Browse Warehouses By State Design
Problem: “We need you to design a local directory of all store locations to enable better search engine crawlability as well as a better user experience. By creating an internally-linking directory of warehouse locations, search engines will be able to crawl and index these warehouse locations improving SEO.”
- Analytics Analyst, IT Department, Costco Wholesale
Discovery
The Analytics team asked that we design a page that didn’t yet exist. They said that the new page would be linked to from the site map screen—near the top.
In start, I conducted some competitive analysis. I looked at layout patterns, structure patterns, and location detail listing objects. I tracked patterns for both mobile and desktop screen sizes.
Design
After identifying strong industry trends and gaining inspiration from many of our competitors, I worked with a peer to ideate several variations on the design.
Once we agreed on a good layout, I created a mockup that I used to talk to the Analytics team. They liked it, but wanted it tested with users.
I tested the design with 20 users in 2 rounds using UserTesting.com. In both rounds, there were mostly minor complaints about unrelated design elements, but we still had some adjustments we could make.
While everyone loved the warehouse locator search tool being part of the top, the dev voiced that it’d be too much extra work to pull it into the scope of the effort before it was time to delivery.
The final proof of concept won the approvals of my UX peers, technical team, management, and finally the business.
Handoff
Once the design had approvals, I composed a design document and handed off to the developer.
The design document had exact sizing/spacing/positioning for screen elements as well as style specifications and interaction expectations.
While the design was being developed, I provided post handoff support where I answered questions about details and specifics pertaining to image format, interaction expectations, and other various points as needed.
Relationship with…
Analytics Analyst
For this design task, the Analytics Analyst acted as the Project Manager, the Business Analyst, and the Solution Architect. They basically have full control over what goes into this section of the site. They gave me all the requirements, timeline, and explained the design space. Using research and mockups, I helped them visualize their new screen section so that they could decide if it was what they wanted on their site.
Developer
The Dev reviewed my mockup and gave me UI technical feasibility approval. Using mockups and design specifications, I gave the Dev clear and exact description of the desired final products appearance, interactions, and accessibility traits.