WALMART Real Estate
Walmart came to us with a unique design challenge. They use a workplace management software to track over 10,000 stores and counting. Their app was customized to track the construction, maintenance, and renovations of their many properties. It allows organizations to configure the interface to fit their needs, but it’s configuration was so confusing and burdensome, that their employees avoided using it. Because of this, there wasn’t a central place for teams to track their real estate projects’ progress.
Client Walmart | Role UX, UI
Identifying Problems
We learned that over 200 of their users abandoned using the software for more familiar tools like Excel, Word, and email. The key reasons for this resistance were:
Digging Deep for Data
It was hard to navigate to the desired information. Users felt that they had to click through many pages to find what they needed. Sometimes they would go through several pages and still find nothing.
Cluttered Interface
The interface was so overwhelming, that users did not want to put in the effort to use it. With all of the productivity functions and vast amounts of data tables, users experienced information overload.
Poor Data Quality
Since only a small number of employees adopted the software, it was not regularly updated by all the project’s team members. Data was often outdated or partially inputted, because users were reluctant to use the tool. This furthered the reputation that the data was untrustworthy or outdated.
Complicated Productivity Tools
Scheduling tools and project trackers were not intuitive and hard to use. This caused user error. In addition to the UX, it was apparent that the experience was overloaded with tools that provided little value to the user.
design thinking for first timers
We started this project with a two-day workshop with Walmart executives and real estate managers. I planned and facilitated this workshop to align on the pain points and ultimate goals with 20+ participants. It became a case study for Walmart to promote design thinking within the organization. By the end of the sessions we had an energized group with an appreciation for the design thinking process.
The Right Tools
We created a responsive web app using the software’s out-of-the-box capabilities with an improved user experience. We transformed the interface so that it was simple to use for desktop and mobile so managers could make updates whether they were in the office or on the field.
The new design featured productivity tools like a calendar, project gantt chart, and comments area.
