Problem Statement

With COVID, Lowe's online sales and curbside pickup have been booming. We identified 3 primary areas of improvement:

  • Customer Wait Times
    Lowe's strive to serve customers in less than 5 minutes and aim to be within 2 minutes or less.
  • Associate Order Claiming
    Reduce confusion by allowing associates to claim orders they are working to assist.
  • Reduce Information Overload
    Determine and present the most relevant information for the action being taken.

Planning the Cards

Identify Alert Sounds

We also worked to identify alert sounds that would:

  • Stand out in a potentially noisy store
  • Give a clear indication of a customer waiting
  • Determine frequency of alert to prevent ignoring

Ready for Customer - Order Claiming

Associates are tasked with taking curbside orders to customers within 5 minutes or less.

Current App Flow (Simplified)

Updated information architecture improved scannability & prioritization of tasks

Associates indicated the most relevant information needed in assisting a curbside customer was:

  1. Order Staging Location
  2. Identity of the Customer
  3. Vehicle Parking Spot
  4. Vehicle Color and Body Style
  5. Customer Phone Number

Results & Findings

  • Increased Font Sizes
    Older associates often complained text was quite small & hard to read.
  • Reduced Clutter
    Removing 2 items from original card face reduced visual noise
  • Urgency Indicators
    By adding waiting & ETA timers, associates reported they were better able to plan their next actions & ask for help when needed.
  • Vehicle Identifier
    Associates reported the vehicle identification information was more clear & aided in quicker customer delivery
  • Increased Performance Scores
    Overall reduction in time to hand off purchases saw an increase in Likely-to-Recommend scores for most stores.

Next Steps

  1. Improve Card Layouts
    Improve the card layouts to further reduce visual clutter
  2. Swiping Actions
    Add swiping actions for claiming / unclaiming actions
  3. Associate Assistance
    Introduce an assist feature where associates can be added to a claimed order to provide a second set of hands
  4. Rewards & Tracking
    Explore gamification and rewards to encourage associates to be attentive to upcoming orders