Background
You may find yourself wondering, "What exactly is Wrap It Up, and how does it tie into Kroger?" Wrap It Up sprouted from a seed of thought, an idea cultivated during a brainstorming session. What began as a spark of creativity evolved into a compelling question: "Could we not only strategize but also design, code, and bring this feature to life?" We late discovered that the answer to our question was YES!
The Vision
With that project taking flight in mid November, "Wrap It Up" unfolds as a personalized shopping experience for 2023, exclusively tailored for customers preferences. Customers navigate through a digital journey by getting to explore their top purchases of the year, fuel and gas savings, and other personalized insights. It's an immersive experience that allows customers to reflect on their grocery shopping recap story, highlighting their unique shopping history for the entire year.
The Future
Following collaborative discussions with fellow designers, developers, and product managers, we agreed that this experience was meant for more than just a feature. While this project couldn't be delivered by the end of the year, we achieved a significant milestone – the delivery of a Proof of Concept (POC) prototype and a comprehensive demo. This design and development has become a focal point of ongoing discussions within the design and development team, as enthusiastic teams actively engage in the realization of the potential of "Wrap It Up" and how it could be evolved in the future.
Phase 1: Empathize & Define
In the beginning stages of launching this project, it became imperative to embark on a comprehensive exploration and research initiative centered around our focal theme. To lay a robust foundation, we strategically segmented our initial discovery phase, channeling our efforts into a meticulous competitive analysis. Our objective was to discern the strategic landscape of Kroger's counterparts, evaluating their current endeavors in the realm of consolidating customer data. This deliberate approach ensured not only a profound understanding of market dynamics but also positioned us strategically to identify potential gaps and opportunities within the industry.
The next part of Phase 1 was to conduct a small brainstorming session to really understand the scope and direction we wanted to go with this Wrap It Up feature. We understand how much opportunity there was within this space of consolidating customer data and providing customers with information that would be interesting to them. Resulting from our Competitor Analysis, we understood other companies were releasing something like this, (Spotify, Reddit, etc). We decided that as for right now, this was going to serve best as a POC (Proof of Concept Design) and that there would need to be more planning and discovery going into 2024.
Phase 2: UserZoom Customer Interviews
In the next phase, we participated in conducting User surveys to gather customer feedback through the platform, UserZoom. This strategic approach allowed us to gather genuine customer analysis and insights, aligning closely with their preferences regarding the features of Wrap It Up. The survey unveiled results, indicating that customers expressed varying degrees of interest in different components of the project. Notably, "Top Shopped Brands" and "Top Shopped Locations of 2023" didn't quite resonate with them. However, were excited about and did display interest in our "Account Info Cards," which had undergone testing. Their excitement underscored the potential and possibilities associated with the design of these cards, providing valuable direction for our project moving forward.
Phase 3: Ideate & Collaborative workshop
Entering Phase 3, we organized a collaborative brainstorming workshop involving all squads, fostering a deeper understanding of team sentiments and aspirations for the project. As the facilitator of the workshop, I organized it into distinct sections, each addressing key aspects essential for our collective and design progress. From establishing clear objectives and delving into background details to conducting a comprehensive competitive analysis, showcasing wireframe demos, engaging in Rose/Thorn/Bud reflections, and finally, presenting designs for the path ahead. This holistic approach not only facilitated internal alignment but also provided a focused scope to guide our concerted efforts and ambitions.
Building on the success of our earlier collaborative design workshop, we took a deliberate step towards enhancing the wireframe options I crafted for "Wrap It Up." Recognizing the immense potential inherent in the project, we prioritized a thorough critique to extract valuable insights. Multiple design options were developed, each serving as a canvas for internal feedback and review. The team actively engaged in providing constructive input, highlighting areas for improvement and offering insights into what could be feasibly accomplished by our developers as we moved forward with the project. This wireframe design process not only enriched the quality of the wireframes but also exemplified our commitment to maximizing the project's potential through a collective and thoughtful approach.
Phase 4: prototyping and Testing
As our team understood the potential inherent in the "Wrap It Up" feature, a collective decision was made to not only acknowledge its capabilities but to manifest our belief in this feature through action. So, in partnership and collaboration with our developers on the Personalization team, we designed and engineered a Proof of Design Concept around this work. Recognizing the significance of delivering a Proof of Concept (POC) internally with Kroger, we embarked on a journey to demonstrate our capability to bring this innovative feature to life. Drawing inspiration from the insights garnered during our previous brainstorming workshops, we selected wireframing options that would serve as the foundation for our POC to move forward with.
However, we aspired to evolve the experience and present more than just a functional aspect. Our goal was to curate an immersive digital customer shopping adventure that went above and beyond expectations. In this endeavor, we seamlessly integrated elements such as customers' top products, favored brands, accrued savings on groceries, and even savings on gas – creating a holistic and engaging showcase of the "Wrap It Up" feature. This ambitious approach not only aimed at proving the technical feasibility but also aimed to captivate and demonstrate the transformative impact this feature could have on the customer shopping journey.
STILL WORK IN PROGRESS :) Prototype video ➡️