services and Departments
For this conceptual project, I looked through the Walmart app to find certain key surfaces in which services and departments can be better organized for each user.
​
The first major surface I looked into was the "services" tab. In this section of the app, I found several areas of improvement for the UI/UX
- Visual hierarchy
- A greater emphasis on information architecture for users to better find and understand each service
​
Next, I found the Departments screen by tapping on "shop by category". I found that this screen could be better organized as well for users to find what they are looking for more quickly. Here is another opportunity to include some personalization for the user's priorities when shopping at Walmart.
​
Some information needed to further solidify these design recommendations would be statistics on how often users use each service and the number of services used consistently by the each user.
Services
Departments
Personalization
With a greater emphasis on personalization, the user's services tab and departments screen could be tailored to make most used services and departments be more accessible. Based on the users activity, the hierarchy of services could be dynamic and much more efficient for consistent users of the app. Services could also be organized by relevance to increase user engagement based on holidays and other occasions.
​
Some information needed to solidify this recommendation would be user data to make personalized suggestions of services for users.
Research and Competitor Analysis
To begin, I did some research on the services that are most used by customers at Walmart.
I researched Walmart App reviews across the internet from Google and the Apple App store. What I found was that users were primarily describing one or two features that they consistently use most within the App.
Competitor Analysis
When doing some competitor analysis, I looked at shopping apps and large retailers to identify how they display their services and departments and if they personalize the experience to their users. I first looked into Amazon and Target's mobile apps to see how they organize services and major product groups within their app. Some key takeaways were as follows:
​
Amazon:
- Departments are hidden behind a hamburger menu and under a "see all" (3 clicks)
- Can quickly find the department you are looking for by name because it is organized alphabetically
- Not ideal for department discovery if you do not know exactly what you are looking for
​
Target:
- Much more visual
- Information is organized by relevance
- Categories are paired with image thumbnails
- Search is available for further discovery or to find a specific category
​
Neither app puts much emphasis on personalization in the organization and hierarchy of services and departments. This could be a competitive advantage for Walmart and a better experience for customers.
Amazon
Target
Users and Audience
The Walmart App has 68 million users. With this redesign, I am targeting new users that may not have known about some of Walmart's services, and seeking to improve the efficiency for users habitually using a small number of services.
Discovery
Personalization
Mockups
Services - Before
Services - After
Departments - Before
Departments - After
Interaction Design
UX Research and Testing
A/B Tests and User Interviews
To test these re-designs, I would run several A/B tests and get feedback from users/customers directly. I would also ask specific questions such as:
- "How many services have you used through the app?"
- "Which design makes it easier to find what you are usually looking for?"
UX Data Analysis
Another effective method to test my hypothesis is to roll out an MVP of the new designs and analyze the data on how users use the new features. If there is a clear increase in the number of clicks on suggested services and top departments, the designs would be considered successful.
Another data analysis metric would be how often users tap on services and departments that they have not yet visited. If there is an increase in visits, the designs would also be validated for discovery.
Next Steps
If the suggested designs and increased personalization prove to increase user retention and the satisfaction of customers, I would suggest pursuing more personalization in other surfaces of the app.
For example, the shop tab could feature more personalized recommendations for users based on the departments and services they usually use.
​
From the user's perspective this would condense the app into key functionalities that make their shopping experience efficient and easily accessible.
bottom of page