Self-Service checkout redesign
Tesco (2018-2019)
The Challenge
Tesco wanted to build an in-house self-service checkout solution to replace their existing third-party platform.
The Background
While working in the Tesco technology team I worked as part of the team which was creating a new till interface. The other members included a Product Owner, User Researcher, UI designer and another UX designer.
Unlike most digital projects this came with a number of unique challenges. These were identified as part of early research interviews and user testing e.g. the importance of sound in the experience.
Design and Prototyping
My primary responsibility in the project team was prototyping (although there was also some user research support and wireframing). The design needed to convey information to users who were not focused on the screen so conciseness and audio were both important.
To this end, I researched alternative prototyping tools as most of the industry-standard tools don’t support audio easily. I identified Flinto as the best tool for us to use.
User Research
To carry out user research, we covered the screen of the till with an iPad running the prototype. This allowed us to factor in issues such as glare and noise to make the testing more realistic, and therefore accurate. During user testing sessions I would sometimes need to rapidly update the prototype between participants based on feedback from the earlier research.
Outcomes
The project proved successful and the new tills have been rolled out to many stores across the country.
