Karrie,
an autonomous shopping assistant for customised experience
TD; LR, here is the gist
Challenge
The objective was to create experiences for ubiquitous computing environments, where technology is seamlessly integrated into everyday objects. Our project aimed to address the challenges of in-store grocery self-checkout by enhancing the experience with IoT and user-centric design, making it more convenient and seamless.
Impact
Karrie, equipped with NFC technology that not only assists in shopping journey but also adeptly manages the budget and holds heavy items. We pitched the project to a panel of industry expects and faculty and received the 'Most likely to receive investors' award.
Process
We did user sampling, competitor's analysis, surveys, interviews, user - enactments, wizard of oz and diary study to inform product ideation, wireframing, design system, visual design, and IoT sensor integration in our prototype.
Takeaways
We built various types of sensors by understanding their applications in daily interactions with a focus on security, privacy, and ethics. Applied service design and UI design skills to create an effective prototype that seamlessly integrates with the idea.
Duration, Role and Team
Jan - Apr 2023 | UX Designer | Prajakta Bonde, Jiaxuan Zhang, and Srishti Bijjur
Population
Shoppers who physically visit grocery stores
Environment
Retail/Grocery stores
In-store grocery shopping experience in the US
Quantitative data analysis
Research method: Survey
Qualitative data analysis
Research method: Diary study
Key findings based on the analysis from the survey, diary study, and the ethnographic studies:
Participants want to sort their purchases according to their preferences.
Self-checkout is helpful for people with fewer items but not really for people with a lot of items.
Shopping bags provided by the store are not the most convenient which is why some people prefer carrying their own bags.
Participants prefer carrying a shopping list so that it limits them from going over budget.
User Persona
To investigate shopper behavior and experiences to identify pain points and potential areas for improvement in the grocery shopping process. We narrowed down the analysis to the behavioral patterns, attitudes, and decision-making processes during the grocery shopping experience.
Overarching Questions:
What influences an in-person shopper's browsing, purchasing, and billing decisions?
Which parts of the entire shopping experience in a store are seamless and which parts are frustrating for the shoppers?
What aspects of the customer experience could we improve?
Journey Map
HOW MIGHT WE
improve the shopping and check-out experience for people who prefer to shop in stores?
Specifically, this project revolves around implementing an IoT device and seamlessly blending it into the lives of shoppers without it being an added effort and leveraging in-person shopping experience
Scope Reduction led to Concept refinement
To further refine the concept, we chose to investigate the optimization of the "bagging" process during the shopping experience. We conducted a User Enactment study to explore the potential of an assistant for bagging. Using a low-fidelity prototype with robotic hands that sorted and bagged items based on user preferences, we observed user reactions. The idea was to have a store-owned assistant at the checkout counter where the system with the power of AI will find an optimal solution for sorting items, and bag them automatically. However, it had its own limitations based on user preferences.
Customization is better than Optimization
Initially, we aimed for a streamlined checkout and bagging process, but users preferred customization over rigid optimization. This shift acknowledges the importance of allowing shoppers to personalize their experience and avoids imposing constraints on their preferences.
Heavy reliance on the system to complete the activity
Participants were relying on the feedback from the screen to initiate the next step. This was inhibiting the user from doing a task of their own.
Customer checking out using the smart shopping assistant
Shopping items at the grocery store and shopper’s checklist
Creating interface of smart shopping assistant that displays shopper’s list
Paper prototype of the Shopping Assistant used for Enactments
Moving on, we explored how we can enhance the in-store shopping experience. While there are companies that offer smart carts, they must be picked up at the entrance and left at exit. There are no smart carts that provide the capability to make the cart more personalised.
Caper AI cart by Instacart
Amazon Dash cart at Amazon Fresh stores
What if grocery stores made their inventory data publicly accessible based on the GPS location of the user?
When the user enters the store they can access the store inventory data immediately.
System concept and architecture
The system proposal consists of 2 main components:
Smart Cart
Autonomous, follows shopper
Tracks items for checkout
Displays running bill on touchscreen
Allows interaction (remove items, checkout) on display
Mobile Application
Mobile app supplements the system
Connects to cart for tracking
Downloads store inventory to track items and prices
Allows payment at checkout via NFC tag
Lo-Fi Mobile Application design
Lo-Fi Shopping Assistant (Cart) screen design
System Concept
Prototyping Karrie the cart for the purpose of the demo. The prototype is made of a regular shopping cart with an additional attachment of a tablet screen and a lid to lock the cart.
We built a proximity sensor using Photon which is installed inside the cart as well as a touch sensor to enact NFC payment for the demo purpose.
Karrie the cart drives itself around using autonomous technology. It uses pressure and weight sensors in tandem with scanners to detect the items put in and gives auditory and visual feedback to the user.
Users craft their shopping list within the mobile app. Upon entering a grocery store, the app synchronizes with the store's beacon, fetching the latest inventory data. This ensures Karrie can accurately track products and their prices, maintaining seamless communication between the cart and the app.
It keeps track of the bill in real-time, and it is able to alert users when they go over their set budget (if they set one).
Key features
Autonomous cart
It uses sensors to autonomously follow you, allowing hands-free shopping. Sensors help avoid obstacles or bumping into someone as they appear.
Product scanner
Equipped with sensors and scanners for product identification and tracking.
Budget tracking
The app allows users to set budget and receive alerts when they approach or exceed their limits, promoting both expense control and financial goal achievement.
Document the process and video-making
Demo video
Karrie won the 'Most likely to attract investors' award. It also received additional bonus votes from the guest judges.
Limitations
Our product makes a futuristic assumption that all grocery stores will grant access to the Karrie App so that it can gather inventory data, which would subsequently help the cart keep track of the items in the cart.
The ‘follow me’ feature comes with its limitations when using it in crowded aisles.
Takeaway
Every user is different and your design will be interpreted differently by each of them.
Breaking it down into achievable deadlines and keeping iterating the designs as they grow is the best solution.