Slickdeals Test Project: Enable the Camera

The Research

Project Goal (from project prompt): “Allow shoppers in a store to scan a product’s barcode to perform various tasks via the Slickdeals app.”

The project goal was included in the project prompt that I was given, but my first course of action was to take a step back and understand what the user needs may be to make sure that the goals align with the needs and that certain pain points were being resolved. I researched and analyzed the different types of users who use the Slickdeals app in order to understand what the ideal in-store experience for using the Slickdeals app would be. Since Slickdeals is essentially run by a community of users sharing and responding to deals, I thought the most efficient way of getting to know the users is by seeing what they were saying online. I looked at app reviews on the play store and online forums discussing Slickdeals in order to better understand who the users are. Below are some screenshots of user testimonials and examples of how deals are often shared.

The Slickdeals community is a passionate community of users who are dedicated in finding and sharing the best deals out there so it was interesting to see how involved the users were in providing feedback for the product.

The Reframe

From the research I gathered, I created a user profile for what the in-store experience for a Slickdeals user or any user who is looking for the best deal is:

Since this particular project is for the in-store user, I then created a user flow of how a current SD user would utilize the SD app in-store. This flow was created based on my assumption of how a user would use the app in-store, but in an ideal scenario I would talk to real users and ask them how they use the app in-store. Mapping out the flow helped me identify where the pain-points may lie and how the addition of this product could address those pain-points and solve an existing problem to improve the in-store experience:

Looking at the pain-point and user flow of the current SD user’s journey in-store, there is a bit of a disconnect in how the SD app is being used because the app(I assume) was not initially designed with the in-store user in mind. The initial project goal is to “Allow shoppers in a store to scan a product’s barcode to perform various tasks via the Slickdeals app”, however as a project that is addressing a need and pain-point for the in-store experience I reframed the project goal to incorporate the in-store user experience and the mission statement “helping shoppers win, everywhere”:

Project goal reframed: Enable shoppers to find the best deals available anywhere online, while in a store.

The barcode scan enables in-store shoppers to find the best deals for desired items quickly and efficiently, informing them whether the in-store deal is the best deal for them or not.

The Design

The next step I took was to look at the existing SD app and see where I could introduce the barcode scanning feature. I didn’t want to change the existing design of the app too much because I didn’t have enough information on all the product decisions that were made for the app and confuse the overall architecture of the app. For an existing user, when they open the SD app the first thing they are shown is the Frontpage, which I believe is the ideal place for the barcode scan CTA because when the user pulls up the app in-store, they are most likely in front of the physical item already and wanting to find deals for it as efficiently as possible. Below are different iterations of where the CTA could lie, from subtle to not-so-subtle placement:

With more time I would A/B test with users to see which of the CTA designs works best for the in-store experience, but for now I chose to go with the first design where the barcode is at the right of the search bar. Working closely with the project manager will help me identify what subset of SD users are using the SD to compare deals in-store, which will help inform my decision of how prominent the CTA needs to be. Since Slickdeals is an app primarily used for online shoppers, I felt the ‘Scan a barcode’ CTA does not need to be so prominent because it can serve as a hindrance to the majority of users who are not in-store needing to scan a barcode.

Upon opening the app and landing on the Frontpage, the user clicks on the barcode icon in the search bar to launch the camera on their mobile device. The camera will be scanning the image until it detects the barcode and can identify the product. The user will then be directed to a page with all the results for all the deals relating to the scanned item. The user can quickly see an overview of the best deals for the item on SD and make a decision of whether to buy the item in-store or not. If the user sees a deal in the results they want to purchase, they can quickly bookmark it to add it to their Saved tab, that way they can easily come back to the deal after they have left the store.

The key design goal for the barcode scanner is to have it be easily accessible for the in-store user and help them quickly make a decision of whether to buy the in-store item or not on the spot. Having the user sift through thousands of deals and comments to find the best deal while standing in the middle of the store holding a Nintendo Switch is the pain point we want to solve.

An overview at the top of the results page of the scanned item shows the user the best deal price and average deal price at a glance, helping them make a quick decision on the spot. Similar to the + and - values for stocks, the SD app can show the user the price trend of the product’s deals. If the deals seems to be getting better (prices lower) then this can inform the user that maybe they should buy the item now while the price is at a low(or hold off and buy later if they like the gamble). Depending on the development needed for identifying price trends as well as the urgency of getting this feature in production, this may be saved for the next phase of the project.

Next steps and ideas

The next steps for this project would be to test the barcode scanning feature with users and gather feedback. Based on how well the barcode scanning does, it may attract a large in-store shopper audience which would be exciting to see especially during a time when the number of in-store shoppers is declining. A couple of improvements I can foresee as next steps for making the in-store decision making experience even more efficient, is the ability to pull up the camera and have the camera immediately detect the barcode and provide the user a link that takes them directly to the search results of the barcode in the SD app, similar to how QR codes can be detected with the iPhone camera. This would shorten the search flow to a single click. Another direction I can see this project going in is being able to detect which store the user is entering based on the phone’s GPS and pull up all in-store related deals available to the user, allowing a casual shopper to see the best deals and influence what they may want to buy as they browse. But with user feedback we can see what the user needs will be which will inform the next steps.