Need-finding, Empathy Maps & Prototyping for grocery shoppers
This article depicts the implementation of how we’ve conducted need-finding & drawn empathy maps based on our excerpts and learnings from the Intro to HCI course @UC Berkeley.
What is a User Need?
The need should be real, should belong to users, should not be made up by the team, and should not be phrased as a solution. Stay away from features, interface components, and specific technology. For example, possible goals may be:
- To quickly and confidently compare options without leaving her comfort zone
- To meet and socialize with others, while maintaining family balance
- To get validation from others when making an important decision
Keep in mind: users do not always know what they need, even though they may say so. A famous quote, attributed to Henry Ford, says, “If I asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” It is your job to understand the real need of your user. [1]
[1] Source: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/user-need-statements/
Need finding is the technique, in the design thinking process, that helps us uncover what and how a user is actually looking to achieve something.
Standard tools used to conduct need-finding include user interviews and observation studies.
For our study, we wanted to understand the needs of the everyday “Joe” i.e. a grocery shopper and their first-time experience at their local grocery store. For the purpose of this study, we chose to interview shoppers at both Trader Joe’s and Safeway and picked a diverse range of users between the ages of 18–80.
Empathy Maps helped us uncover (interpret) and make sense of what our users were saying and what our observations from their actions indicated.
Here is the breakdown of our interviews, including a description, short summary (with a photo if applicable), empathy map, and the needs we identified for each of our interviewees:
→ Trader Joe’s, 11 am, 10/1/19 (Phoebe and Sneha)
- Woman in her late 30s, brown hair with bangs. She had approximately 10 items in a cart. Declined photo.
This was our first interview. We learned a few things. First of all, it surprised us that although this woman was a consistent shopper (20–30 times at this location, 1–2 times a week) she sometimes needed to ask for help when certain items she was looking for had been moved. We also confirmed that the key component in a “good” grocery experience is a short time spent in the store, with a short checkout line. She also mentioned that she prefers this location because it has a parking garage available for shoppers.
User Needs:
- Quick/efficient overall shopping experience
- Short check-out lines
- Consistency in shelf restocking & positioning
2. Two girls, approximate age 19, sophomores at Cal, declined photo, were holding about 2 items each in their hands (no basket or cart).
For these girls, the key aspect of their choice to shop at Trader Joe’s was proximity and convenience. They also mentioned the friendliness of the staff being a key factor to developing their initial sense of loyalty to the store. They mentioned they live close enough to the store that they only grab a couple items per trip on an as-needed basis.
User Needs:
- Grocery store which is walking distance from home
- Convenience
- Frequent shopping for fresher food
3. 55-year-old man owned a business close by. Had 4–5 items in his basket. He is a frequent shopper at Trader Joes. Buys snacks for his office & employees and spends an average of $20 per trip. Declined photo.
In this interview, we heard about a preference for a competitor, Berkeley Bowl. This man mentioned he prefers Berkeley Bowl because of their produce quality but doesn’t like going there since it is further away. He still mentioned that the layout of the store felt natural the first time he visited, and he was able to get 90% of the items he needed. He prefers eating healthy and says that Trader Joe’s has everything for the basic needs, but lacks in range of products, especially produce. This shopper mentioned that Trader Joe’s tends to leave out fruits, even to the point of rotting at times. However, he still recommends the store as a whole.
User Needs:
- Healthy food
- Fresh produce
- Reliable quality
- Efficiency
- Inexpensive options
4. Man [aged 32–34], brown hair. He had about 10 items in a basket. Declined photo.
We noticed that this interviewee seemed particularly tense and reluctant to open up. He mentioned that his usual Trader Joe’s location is in Oakland, and he comes to this location quite rarely (1 or 2 times per year), and only grocery shops in general once or twice a month.
User Needs:
- Infrequent shopping
- Personal space
- Limited interruption
5. Woman [aged close to 28] short brown hair. Had a half-full basket and friendly demeanor.
This woman had a very strong connection to the Trader Joe’s chain. She said she has been a customer of the chain since the age of 4 or 5, so she normally knows where everything is. Her first experience was guided, with a parent. Now she’s become accustomed to it. She mentioned a secondary preference to Costco, but since she lives alone, she can’t justify shopping in bulk. Like the first interviewee, she mentioned that she doesn’t always find everything, despite being a seasoned shopper (an example she gave from this visit was sorbet). She mentioned it takes her less than 20 min to finish shopping (partially motivated by her dog alone at home), and like the others we interviewed, always has a mental list. She couldn’t think of an experience that was above average but categorizes not finding an item as a bad experience (however, this happens only 3–4 times in a year). She generally starts at the ramp in the produce section; today her first selection was garlic naan. Her strategy is to take a round of the store & then come back & start where she wants to pick up stuff. She has never asked for assistance but they offer when she’s got many bags.
User Needs:
- Brand loyalty
- Convenience
- Portion Sizing
- Accessibility
- Optimize time taken to grocery shop
→ Safeway, 2:30 pm, 9/30/19 (Fredrik & Jah’rel)
- 73yr old man who has lived in Berkeley for 14 years. Lives (and shops) with his wife. The first visit ever at this Safeway location.
He stated that he frequently feels lost while shopping, especially at Safeway — because different stores are often oriented in different ways. Even though he feels like he regularly needs to ask for help to find things in the store, he stated that it gets easier from time to time since he gets used to the layout of the store. When he asks for help, he also felt that it is easily available. He often chooses to shop at Safeway when he shops big quantities and prefers Whole Foods and Trader Joes when he’s aiming to shop smaller quantities. The reason being that he felt like it was easier to quickly find single items in Whole Foods and Trader Joes — while Safeway, despite its flaws, often has a lot of valuable deals when you shop in quantity. He stated that his biggest challenge while shopping was to find fruit and vegetables that are close enough to be ripe. According to the man, the best experience of shopping is when it is over. He said that the worst part about shopping is having to do it at all.
User needs:
- Needs to have better reference points when shopping
- Needs a good first experience to come back and invest time in getting to know the store
- Needs to be able to better determine how produce should look when they are edible
- Needs to be able to quickly navigate to the good deals
- Needs to be able to more easily shop from home
The man said that he always shops with his wife, that the best part of shopping is when it’s over and that the worst part about shopping is having to go at all. Extrapolating from this it would be natural to think that the man have thoughts like “when can i go home?” or “shopping is boring” while shopping. The man stated that he felt disoriented while shopping, specifically because the layouts from store to store differ. Since he during the interview stated that he always shops with his wife, it would also be natural to think that he feels lost in the store without his wife. While shopping, the man was also regularly asking employees for help and walking around trying to find what he was looking for.
2. 28yr old woman, recently finished med-school. Has lived in the area for 4 months.
This woman was a frequent shopper at Safeway but was somewhat new to this specific location (<10 visits). The most revealing thing we learned while interviewing this woman was that even though she had no problems with the store layout and always brings a list, she still feels like she has to walk through every single aisle at least one time. She stated that this was because she always felt like she missed something. The woman also stated that she regularly shopped snacks off of impulse.
One of the things that the woman took particular notice of, was the fact that Safeway had lost their license to sell alcohol. She stated that this contributed to one of her worst shopping experiences, not being able to buy something she expected to find at the store. The woman also emphasized how Safeway had great parking availability with good space.
User needs:
- Needs to be able to easily verify that she has seen all available types of a product
- Needs to get suggestions if she has missed common items in a relation. I.e. not bought taco powder, but many other taco products.
- Needs to be able to trust (or know in advance) that the grocery store has the items she is getting
The woman stated, among other things, that Safeway had great parking availability. While shopping, she stated that she thought things like “Do I have everything I need?”. The woman grabbed a bagel off impulse while shopping, so it’s natural to presume that she felt hungry while shopping. Lastly, one of the things she did while shopping was looking for alcohol, which she, in the end, did not find because Safeway has lost their license.
3. 35 yr old man who has lived in the area for 5 years. A frequent shopper at the store.
This man stated that what most heavily influences where the shops are the price. Still, he reported to never bring a list and more often than not shops on impulse. Which is somewhat unreasonable for someone who wants to limit their spending while grocery shopping. He also stated that the worst part about grocery shopping was paying, which further strengthens his want to limit spending. He also reported that he likes to be done with the shopping experience as soon as possible — and he reported that his best shopping experience was recent when he only used a total of five minutes.
User needs:
- User needs to be able to more easily plan his trips to the store money-wise
- User needs a sorted selection of cheap groceries to be available in close proximity
- User needs to be able to grab all his groceries quicker
The man said that he mostly shops off impulse and that he likes the availability of Safeway. Thus, it would be natural to assume that he has thoughts in the line of “What should I buy?” while shopping. The man also stated that he was concerned with price, which is why the empathy map assumes that the person feels like he shouldn’t spend more money than necessary. Lastly, the man disliked the shopping experience and wanted it to be over quickly, which is why the empathy map states that he shops fast.
4. 74 yr old woman who works as a sociology professor. Has lived in the area for 16 yrs. Shops at Safeway approximately once a week, only at this specific location.
She wants organic food, which she feels like Safeway does not offer enough of. She cares about her meat and produces being responsibly sourced. The woman also feels like the Safeway stores are terribly disorganized. For instance, you can find chips in four different spots around the store. It also feels like the service at Safeway (especially the pharmacy) is pretty bad. She stated that the people who work there are often uncooperative and/or uneducated and that to receive sufficient help she often feels like she has to ask the “right” person. However, she stressed that employees being uneducated is not their fault. She was also worried about the working relations of the workers at Safeway, as she had heard a lot of things about the way employees are treated. What she liked about Safeway is the fact that they have self check-out lines, so the lines are always short.
Possible user needs:
- Needs to be able to trust the higher office of the shop she shops at.
- Needs to be able to easily verify that she has seen all available types of a product
- Needs to be able to decide the way of production for the groceries she buys
- Needs to be able to find knowledgeable staff members quickly
The woman stated that she wants organic and real food and that the meat at Safeway was gross, she also had a lot of other objections towards Safeway. Still, she reported shopping at Safeway once a week, which is why the “think” quadrant states “Why do I still shop at Safeway?” Deducing from her objections towards Safeway, it’s reasonable to assume that she worries about how the chain spends their money (fair trade, good salaries, etc). Finally, again deducing from her objections, we think the woman feels like Safeway doesn’t care about responsibly sourcing their food.
So, what did we deduce?
From all our user interviews and observation studies, we were able to find the needs of not only first-time shoppers but those that are commonly voiced from all shoppers and frame our real problem statement.
Our Problem Statement:
How might we ensure a good shopping experience for all types and range of shoppers, which is accessible, assures fresh food at a considerably low price range and optimal in shopping time?
We decided to focus on the one we thought we could take into our hands and make a difference with: to make the shopping experience an optimal and timely one.
The next challenge
Using the concept of flaring & focusing or more widely known as the ‘Double Diamond Design Process’ we decided to take the following approach with our problem statement.
Once we discovered & defined our problem we moved on to ideating possible solutions through low fidelity wireframes. Each of us came up with 4 different ideas on how we could possibly approach this. Finally focusing again to select our top four.
The criteria to choose the top four were based on the requirements of certain categories we received:
- The rational choice
- The one that’s most likely to work
- The one that’s most likely to delight
- Our Dark Horse (no it’s not your knight in shining armor on top but, it’s definitely unexpected!)
The Rational Choice
Because many of our interviewees expressed concerns about waiting in long lines which can be very time consuming, one Idea we came up to eliminate this problem was to incorporate a payment and scanning system within the shopping carts. This would eliminate the hassle of waiting in long lines and holding them up because you have to spend time bagging your items.
The prototype above works by the user scanning their items as they pick items and add them to their shopping cart. Once the user is done, they may pay through the device by card. Since the device only accepts cards, the user has the option to pay upfront if they choose to pay with cash. The empathy map this solution addresses is that of the older woman from Safeway. Because she feels the store is disorganized and the lines are hectic, the concept of a payment and scanning system within the shopping carts would address this problem.
Most likely to work
A major factor that was mentioned in several interviews as a memorable frustration that impeded optimal quick shopping was added time due to long lines at checkout. In order to combat this, we thought it would work well to get rid of waiting in line altogether by creating a grocery store queue app. The intention is to make the app simple and readable, and that it will also act as a shopping helper by providing relevant information about the store such as inventory and other news. The queue app would eliminate the necessity of waiting, and could allow a much more streamlined experience.
As evidenced in the low-fi prototype displayed above, the initial idea was meant to be very simple and easy to use, so that it accessible to the wide variety of users that are encompassed in a grocery store. The name ShopFast conveys the saved time from implementing a digital queue instead of physically waiting in line. We also included relevant information about the store locations, such as whether it has a parking garage, since a few of our interviewees mentioned that this was important to their choice to shop at that store. Also, we added a broccoli emoji doing yoga as the embodiment of the shopping helper, to add to the cute aesthetic and relaxing effect of using the app. Below is the Figma hi-fidelity prototype.
This prototype is intended to answer the question, how do people respond to a digital shopping queue as a solution to long lines? Do they find it faster, and does it integrate well into the current format of a grocery store and shopping experience? Ideally, this prototype would be tested during an actual grocery shopping experience and would allow the user being tested to determine whether it fits well and enhances their existing shopping routine.
This prototype is intended to address the overall user need of a faster and more optimal shopping experience, as well as a secondary need of having access to more detailed store information in an easily digestible format.
Most likely to delight
One of the things we discovered during our need-finding was that most grocery shoppers find the grocery shopping itself excruciatingly boring.
Therefore, we aimed to add a little something to spice up the experience itself. Something that could actually help people look forward to grocery shopping.
Most people never turn down something free — who would? Maybe giving the shoppers free items etc. would help brighten the way people feel about grocery shopping. But how do we do this in a way that’s still feasible and effective for the stores? We opted for a lottery approach, one where you are given tickets proportional to the amount of money you spend. After all, this might only incentivize the users to spend more.
During our initial ideation, we chose to narrow the problem down to the self-checkout screens. It would be arguably harder to manage eventual lottery rewards etc. unless you have an interactive screen in front of you. As well, it would also serve to motivate people to use (or learn how to use) the self-checkout screens. Pushing more shoppers to use the self-checkout would be both cost-effective for the shop itself and (hopefully) time-effective for the customers.
We imagined eventual lottery rewards to be given to the shopper after checkout. Then, when the shopper is visiting the store the next time, they can choose to activate previously won rewards. When a shopper chooses to activate a reward, it will be reflected in their receipt lines.
We wanted to test how such a lottery solution might possibly be implemented in an easy-to-use and straightforward way. Therefore, we created a high-fidelity prototype in Figma.
The video on the left shows the Figma prototype in action, in an imagined situation where the user has no previous rewards. As can be seen, as soon as the user has completed their payment, the user is presented with eventual lottery winnings.
The second video shows how a user with active rewards from the lottery might go about using their rewards on a later visit.
In summary, the prototype works by allowing users to navigate in the self-checkout menu and how an implementation of a grocery lottery might work.
The links to the two Figmas are https://tinyurl.com/y4vcqa4e and https://tinyurl.com/yxoy4kpr respectively.
With respect to the empathy maps above, the prototype aims to solve the problem that most people have seemingly boring experiences on a regular run to the grocery shop. The prototype aims to add something extra, at least giving the shoppers something to look forward to.
Our Dark Horse
What we learned was, the idea of a Dark Horse was to allow(or force rather) teams to:
- Prevent premature convergence
- Take a fresh look at the problem space
As a designer, ever think of an idea as soon as you’re faced with a problem? And ever think that the idea you have is the ultimate solution to it? That there’s really nothing else that can solve it better and so no matter how many more ideas are proposed you often find yourself circling back or relating each solution to your first original brainchild idea?
Yup. You’ve been ‘design fixated’. And no, it’s not really a good thing (especially if you want to befriend creativity)
So what do you do? Think outside the box. Have some fun with it but still hold the intention to solve your problem. Use a dark horse. It looks to involve an idea that is far out or near impossible in a real-world scenario. Its purpose is to prevent design fixation.
Using a Wizard of Oz technique, here’s what ours was to solve for making the shopping experience an optimal and timely one.
The idea here was, you’re never going to walk into a store to find it completely empty — are you? Highly unlikely! But what you’re also not going to find was Tom standing there to greet you to show you why there’s nothing there to buy. That’s right because just another thing technology is transforming, the way we buy our groceries. So it’s all gone online and all you have to do is pick up your nearest device connected to the internet and have your food delivered while you pay attention to something that needs it more.
Looking at our empathy maps from above, most of our users wanted to spend the least amount of time at the store and with our dark horse, we managed to do that while still assuring they can buy their groceries or have someone do it for them if they just hand them the list!
Thanks for reading!
