Amazon Prime Now
Adding a Packaging Request Feature
My Role: UX & UI Designer, Researcher
Timeline: February - March 2020 (80 hours within 4 weeks)
Tools: Figma
Note: This was a student project completed for DesignLab’s UX Academy
The Problem:
Amazon Prime Now is a service that allows Prime members to place grocery orders for same-day delivery via local stores.
Grocery orders are packaged by Amazon shoppers, often in an excessive amount of bags. Users cannot communicate their packaging preferences in the app, and thus this service produces excess packaging and waste.
A Prime Now order (from February 2020) shows the excess packaging and waste produced by the service:
Each grocery bag contains a very few amount of items.
Each individual produce item is wrapped in a plastic bag.
How might we allow Amazon Prime Now users to communicate their grocery packaging preferences to reduce the amount of waste created by this service?
The Solution:
New features were added to the existing Amazon Prime Now App, enabling users to:
Communicate their grocery packaging preferences (mirroring their in-store packaging preferences)
Eliminate the amount of bags used to package their order
Communicate if they want their produce, meat or seafood items contained separately
Discover: Research
Research Goals:
It was important to understand user preferences when packaging their groceries. It was also important to get insight into past user experience (both good and bad) with Amazon Prime Now, as well as its competitors.
To direct my research plan, the following goals were outlined:
Determine the environmental impact of online delivery services (specifically related to packaging waste)
Determine grocery shopping preferences of US based consumers, specifically related to packaging items and transporting them from the grocery store to home
Determine Amazon Prime Now competitors and if they offer personalized packaging options
Discover what users love about Amazon Prime Now and its competitors
Discover pain points when users place orders via Amazon Prime Now or its competitors
Determine what users do with the left over grocery bags and packaging
Research Methods:
To dig deeper into the grocery delivery service market, and understand user behavior and preferences, I used quantitative research methods including competitive research, market research and user surveys. To gain a deeper understanding of user behavior and their insights, I utilized the qualitative research method of user interviews. Usability testing on mid and high fidelity prototypes, performed later in the process, was also a form of research that helped me reiterate on my designs.
Competitive Research:
I looked at both direct grocery delivery service competitors (Instacart and Imperfect Foods) as well as prepared meal delivery service competitors (Blue Apron and Hello Fresh). I thought it was important to dive into both delivery service types since they all require fresh food packaging, which majorly contributes to packaging waste.
Key competitive insights:
Almost all have mobile apps
Almost all service major cities and metropolitan areas in the US
Only Imperfect Foods provides 100% recyclable packaging and options for package pick up for reuse
None of these services enable consumers to communicate their packaging preferences
US Grocery Delivery Service Market Research:
Market research helped me gain more insight into the US grocery delivery service market and its size, growth potential, user demographics and key players. I also wanted to determine how these types of services are impacting the environment. Reusable bags are a smart and viable option for in store shopping, but there is no way to mirror that preference online (yet).
User Interviews:
For my interviews, I wanted to find US based consumers who had utilized online grocery delivery services in the past. My goal was to interview Amazon Prime Now users, as well as users of Prime Now competitors.
In order to find a pool of potential participants, I used the Instagram Story feature on my personal Instagram account. I posted photos of my recent Amazon Prime Now delivery order, along with some polling questions. Then, I reached out to the people who interacted with my polls and requested 1:1 interviews. This was a quick way to get a significant pool of interview participants.
Interview Plan:
Number of Interviews: 5
Methodology: One on one interviews were held via Zoom video conference. The audio of each interview was recorded, with the participant’s permission.
Average Interview Duration: 25 minutes
Participants’ Demographics: Men and women aged 24-40
Empathy Map:
After conducting user interviews, I synthesized user statements into an empathy map. With this technique, I grouped similar responses together in order to see patterns in user responses, which eventually led to key user insights.
User Survey:
To gain more extended user insights, a survey was sent out to users who have placed at least one online grocery delivery order in the past 6 months. The survey asked questions around their experiences and preferences when using online grocery delivery services, as well as questions around their in home recycling habits.
27 consumers, aged 25 - 44 responded
Research Results:
With the competitive analysis, market research, user interviews and survey complete, I was able to provide insights and answers to my original research goals:
Users love the convenience and time saving aspect of online grocery delivery. Grocery delivery is especially useful around the holidays to avoid the stress of crowded grocery stores.
Most online grocery ordering is done via mobile phone.
All users have packaging preferences for their groceries when they shop in store.
Almost all users try to bring their own reusable bags when shopping in store.
There’s a lot of guilt around the bag and packaging waste that food delivery services produce. This is the biggest negative aspect of the service.
While users try to reuse the bags from online deliveries, some bags end up back in recycling or in the trash.
Define: Persona and Features
User Persona:
Based on my research findings, I created a user persona, Michael, who represents a key Amazon Prime Now shopper. He lives in a fairly large metropolitan city, has a busy work life and wants to avoid spending too much time on errands during his free time. He’s also environmentally conscious and tech savvy.
Key Features:
Next, based on my research findings and keeping in mind the existing Amazon Prime Now features, I outlined the new features of the packaging communications update. These features will solve for users’ packaging frustrations uncovered in the research process.
Ideate: User Flows
User Flows:
Thinking about how Michael (my user persona) might interact with the Amazon Prime Now app, I considered the key tasks he would want to accomplish, specifically related to bagging and packaging.
He may want to select individual item packaging for select produce, meat and seafood items. This will be presented as an “opt in” feature within the cart.
He may also want to tell his Amazon Shopper how to package his entire order (for example, “keep all my cold items together”).
Wireframes and Prototype: Low to Mid Fidelity
Sketches:
With the key product features and task flows determined, I moved on to sketch out potential layouts for the updated Amazon Prime Now check out process. While sketching, I cross referenced with the existing app and brainstormed where the new features should live within the existing flow.
Low Fidelity Wireframes and Prototype:
Before I got too deep into wire-framing, I wanted to test my initial task flow ideas. Based on my sketches, I built a quick prototype for the user task of communicating order packaging preferences.
I quickly presented this prototype to a group of designers, and then also separately tested two individual participants.
The main learnings from these tests were:
There were too many steps in the process (too much of a cognitive load).
Users mentioned they would want to be able to save these preferences for future orders.
Mid Fidelity Prototype:
The order level packaging feature was built in an understanding that Amazon will be packaging orders in as few bags as possible. Users can “opt in” to more bags, if they would like them.
Learning from my low fidelity testing, I made the following changes:
Decreased the amount of screens needed to communicate the order packaging preferences.
Revised the flow so rather than it being its own separate set of screens, the preferences selections will slide up from the bottom of the first screen in the cart. This mirrors the “Substitution Instructions” pattern that currently exists within the cart.
Placed a recycling icon next to the preferences, so it would stand out and grab the user’s attention.
Designed a task flow where users can set packaging preferences for all future orders within their account settings.
Test: Evaluation and Iteration on High Fidelity Prototype
Usability Testing with Mid Fidelity Prototype:
To determine if the Amazon Prime Now prototype met usability needs, potential users were recruited to test the mid fidelity prototype.
Usability Test Objectives:
Determine if users can “learn more” about Amazon’s new minimal waste initiative while in the cart
Determine if users can select packaging preferences at the item level
Determine if users can select packaging preferences for their entire grocery order
Determine if users can save their packaging preferences to their account for all future orders
Subject:
A mid fidelity Amazon Prime Now prototype was used via the Figma prototyping tool
Participants:
7 participants (men and women) between the ages of 27 and 40, who have ordered online grocery delivery within the past 6 months
Methodology:
I was the facilitator and took notes throughout the test.
With the user’s permission, I used audio and video recording during each test. Users tested the Amazon Prime Now mid fidelity prototype via the Figma prototype tool.
Test Completion Rate Goal:
The goal is that 100% of users will be able to complete five tasks to completion.
Usability Test Affinity Map:
Upon completion of the 7 usability tests, key test results and user quotes and statements were organized into an affinity map to gain better insight to the high priority revisions.
Key call outs from mid-fidelity prototype testing:
Add the ability for users to save packaging preferences as a global setting when they make their initial selection in the cart
Update the descriptive verbiage of the packaging preferences call out to be more green/environmentally friendly (use more colorful language to make the user feel good about making this selection)
Users really like the idea that the default is as few bags as possible, and they must "opt in" if they want more bags
Finding the packaging preferences in the user account profile was easy and intuitive
Users had a positive reaction to the feature overall
Final High Fidelity Prototype:
High priority updates were made based on mid fidelity tests and feedback.
The most significant change was adding the capability to save packaging preferences for all future orders (global setting) within the user’s initial selection.
I also updated the verbiage on the packaging feature call out. I was having a difficult time getting the verbiage to a spot where it was clear and concise, yet still giving that “feel good” mentality the users wanted. I continued to edit the verbiage and test it on users until it was crystal clear to all. These quick tests on the content (only) really helped to get the verbiage right.
Summary and Key Learnings
In an effort to make grocery delivery via Amazon Prime Now more environmentally and user friendly, my objective was to design a feature to allow users to communicate their grocery packaging preferences.
What went well?
Utilizing my own personal Instagram account, with a visual example of the problem, was a quick way to find participants for user interviews.
Testing early and often helped me to quickly iterate within my prototypes. Because of user testing in the low fidelity stage, I discovered very early on that users need a simple and straight forward way to select packaging preferences in the cart.
Continued testing through the high fidelity stage helped me narrow down the specific verbiage to use within the prompts. Testing content was really insightful to learn which phrases worked well.
During testing, there was a lot of positive feedback to this feature overall. A lot of users hope this is something Amazon implements across all of their business units!
What could have gone better?
I could have dug deeper into how Amazon Prime Now competitors manage global preferences and settings within their apps. With this knowledge, I would have designed this feature earlier on in the process.
The Amazon cart is a very busy screen with many distractions. I could have took a bit more time to figure out how the new feature would stand out within the cart, while still apply existing Amazon navigational and UI patterns. This is something that could be tweaked in future iterations.