Karen Dringenberg
DESIGN LEAD + UXR
Walmart
Enhanced bulk image uploader
Walmart associates and suppliers needed a way to upload images for one or multiple items.
They were doing this with excel spreadsheets and utilizing URLs for images, or they were adding or editing images one item at a time which is time consuming and cumbersome given the amount of items one person may be managing which can be in the thousands.
ROLES & RESPONSIBILITES
UX
User Research
User Testing
UI Design
Three main issues arose in user research
1. Unpublished items
One of the most common reasons and item is unpublished or not
available to purchase on the commerce website is because it’s missing imagery.
2. Error prone excel sheets
Currently users are updating images in an excel sheet with URLs. These sheets are error prone and there is no visual confirmation of the impact someone is having when updating the images.
3. No Supplier access to imagery tools
A core problem with this process is images should be uploaded by
suppliers but suppliers use image databases such as Dropbox which will not work with Walmart systems. The image burden then falls onto the internal category specialists to update and maintain their item imagery.
Existing solutions
“Images are the most cumbersome part of item setup”
Process
I talked to the primary users, category specialists and suppliers, to understand their current processes and pain points. From there, I collaborated with product and engineering to prioritize high level features to design and test. Designing multiple navigation paths in a single flow mixed with lo-fi wireframes, we were able to see the basic framework to be tested.
Lo-fi Wireflows
Definition: site structure and navigation mixed with lo-fi wireframes
Usability Testing Feedback
From the wireflows, a design prototype was born! Testing sessions indicated the need to evolve the designs a few ways.
APPLY TO MULTIPLE ITEMS
Allow for multiple select to drag and drop or upload the same images for multiple items.
ADD OR REPLACE
Better global control over adding or replacing images to multiple items to reduce the redundant need to remove images from multiple items.
IMPROVED ACTIONS
Updating our global component called"action alley" to enable better select/deselect of items.
“I think my favorite part is how easy it was to add more images. Typically the process we have right now is cumbersome. I like how you can continuously add item IDs in the same flow. The drag and order feature is great.”
Entry point with multiple items to action
Select multiple items and drag images into the app for uploading
Processing images
Error handling
Selection of adding images or replacing existing images stored in our system
Drag and drop images to reorder how they will appear on the e-commerce experience
Drag to restore any existing images for items that may have been selected to be replaced
Updated Designs for Pilot Launch
Outcome: Pilot Program
Early pilot numbers
ASSOCIATES
Total submissions: 454
Total items: 1134
Total users: 36
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Pilot program gathered useful feedback for enhancements.
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Prioritized enhancements for upcoming development sprints to do a full feature rollout to our entire organization, including suppliers.
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From a product design perspective, the design patterns built for feature were adopted across other applications for more robust features, proving again that the design system is flexible and scalable.
SUPPLIERS
Total submissions: 1329
Total items: 2265
Total users: 177