CONTEXT

Duration
9 Months

Roles
Researcher

Research Methods
Stakeholder Interviews
A/B Testing
Surveys
Focus Groups
Qualitative Testing
Competitor Research
Card Sorting

Background

During my time at Walmart, I had the opportunity to help improve the site experience by better understanding both our target and aspirational customers through intentional and focused research. The dotcom side of Walmart was taking off as more and more customers elected to shop online due to convenience and breadth of assortment, and that sentiment only grew once America was hit by Covid-19. It was imperative that we continued to understand who our customer was and how they shopped as Walmart’s market share grew.

Responsibilities

During my time as a UX Researcher, I was a part of the team that helped launch two new brands, improve PDPs for product types that were hard to purchase online, and helped refine Walmart’s filter feature. I also had the opportunity to be a part of the fastest growing subcategory on all of Walmart.com and learned how to work fast, iterate intentionally, and adapt to stakeholder requests and changes in business objectives.

PROJECTS

Launching Two New Brands

The Home Decor department launched two new private brands, MoDRN and Flower Home by Drew Barrymore. Both of these brands are elevated quality and price points compared to the typical assortment found on Walmart.com. This meant that I had to understand the shopping habits and preferences of -

1. Our current customer base.

2. The target customer we were trying to acquire through the two new private brands.

By better understanding our two types of customers it would help us display and sell the new assortment and maximize its sales potential. This led to conducting A/B tests, qualitative testing, and conducting competitor research to find ways to differentiate the new, elevated assortment from the current assortment found on the site.

Understanding Product Types

As shopping online became more popular, customers wanted to be able to purchase everything they could find in store, online as well. This meant that Product Detail Pages needed to be flushed out with all the necessary information in order for the customer to make the best, most informed decisions possible. Shopping online means the customer isn’t able to physically touch and see the product or the packaging, and that led me to conducting stakeholder interviews, analyzing site reviews, leading focus groups, and competitor research to ensure users could have a positive and seamless shopping experience.

Refining the Filter Feature

The search feature is the most popular way customers find items they’re looking for and frequently rely on the left-hand side filter to narrow down search results to find exactly what they’re looking for. To optimize the site experience and improve search results, I had to match relevant attributes to each product type within the Home Decor department.

TAKEAWAYS

Design for Everyone

Walmart is the nation’s number #1 retailer and that means it must be designed with users of all ages and backgrounds in mind. The design must be accessible and the content displayed must be relevant based on the use case. Designing for everyone contributes to a better site experience as a whole.

Data Driven Decisions

Being able to back up your design decisions with data means you’ve taken an objective approach, and you’ve taken the time to understand your customer and their preferences. UX design is centered around the user, and what better way to design for your user than by conducting the necessary, appropriate user research.