Caitlin Rutland and Sara Beth Lewter
Executive Summary
The primary purpose of this report is to summarize the redesign of the floor plan at the Shoe Sensation store located in Fayetteville, Tennessee (Store 854). This redesign was informed by prior observations of how user-friendly the store’s layout was for both customers and employees to navigate. This redesign was also informed by prior observations of how the interactive elements on the store floor were either helpful or misleading in regards to helping the users navigate throughout the store.
Interaction Description
The product being developed is a new floor plan design for the Shoe Sensation located in Fayetteville, Tennessee. This new floor plan will cause less confusion and enable users to easily navigate throughout the store without feeling overwhelmed or the need to ask for assistance.
Experience Setting
The floor plan will be posted in various areas throughout the store, allowing all customers to utilize it while they navigate the store. The floor plan will also be posted by the register and in the “Employees Only” storage room, allowing all employees to easily access and utilize it if need be. The floor plan will also be available on Reflexis, which is both a website and an app that Shoe Sensation uses to keep track of all instructions and important documents, allowing all employees of every Shoe Sensation to have access to the redesigned floor plan. The strategic objective of the redesign is to ease the users’ frustration and confusion by making the floor plan more user-friendly for both the store’s customers and employees to navigate.
Requirements
The specific user requirements, system requirements, and content requirements for this floor plan are each fully explained in detail in this report.
Ideation
In the initial ideation phase, a variety of ideas were generated for the redesign of the floor plan at the Shoe Sensation in Fayetteville, Tennessee. An analysis of the users’ feedback on the previous floor plan redesigns allowed for the most important issues to be identified and prioritized in the final redesign prototype.
Conceptual Design
A prototype of the redesigned floor plan of the Shoe Sensation in Fayetteville, Tennessee was created using SmartDraw to allow for user testing and the gathering of feedback on previous designs. The feedback gathered was then used to make improvements on the previous redesigns in order to reach the final prototype.
Interaction Description The product being redesigned is the floor plan of the Shoe Sensation located in Fayetteville, Tennessee. The redesign of the floor plan serves as a solution to the confusion and frustration that the users face. Customers of the store will have access to the floor plan, which will be posted on signage throughout the store. Employees will also have access to their own copy of the new floor plan, which will be posted at the register and in the “Employees Only” storage room.
The primary purpose of this redesign is to make the layout of the store easier for both the customers and the employees to navigate through regardless of past experiences and familiarity of the store. The new floor plan will be easy to understand and make it easier to locate items in the store. The floor plan must be designed in a way that minimizes both frustration and confusion and is also user-friendly for both the customers and employees of the Shoe Sensation in Fayetteville, Tennessee. Users want to be able to easily and quickly find what they are looking for, they do not want to have to walk throughout the entire store to find one item. Therefore it is critical that the redesign makes the new floor plan clear for users to understand.
The user will have multiple ways to access the floor plan and understand the layout of the store. The new floor plan design will be posted in several areas throughout the store, available to the viewing of customers and employees. There will also be interactive elements and signage posted throughout the store, labeling where each section is and what sales are currently happening in the store. By providing various ways for the users to see the clear layout of the store, each user can navigate throughout the store with ease.
Ultimately, the main objective of this floor plan redesign is to improve the users’ experience for the customers (both new and returning) and the employees by providing a clear and easy way for all users to navigate throughout the Shoe Sensation in Fayetteville, Tennessee without having feelings of confusion and frustration.
Experience Setting
Environment
Users may access the floor plan in various areas throughout the store, where it will be primarily used. It is important that the floor plan is formatted and clearly labeled in a way that is easy for all users to understand and use to navigate their way through the store. Furthermore, the floor plan should be as equally easy to navigate for all users, whether new or returning. This floor plan was initially redesigned based on the data generated from site visits and contextual inquiry at the Shoe Sensation located in Fayetteville, Tennessee.
The Shoe Sensation in Fayetteville, Tennessee is a one-story building with a floor plan that consists of a wide range of different sections for accessories and shoes. The sections include the following:
Women’s Floor
Women’s Athletic Wall
Women’s Work and Safety
Men’s Floor
Men’s Athletic Wall
Men’s Work and Safety
Men’s Accessory Wall
Kid’s Floor
Kid’s Team Sports Wall
Kid’s Accessory Wall
Accessory Racks (2)
Most users are likely to utilize the floor plan while walking through the store. Due to the wide range of different sections and a wide range of users, some users may encounter environmental distractions that affect how quickly or effectively they are able to comprehend the floor plan. For example, one user may have young children that are distracting him or her from focusing fully on the floor plan, thus hindering their ability to fully comprehend what the floor plan is showing them. Therefore, even with a redesign of the floor plan, some users may still have difficulty navigating throughout the store. Furthermore, while there are signs located throughout the store, they are not always very clear or helpful in navigating the store.
Users
During the contextual inquiry, a wide range of users were observed throughout the store. Most of the users of this Shoe Sensation location ranged from ages 16 to 60+ and
varied in gender and race. Most of the users of live within 30 miles of the store, ranging anywhere from Lewisburg, Tennessee to Huntsville, Alabama. The users were typically only there to buy new shoes, but occasionally there would be users who were only looking for accessories, such as shoelaces, socks, or shoe cleaners.
The site visit and previous contextual inquiry of the store’s floor plan revealed the following pain points. The redesign has attempted to address and alleviate as many of these pain points as possible:
It is difficult to navigate the kid’s floor. The girl’s and boy’s sections are split up, but then there is a separate section for toddler shoes only and a separate section for infant shoes only. However, none of these aisles are labeled. There is also a kid’s clearance section, but it is mixed in with the men’s clearance and single shoes that are not on clearance.
The kid’s sports shoes are in a completely different section from the rest of the kid’s shoes. The section is labeled, but it is hard to read because it has a bright yellow background and white writing.
The men’s sports shoes do not have their own section like the kids’ section does. To find the men’s cleats or basketball shoes, you have to search through the entire men’s wall to find them. The same goes for women’s sports shoes.
The accessories are not all in one place, they are in several different areas in the store which makes it hard to find what you are searching for. Often, you have to go to each section of the store to find the one item you are looking for.
The women’s dress shoes, slip-on shoes, and heels are in several different areas. You have to walk down each and every aisle to look at them all and find which one you like.
There are several benches in the store to sit and try on shoes, but they are often in the middle of the aisle and they make it hard to navigate through the aisle, especially if the store is crowded with customers or the employees are putting out the new inventory.
Strategic Objectives Shoe Sensation is a company that prides itself on providing comfortable, fashionable, and affordable shoes to its customers. Shoe Sensation’s mission is to provide superior customer service to every customer and strives to guarantee the customer’s happiness.
By redesigning the floor plan of the Shoe Sensation located in Fayetteville, Tennessee, the store will be able to meet the needs of the users better than before. When users (both the customers and the employees) can clearly see and understand how the store is laid out, they can skip the confusion and be able to save themselves time from searching everywhere or having to ask for help in finding an item. In addition, this will likely lead to an increase in customer satisfaction and positive reviews for the store. Satisfied users are more likely to recommend the store to others, which will likely cause a growth in the store’s profits. This will also lead to an increase in employee satisfaction, causing the employees to do their work more quickly and efficiently. Satisfied employees are also more likely to be happy to be at work, rather than reluctant and unhappy. Satisfied employees lead to satisfied customers, and satisfied customers lead to growth in business and profits.
The strategic objective of the floor plan redesign is to empower the users by providing them access to the information, which will be posted throughout the store. The redesign of the floor plan will make the store easier for the users to navigate, but with the floor plan on display in public view, all users will be able to understand the store’s layout, regardless of their level of experience with shopping at the store. This support and access to the floor plan will promote a feeling of confidence for all users during their shopping (for the customers), or during their shift (for the employees), and decrease the feelings of frustration and confusion. It will also help to improve user satisfaction and enchant the overall user experience at the Shoe Sensation in Fayetteville, Tennessee. Also, as already noted, this floor plan redesign will address many of the know pain points that users experience at Shoe Sensation.
Requirements
User Requirements
The user shall be able to easily navigate through the store.
The user shall be able to find their shoes or accessories in their size.
The user shall be able to recognize if a particular item or section of the store is on sale or clearance.
The user shall be able to easily find the checkout register.
The user shall be able to recognize which area is the women’s, men’s, and kid’s department.
The user shall be able to enjoy their shopping experience with pace and ease.
The user shall be able to browse throughout the store without feeling lost or overwhelmed.
The user shall be able to comfortably go down aisles without being too close or bumping into other users browsing in the same aisle.
Functional Requirements
The system must be accessible to all universal users and follow accessibility (ADA) standards.
The system must have the ability to clearly label each section of the floor plan.
The system must have the ability to list all shoe types by category.
The system must be set up in a way that is logical and easy for users to understand.
The system must be able to display physical images of the floor plan throughout the store for users (both employees and customers) to see.
The system must be able to be manually updated as needed when the floor plan changes (such as when the season changes and the floor is flipped and rearranged).
Content Requirements
Information about how to navigate the store (referring to signs and sections divided among the store).
Information about how to read the floor plan layout such as a “You Are Here” star/legend.
Information given via images and photographs illuminating which section of the store they are seeking.
Information about the pricing of the products (could also include a clearance or sale events).
Information about what inventory is in stock in-store and online (if online is available).
Information about how each product benefits the specific user and its purpose.
Ideation
When we first began generating ideas on what features needed to be changed in the floor plan redesign, we came up with a variety of different solutions. The key user pain points addressed in the SmartDraw redesign of Shoe Sensation’s floor plan can be summarized as follows:
All of the accessories are not in one place. They are spread out throughout the store, and are placed in areas that most users do not immediately notice.
The toddler shoes are all in one aisle. The boy toddler shoe and girl toddler shoes are in the same aisle and run into one another.
The clearance shoes are not in one place. They are spread out throughout the store and are not clearly labeled as clearance.
The different departments are not clearly labeled, making it a guessing game for the user to try and navigate.
The women’s shoes are in a strange order. Dress shoes are in the same aisle as casual sandals and are also in another aisle with booties. The women’s side goes from closed toe shoes to open toed, back to closed toed, then back to open toed shoes. It doesn’t make sense, and it is very confusing.
The ability to easily navigate the store without feelings of confusion or frustration.
The ability to easily find one item without having to search throughout the entire store.
The men’s and women’s sport shoes do not have their own section, and are mixed in along the entire athletic wall with the normal tennis shoes. They also are not labeled as basketball, soccer, football, or basketball which makes it hard for users to identify which one is the correct shoe they need.
There are several benches in the store that often get in the way due to being placed right in the middle of the aisles.
As you can see, there were quite a few things that needed to changed in the redesign of the floor plan. To address the first pain point, we got rid of the three different sections for the accessories. There was one section in the men’s, women’s, and kid’s department. There were also two accessory racks by the registers. To alleviate the pain point, we moved the accessory wall to the front of the store by the entrance. The wall still has three different labels, so the users will know which accessories are for children, women, and men. However, all of the accessories are now in one place. We also chose to leave the two accessory racks by the register, but we did change what accessories were hanging there. Instead of socks and bags, there are no backpacks, water bottles, hats, headbands, shoe laces, and shoe cleaner. This makes it easier on the user to find what they are looking for in a quick, and efficient manner.
To address the second, third, and fifth pain points, we decided to rearrange a few of the shelves. Instead of having the boys and girls toddler shoes in one aisle and the clearance shoes spread out throughout the store, we rearranged. First, we moved some of the women’s shelves so that all of the shoes on the women’s floor were in one area instead of two different areas. Then, we moved all of the clearance shoes into the area where the women’s shoes previously were and it became labeled as the clearance department. Without the kid’s clearance being on the kid’s floor, that made room for the boy’s toddler shoes and girl’s toddler shoes to each have their own aisle instead of sharing one. We also moved the aisles, so instead of the order going from big girl’s to big boy’s to toddler’s, it goes from big girl’s to toddler girl’s to toddler boy’s to big boy’s. This reorganization should make it easier on the user when they are searching for specific items.
To address the fourth pain point, we made sure each department was labeled men’s, women’s, or kid’s. We also made sure to label each aisle with what type of shoe was in that aisle. We made sure the colors popped, and that the color of the labels made it readable and easily visible.
To address the sixth and seventh pain point, we decided that with all of the rearranging and relabeling, the new floor plan was clearly laid out, organized well, easy to comprehend, and easy to navigate through. We also decided to include physical copies of the floor plan throughout the store, posted in areas easily visible to the users.
Regarding the eight and ninth point, we understood that they were good options, but ultimately we chose not to fix those pain points at this time. It may be something to look at again in the future, but currently we chose not to change these pain points.
Conceptual Design
A low-fidelity prototype design of a floor plan was created using the website SmartDraw to allow for user testing and the gathering of feedback on the first iterations of the conceptual redesign. To test the conceptual design, users were asked to perform six tasks to test how well the new design meets the users’ needs and to test for potential pain points that were missed in the redesign. Before the user testing began, the new design underwent a heuristic evaluation to check the design for any issues. Once the issues from the heuristic evaluation had been fixed, the informal user testing began. Feedback from the user testing and the corrections that were or need to be made can be found in Appendix A.
Original Floor Plan (Featured Above)
Redesigned Floor Plan (Featured Above)
Appendix A
Users were asked to perform the following tasks using the prototype
Task 1: Find where the Women’s Department is located. Then try to locate the areas where you would find tennis shoes, rain boots, and sandals.
Task 2: Find where the Men’s Department is. Then try to locate where the steel toe shoes are and where the slip-resistant shoes are. Then try to locate where you would find men’s tennis shoes and men’s sandals.
Task 3: Find where the Kid’s Department is. Then try to locate where you find a toddler shoe for girls and a toddler shoe for boys. Then try to locate where you would find a tennis shoe for youth girls and where you would find a tennis shoe for youth boys.
Task 4: Find where the clearance shoes are located.
Task 5: Find where the accessories are located.
Task 6: Find where the registers are located.
Iteration 1 After the first round of user testing, the following changes were made based on the feedback gathered:
The clearance shoes are in two different areas. One area is in the kid’s section and one area is in the women’s section. Also, both clearance areas are sort of lumped in with the rest of the shoes that are not on clearance, making it difficult to differenitate which is which.
The women’s section takes up a much larger portion of the store than the other sections. Finding the tennis shoes were pretty easy, but finding the rain boots and sandals was a little more difficult from the way the women’s floor is organized.
The men’s section was easy to find and it was easy to locate where the men’s tennis shoes and sandals were located. However, it was a little difficult trying to differenitate between which boots were not steel toe, which boots were steel toe, and which ones were slip resistant but not steel toe.
The kid’s department was pretty easy to navigate. It was easy to find where the toddler shoes were located, but the girl’s and boy’s were in the same aisle with no signage showing where one began and the one ended. The youth girl’s tennis shoes and the youth boy’s tennis shoes were pretty easy to fin and they were separated by boy’s and girl’s which helped in differentiating which was which.
The accessories are in several different areas, and they are all kind of placed to the side like an afterthought. The men’s accessories are towards the back of the store, and the women don’t even have their own accessory section. The women only have one small rack by the register.
The registers are pretty easy to find. They are right in front of the doors, so you see them when you walk into the store. They are also located right in the middle of the store, so when you are walking through each department you can see them the entire time.
Iteration 1 of the Floor Plan Redesign (Featured Above)
Iteration 2
After the second round of user testing, the following changes were made based on the feedback gathered:
The clearance shoes did nto change much. The shoes are still placed in various areas of the store, but there was another clearance section added. A clearance rack was added by the front of the store, easy to be seen as you walk through the door.
The women’s section did not change and is still a little difficult to navigate.
The men’s section is easier to navigate know. The order of the aisles did not change, but the section is more clearly labeled and helps to differntiate which are steel toes and which are not.
The kid’s department is still the same. Nothing was changed except for the labeling. It is now more clear which department is which due to the departments being assigned different colors.
The accessories are still in several different areas, and are still not placed in an area with frequent foot traffic.
Iteration 3
Iteration 2 of the Floor Plan Redesign (Featured Above)
After the third round of user testing, the following changes were made based on the feedback gathered:
The clearance shoes are much easier to locate. Instead of several different sections, the clearance shoes are all in one area and are separated by men’s, kid’s, and women’s. This section is also more clearly labeled and color coded as well.
The women’s section was rearranged. It is now smalleer than before and is labeled nore clearly. The shoes are much easier to find now.
The kid’s department was rearranged. The toddler aisle was changed. Instead of one aisle, there are now two aisles: one aisle for toddler girls and one aisle for toddler boys. The aisle were also rearranged so the toddler girls aisle is after the girl’s athletics and the toddler boys aisle is between the toddler girls and boy’s sandals.
The accessories are now all in one area. They are still separated by departments. They are color coded like the rest of the departments. They are now also placed in front of the store, for customers to see as they walk in.
Iteration 3 of the Floor Plan Redesign (Featured Above)
User Feedback That Still Needs to be Fixed:
The kid’s department does not have an atheltic wall, but they do have a team sports wall. However, the men and women departments have atheltic walls, but do not have a sports section. The sports shoes for the men and women’s department are mixed in with the rest of the shoe and are hard to locate, unlike the kid’s department where they have their own section.
I think it might be easier to differentiate between the steel toes and slip resistant shoes if all steel toes (men and women’s) are all in the same place and all the slip resistant shoes (men and women’s) are all in the same place and color coded like the clearance section is.
The women’s floor could use a different layout with where the shoes are placed. The house shoes seem out of place where the currently are.
There is no mention of the benches on this floor plan. Have they been moved or are they still placed in the middle of the aisles?
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