Embodied Shopping
A redefined shopping experience to make grocery shopping
more simple and easy to navigate.
Role Project Deliverables Duration
Product Design Augmented reality glasses design 1 month
Wireframing User Interface (tablet)
Contextual Inquiry
Overview
Shopping for groceries is a ubiquitous part of our lifestyle, with most families shopping multiple times a week for food and other convenience items. However, grocery stores have been slow to adopt visible technological innovation, relying on traditional notions of travel through the store that maximize patron exposure. These shopping patterns include the “racetrack,” where shoppers are forced to walk the entire perimeter of a store to locate the most common goods. These patterns are potentially lucrative for the notoriously low-margin grocery business, yet can leave shoppers feeling lost and frustrated.
The goal was to understand the needs of the contemporary grocery shopper. We designed a solution that maximizes positive and empowering embodied patterns of interaction between the grocery shopper and the environment.
Research
Contextual Inquiry
We conducted a contextual inquiry within the confines of a grocery store. Working in this location provided the ability to visualize the problem space in the early stages as well as provide access to iterate quickly and get feedback from patrons in a convenient and timely manner. We questioned patrons on what some of the frustrations and problems they experience with grocery shopping are and what improvements to the experience they may suggest.
Here is some feedback we gathered:
Checking out takes a long time
Having trouble finding certain items
Issues getting help when needed
Roleplay & Task Flow
The Payless Grocery store in West Lafayette was recently remodeled which included the option for patrons to be able to scan items as they shopped using handheld scanners. We tested out this system of using the scanner to shop for items and took note of issues and benefits throughout the process. This allowed us to break down what the users were going through and reflects on our own experience.
Affinity Diagramming
Ideation on possible solutions based on research
Analysis
Problem Scope
Once we collected the feedback from our research, here are the key problems we chose to address:
Locating items in store
Reducing unnecessary human interaction
Keeping track of grocery list
Helping customers with dietary needs
Final Design
Part i: Augmented Reality Glasses
Scan one’s grocery list - The grocery list scan is initiated through the tablet. Once the grocery list scanned through the AR glasses, it will display progress on how much of the shopping list is completed and which items still need to be picked up.
Find the best optimal route based on personalized grocery list - Arrows on the ground highlight the optimized route for the shopper to follow. This is based on their shopping list needs.
Display item information - Items found on the shelves that are on the shopper’s grocery list will be highlighted. Picking up an item will automatically display its nutrition and dietary health information.
Alert employees regarding any concerns - Question marks will be displayed above shoppers if he or she has a question that needs to be answered. They will be displayed above the shopper and the aisle for employees to look out for.
Part ii: User Interface Design
The tablet on the grocery cart is automatically synced with the augmented reality glasses. Shoppers are able to view their grocery list to see which items are left, search the store inventory for any items, display a birds-eye map of the store including their personalized route and traffic in the store, list any dietary needs, and checkout directly on the tablet. The tablet complements the augmented reality glasses and streamlines a shopper’s experience to make it quicker and smoother for both the store and the patron.
