Ux Research

Amazon Leaf

An app concept for Whole Foods shoppers who want to learn about food sustainability.

Problem

Many Whole Foods shoppers are interested in their food's impact and where it comes from, although other factors are involved in their food purchasing decisions. Apps that educate people on food sustainability do exist, but they are not widely known or used. Additionally, Whole Foods made history as one of the first grocery stores to focus on organic, local foods. Now, they've lost their advantage as many grocery stores now offer these options.

Solution

AmazonLeaf is an app that rewards Whole Foods shoppers for making sustainable grocery shopping choices. The more sustainable a product they purchase is, the more points they earn. They can then redeem the points for products in the app. This app would also position Whole Foods/Amazon as leaders in the sustainable grocery sector.

Type

  • School Project

Space

  • Grocery

Teammates

Michael Carreon
Jenn Renteria

My role

  • UX Research
  • UX Design

Target audience

  • Whole Foods Shoppers Ages 30 - 45

Deliverables

App prototype

Tools

  • Adobe Illustrator
  • Figma

timeframe

2020 (4 weeks)

Deliverables

  • App Arototype

Tools

  • Adobe Illustrator
  • Figma

timeframe

2020 | 4 weeks
Empathize

Process

How might we create a rewarding shopping experience for Whole Foods shoppers who are interested in food sustainability while differentiating Whole Foods as leading the way in food transparency and sustainability?
jump to prototype
1

Empathize

  • Research
  • Interviews
2

define

  • Card Sorting
  • Journey Map
3

ideate

  • Paper Prototyping
  • Wireframes
  • Sitemap
4

prototype

  • Final Prototype
5

Test

  • Lessons Learned
Empathize

Research

I started the project off by learning about food sustainability. Because food production is a part of a large global supply chain, it became clear that the app would be delving into more than just emissions. For instance, I learned that asparagus can have a larger greenhouse footprint than pork if they are transported using an airplane. I identified 6 key metrics: emissions, water use, land use, packaging materials, and transportation methods.
EXG & Clean Metrics, 2011

Emissions by type of food

01 / 05
Science Journal, 2018

Food miles by type of Transportation

02 / 05
UN Food & Agriculture, 2019

global Land Use

03 / 05
EPA, 2019

Plastic Generation & recovery 1960 - 2007

04 / 05
Wada, et al, 2011

Global Water Use

05 / 05
Empathize

Research & Interviews

I started the project off by learning about food sustainability. I identified 6 key metrics: emissions, water use, land use, packaging materials, and transportation methods. To learn more about consumer motivations and attitudes, I  conducted interviews with 5 Whole Foods shoppers. It was interesting to learn what motivations people had when choosing grocery items.

Affordability

"Price is an important factor for me"

Diet/Health

"I shop at Whole Foods because they have hypoallergenc options"

quality

"I will shop around for the best quality"

trust

"I buy the same kind of milk because I know that it lasts longer"

sustainability

"I buy mostly plant-based food because it's more sustainable"

appeal

"I like fun packaging with an appealing brand story"
Define

Card sorting

Based on my interviews, my team and I wrote down potential features for the app. We then conducted the card sort with new participants, who grouped the potential features together. From this process, we gained insight into what features would make sense in the app and how they may be structured.
Define

Journey Map

Once I had a better understanding of how a user might use our app, I built a Journey map to understand a consumer's thought process.

Jennifer

Age: 35
Occupation: Lawyer
Diet: Tries to eat mostly healthy food
Grocery stores: Whole Foods & Trader Joe's

scenario

  • Jennifer is at Whole Foods
  • She is using Amazon Leaf app for the first time

expectations

  • The app will be easy to use
  • There will be understandable sustainability information

1. Discover

in store
Gets to Whole Foods and sees products that she's familiar with
in app
Opens Amazon Leaf for the first time
in app
Learns about how she can earn points in the app by making sustainable purchases online or in store
in app
Learns that she can redeem points for products in Whole Foods or Amazon Fresh

2. Understand

    in store
    Browses through some chips
    in store
    Finds a chip product that she wants to learn about
    in App
    Scans or searches the chips in the app
    in App
    Finds the chip product and starts scrolling through its sustainability information

    3. Compare

    in app
    Compares the chips that she selected with other chips
    in app
    Learns that the chips that she selected use 60% less plastic in their packaging than other brands

    4. Decide

    in store
    Selects the chips and a few other items in store
    in app
    Sees that she can either add her items in a "list" that connects to online purchases or she can buy products in store
    in store
    Purchases her items
    in app
    Her rewards points are sent to the app
    Ideate

    Paper Prototyping

    After completing the initial research, we moved forward with prototyping. We created a paper prototype and tested them with several participants. From this process, we learned about what users may hope to discover through the app.
    Ideate

    Navigation Overview

    Ideate

    Wireframes

    Discover & Rewards

    01-Navigation

    We simplified the navigation & added a tab for better reachability.

    02-Discover

    We changed “home” to “discover,” because we want users to see it as inviting.

    03-Featured Brands

    We changed “suggested products” to “featured brands” to better showcase sustainable brands.

    04-Rewards Page

    We created a new page for rewards so that users can digest information more easily.

    05-Product picture

    We first had a logo to convey a brand, and we changed it to a product picture to better connect with customers.

    06-identifiable UI elements

    We did a color inverse so that the point containers don’t look like buttons.
    Products

    01-products

    We changed “browse items” to “products” to be closer to consumer vocabulary.

    02-Improved layout

    We simplified the products view to be more straightforward and categorized.
    ITem

    01-Point system

    We created point system with more hierarchy and visual interest.

    02-package ratings

    We created an easy to read package rating system so that users can understand this concept.

    03-Sustainability metrics

    We used clearer language for the sustainability metrics for better user understanding.

    04-Sustainability charts

    We created a set of "top 3 competitors" charts for users to compare items visually.

    05-Sustainability metric cards

    We moved the sustainability metrics onto cards differentiated by color to facilitate user understanding.

    06-origin & transportation

    We created a separate section for origin and transportation so that this information doesn't get lost in the metrics.

    07-Quick fact

    We changed the quick fact to a chart to convey the information more visually.
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    Branding

    Illustration Style

    Prototype

    Final Prototype

    Test

    Lessons Learned

    This project is Hypothetical

    After getting more feedback on this project, it was clear to me that it might not work in real-life, due to business and consumer considerations. If I had to do it over again, I would create it as a 3rd party business.

    teamwork = better uX

    Working with 3 people on this project allowed us to leverage each of our skills. I lead the user experience research, and each team discussion that we had, we learned more about how we could improve the app.

    Get user feedback early on

    Doing a paper prototype in the beginning allowed us to get user feedback that helped shape the app early on and clarify confusing features.
    Empathize

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