Streamlining Best Buy’s Purchase Experience

Scope of Work: Task Flow Optimization, Heuristic Evaluation, Design Systems

Read Time: 3 mins

Project Overview

Role: Lead UX/UI Designer - Heuristic Evaluation, High-Fidelity Redesign
Timeline: 2 Weeks
Team: 2 UX Designers
Task: Purchasing a computer with a deal
Hypothesis: Improving clarity and flow will enhance user satisfaction and reduce task completion time

This project focused on improving the task flow for 'purchasing a computer with a deal' within the Best Buy mobile app. Usability issues were identified and addressed to streamline the process, resulting in a user-centered design that reduced friction and improved clarity for a smoother purchasing journey.

Evaluating the Current Experience

Identifying usability issues using Jakob Nielsen’s heuristics

The heuristic evaluation was conducted on Best Buy’s mobile app using Jakob Nielsen’s 10 Usability Heuristics. We evaluated the frequency, impact, and persistence of usability issues and assigned each a severity rating of 0 to 4. This allowed us to identify key usability issues and prioritize areas for improvement.

We chose Best Buy because of its significant user base and digital shopping reliance, making this project both impactful and realistic.

Specifications:

App Version: 16.10.1
Device: iPhone 15, iOS 18.1

Establishing a Design System

Outlining UI elements to ensure clarity and usability

Before redesigning, we outlined key design elements from Best Buy’s brand guidelines, which also served as design constraints to ensure brand consistency and clarity.

Typeface: SF Pro Display (substitute for Best Buy’s custom font)
Type Scale: Developed a scalable hierarchy to enhance readability
Colour Palette: Leveraged Best Buy’s existing brand colours for continuity

Defining these foundations streamlined the design process and ensured a cohesive outcome.

Defining Usability Priorities

Focusing on impactful changes with a prioritization matrix

To ensure meaningful results, we ranked design improvements by severity, feasibility, and user impact. This approach helped us address the most critical usability violations first.

Targeted Redesign Based on Heuristics

Uncovering opportunities for improvement and implementing changes to streamline navigation and clarity

Measuring the Redesign’s Success

Delivering simplicity, clarity, and a seamless user experience

By identifying and addressing critical usability violations, our redesign aimed to:

Enhance the overall shopping experience
Reduce user frustration with the deals sections
Improve visual consistency and navigation clarity

These improvements validate our hypothesis by demonstrating how enhanced clarity and streamlined navigation reduce friction, improve task efficiency, and elevate user satisfaction. Hypothetically, this would lead to an increase in App Store ratings from 4.0 to 4.2, achieved by securing an additional 375 five-star reviews.