Intake
To align knowledge and expectations for the project, the UX team compiled a questionnaire for client to fill out that would inform our creative and tactical brief. Once our intake materials were assembled and everyone was aligned with project goals, the UX team jumped into discovery to lay the strategic path forward.
Heuristic Analysis
To know where we needed to go, we needed to assess where we were. We did this by vetting the current local store finder flow against industry + UX best practices to determine areas for optimization. Based on our findings, some of the biggest areas for optimizing the users’ experience included prioritizing information hierarchy, optimizing navigational routes, and providing engagement opportunities within the flow.
Comparative Analysis
We then jumped into our comparative analysis where we assessed next-level UX approaches of brands across the industry to identify key opportunities for optimizations.
We looked at how 8 different sites with local store flows tried to bridge the gap between the digital and in-store experience.
The biggest thing we needed to accomplish with our new site was personalizing the experience with bespoke and MVP information as efficiently and clearly as possible.
UX North Stars
With our discovery analyses in mind, we were able to pinpoint our UX north stars. By applying North Stars to every stage of the experience in the form of intent-driven UX micro-moments, we were able to influence the user experience in the ways that matter most.
The overarching theme for our UX north stars was to meet users with the anticipated information in a way that is easy and unified with the new Total by Verizon brand.
Sitemap + IA
Our foundation was strong, built on research and analyses that then informed our site structure + roadmap.
We ideated 3 different approaches to the site structure in a good, better, best format that offered different levels of flow optimizations based on development capabilities.
The sitemap that was chosen was the “better” option wherein we were able to optimize UX best practices while balancing the development capabilities and timing. Additionally, we proposed some navigational recommendations that would support a cohesive experience with the Find a Store flow addendum. Our two IA recommendations followed suit with our sitemap options and also noted future-state elements for when the brand is ready to evolve.
