Nordstrom hourly + commissioned salespersons needed an engaging way to learn about internal selling techniques in a classroom setting in pairs, and eventually on their own. Additional tech infrastructure and hardware was not an option, so looking at ways to be resourceful and considerate of users time was a requirement.
A desire to launch a quizzng product for beta within two months was desired, with plan to scale after pilot group. End result was a no-code web app that gave users an opportunity to explore selling scenarios with a partner or alone, respond with how they’d approach it, and receive a score.
Selling scenario in store.
Goals
Requirements
Discovery mapping and insight clusters.
The initial solution was a powerpoint presentation facilitated in person where individuals would have the option to slowly engage in a few selling scenarios. This was unsustainable, and when the value was seen in a digital solution my team and I fully engaged in the work to unpack how to approach a solution in two months or less.
Using Miro we whiteboard various solutions following the consolidated list of insights resulting from a set of empathy interviews, virtual ideation sessions.
Evolving from an interactive PowerPoint, to a fully custom coded feature within a cumbersome custom iOS and Android app - a mobile PowerApp yielded the greatest promise based on little engineering resources, need to quickly scale, and secure user authentication requirements.
I took lead on creating user flows the met business training objective and content needs, all while ensuring brevity and simple UX writing helped new employees jump right into the work.
From sketches to Figma frames, stakeholders were brought along at a high frequency. Development version of app took longer since it was our initial attempt, so Figma prototypes were used longer in process, and visual designs of prototype reverted to simpler UI to reflect development product capabilities within a shorter timeframe and limited resources. This helped manage expectations with business leaders and keep focus on interaction design.
System design - Mapping solutions that offer smallest effort for new users to access.
Initial rounds of virtual testing of Figma prototypes validated need for clearer access instruction for users. With internal tools and new employees, secure access require new systems and credentials that may require technical support. This was aided by education for managers and facilitators, and QR codes to make access quick.
More feedback for users was needed in the UI and user flow. This resulted in a more robust scoring solution and more attention paid to focus and disable states.
Scrolling and page breaks hindered users as content used 85% more characters than planned. This was unresolved, and there is onboarding support in the samples for users to hint to the need to scroll in some cases that isn’t as obvious.
We decided to ensure the user flow logic allowed for more freedom for users instead of encouraging a happy path more because in more cases their would be various partners and facilitators that could deviate from a script, putting the product flow and instructor in the room at odds, resulting in confusion for the user and loss of trust in the product and facilitator.
In person session. User on personal mobile device completing training.
User Flow showing branching logic for business review following decision to increase audience.
Visual designs optically reflect Design Language System. Pattern library code not applicable with this solution.
Sticky nav and single screen to replace separate question and response is prioritized for next release.
Outcomes
Learnings
Progress through designs.