Product design for VR retail planning and research software
ReadySet enables product manufacturers, retailers and researchers to planogram in virtual reality (VR) retail environments. This helps them expedite the retail innovation process by saving space, time and money.
The goal of this project was to launch a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) on a six-month timeline.
The MVP was successfully launched within the 6 month timeframe and was evaluated at 9 million dollars. Shortly after launch, it was purchased and adopted by two enterprise level clients, General Mill and The Hershey’s Company. It also successfully raised A round venture capital funding to conintue to grow and improve the prodcut.
I lead and managed the design of this project as part of an in-house team. The team was made up of ten individuals, including two stakeholders, three software developers, two 3D modelers, a visual designer ,a project manager, and myself, as the product designer.
To guarantee business goals were prioritized, I worked closely with the stakeholders. I collaborated with the software developers and 3D modelers to take technical limitations into consideration, and to ensure the product was feasible. I also implemented the logo and brand that was developed by the visual designer.
Product manufacturers and retailers are under immense pressure to deliver innovative in-store solutions to keep pace with evolving shopper preferences, and they’re being asked to do it faster, with lower budgets, with fewer resources, and with inefficient tools.
The bloated, slow, and costly store planning tools and processes make meeting goals increasingly difficult. We were tasked with creating a product that would save time, money, and space while delivering innovative retail solutions.
The problems presented with this endeavor were complex, so I used a design thinking process to help define and understand the human needs behind the project. I also took a irritative, hands-on approach to prototyping and testing.
In order to develop a deeper understanding of the retail innovation industry, and to better identify with the end users, I conducted user research and developed user profiles.
User research was essential in order to translate users’ goals and pain points into features.
I conducted qualitative interviews with individuals who design, test, and implement innovation retail solutions. I spoke with a Category Manager, Technology Manager, and Market Research Manager to better understand their needs.
In my research I sought to:
I gathered information through online research and speaking with the stakeholders, to gain knowledge of the industry, and to better understand the strategies and processes used in retail innovation.
Retail Innovation Project Life Cycle
I created a map of a general Retail Innovation Project Life Cycle. I was then able to compile a list of pain
points and
problems that are often part of the process.
Retail Innovation Project Life Cycle Diagram
Category Management Process
Establishing a proper assortment of products in the proper location is an essential objective in retail innovation and
sales. My research into the Category Management Process allowed our team to distinguish how ReadySet could fit into, and
improve, this process.
Category Management Process Diagram
The qualitative interviews illustrated how users with varying jobs would use the product differently. To cater to this, I developed user profiles that defined their roles and listed tasks and goals that ReadySet could potentially help them with. These profiles provided direction in which features the team would include in the product.
Category Management is the primary platform from which product brand owners interact with retailers.
Encourage stakeholders to see beyond data, and to act on innovation.
Sales Directors are responsible for managing and enriching account relationships within a defined territory.
Get retail customers to sign-off more quickly on my proposed growth plans.
Consumer insight managers primarily work in market research, seeking to discover target areas that drive the operational and creative strategies within a company.
Make my shopper data able to better fit my budget, timeline and purpose.
A store innovation manager’s responsibilities focus on the development of new products, services, or processes to help an organization succeed.
Foreseeing future shopping preferences.
We had a limited amount of time before the product launch, so in order to expedite decisions on the core product features, I generated a competitive analysis, and held a feature prioritization workshop.
I performed a competitive analysis to ascertain what the field of competitors products was like. This allowed us to find a competitive advantage by differentiating our product from theirs.
Competitve Analysis
Determining which features to include in the MVP, and which to exclude, was critical to launching the product on time. In order to come to a consensus amongst the team, I held a feature prioritization workshop.
Photo: Whiteboard Catagorize Features
Photo: Whiteboard Impact/Effort Matrix
Before we dove into prioritizing individual features, we broke them up into smaller categorizes. This helped us avoid choice paralysis and made sure we were working on the types of features that are most important for launching the MVP.
After the features were more or less mapped out and categorized, it was time to pick which ones are most important and needed to be implemented into the MVP and which ones could be implemented later. To do this, we plotted the features on an Effort/Impact matrix as a team with sticky notes. A Effort/Impact matrix matrix is a 2D-visual that shows the relative importance of a set of items based on two weighted criteria This helped the team define what features would have the highest impact with the lowest effort.
Store Environments
Planograming
Product Models
Research & Analytics
Once the features were clearly prioritized, I worked closely with the software developers and 3D modelers to determine how to deliver them within the product.
The 3D modelers took the lead on creating the retail environment that would be used within the VR environments.
Modeled Retail Environments
I created User Flows to visualize complex processes before we began to build the product. User flows illustrate the path a user follows to complete important, key tasks in the application.
Planogram a new aisle layout
This diagram shows the steps a user would take to program an aisle
Planogram a new aisle layout Diagram
Test a planogram with eye tracking
This diagram shows the steps a user would take to collect eye tracking data, to test the planogram of an aisle
Planogram a new aisle layout Diagram
The software developers took the lead on developing the interactions that would take place in the VR retail environments. I collaborated with them to make sure the interactions were as usable and intuitive as possible.
Photo: Early phase of testing and developing VR interactions
Photo: Testing and developing VR interactions
The team implemented an iterative prototyping and testing process in the development of this MVP. This process made sure the product remained usable, as well as technically feasible, as we worked to find a successful solution.
In the earliest iteration of the product, all of the features were designed within the VR environment. This required the use of the Vive VR headset.
I worked closely with the software developers and 3D modelers to develop a viable solution for planogramming and visualizing eye-tracking in the retail environment.
Photo: Planogramming in the VR environment
Photo: Eye tracking in the VR environment/Eye tracking data output
In addition to creating the core functionality of planogramming within a 3D environment, I designed an interface in which the retail environment could be configured, and settings could be adjusted.
The lead software developer and I conceived of a 3D environment that would act as a hub for the various settings and configuration, and I was responsible for the design. I created the interface in Sketch, and then worked with the 3D Modelers to complete the design of the environment.
Photo: Low Fidelity prototype of Hub in VR environment
Photo: Hub UI desing in Sketch
Photo: Hub in VR environment
With the core functionality for the hub and retail environments complete, I conducted usability testing to guarantee we were creating a solution that was as usable and intuitive as possible. I used coworkers as subjects because their different levels of experience in a VR environment provided me with a diverse sample group.
Photo: User testing in VR environment
Photo: Labels on VR contorls
I found that regardless of experience with VR, there is a learning curve to using the controllers. The complexity of the program and VR environment led to a complicated set of controls, and users found it difficult to remember which buttons did what.
To help users, I recommended that we put labels on controllers within the VR environment, so it would be easier to learn and remember the controls.
Photo: usability testing with CPG technology managers
I also conducted user and usability testing with technology managers from a consumer packaged goods company within the product's target market. These tests were essential to determining whether the product would meet user’s needs in the industry we were designing it for.
I received positive feedback on the flexibility of the 3D retail environment and planogramming, as the user found that it would be very helpful to their role. However, they found the VR hub environment cumbersome, time consuming, and confusing. They also suggested other features that would be useful to them, such as integration with existing software they were using.
Upon reviewing the test results, I determined the hub design for the settings and configuration would not be scalable, and was not the best option. I decided to develop a more appropriate solution.
Referring to the feedback from the usability and user testing of the first iteration, I came to the conclusion that it was important to transfer functionality that didn’t require a 3D environment to a 2D interface. This would reduce time spent in the VR headset, which can be taxing on users, and help improve the scalability of the product, to allow more features to be added.
In order to translate the interface from the 3D VR environment to a 2D interface, I started by creating a wireflow. The wireflows combined wireframes of the 2D user interface with a simplified flowchart-like way of representing interactions. This allowed me to document the complex interactions that take place within the user interface, and determine the layout and static content.
Wireflow diagram
I presented the wireframe flowchart, along with the user feedback, to the software developers and the stakeholders. Upon review, they understood and approved the change.
I then designed the 2D interface in sketch and passed the designs on to the developers for them to program.
Photo: UI Design in Sketch
I conducted usability and user testing with the same coworkers and CPG Technology Managers as the first iteration. This confirmed that the changes and additions we made would be usable and also meet needs within the industry.
Photo: User testing 2D UI
I received positive feedback from users on having a portion of the interface moved into a 2D environment. Users liked that they were able to set up the environment and projects from their desktop instead of having to put on the VR headset. This encouraged collaboration and reduced the overall time they needed to wear the headset. Conversely, the found the design and functionality of the 2D interface modal windows hard to understand.
The users also wanted to be able to see what the environment looked like while they were making changes. Being unable to see the configuration of the retail the environment they were setting up contributed to their confusion.
I reworked the 2D interface based on the feedback from the user and usability testing of the second iteration. I spent time sketching out versions of the interface that would allow users to visualize the 3D VR environment as they were configuring it. To help me visualize the arrangement and labeling of content and functions and to define a hierarchy I created a sitemap.
Sitemap Diagram
Photo: Whiteboard sketching
Photo: Whiteboard sketching
I presented my sketches and ideas to the software developers. They approved of the direction I was taking and we solidified the ideas and design with more whiteboard. Then, I mocked-up the interface in sketch so it could be passed on the developers.
Photo: UI in Sketch
Based on previous feedback, I also had to design additional functionality into the interface to complete the design of the MVP interface.
While working on the entirety of the interface design, I incorporated the visual branding, developed by a visual designer, into the interface.
Photo: UI with ReadySet bradning
I again conducted usability and user testing with the same coworkers and CPG Technology Managers as participants. This final testing was used to guarantee the MVP product was usable and would be viewed as a desirable product within the industry.
Photo: User testing MVP
Photo: User testing MVP
Overall, users had a positive reaction to the changes to the user interface and the additional features that were added to the product. They loved being able to view the environments and the changes they were making to them before they were launched in the VR headset. During User Testing, users found that the product would help them achieve their goals.
The product design was approved by the stakeholders based on the positive user feedback, and the MVP version was ready to be launched.
As a single, integrated platform, ReadySet accelerates the retail innovation process. It enables its users to plan, test and take solutions to market in a fraction of the time and at a fraction of the cost.
The MVP was successfully launched within the 6 month timeframe. Shortly after launch, it was purchased and adopted by two enterprise level clients, General Mill and The Hershey’s Company.
View the ReadySet website
