Anello
Visual design, Prototyping,
Design system
Introduction
Anello is my thesis project. I worked with local organizations and designed a mobile app and a system for connecting people with their local stores via existing courier co-ops.
Challenges
This was when apps like Doordash and UberEats were just starting out and only delivered food. There was an opportunity for making it easier to shop locally within a city. My design needed to be convenient to use, while following online shopping conventions people were already used to.
Steakholders
My goal for this project was to introduce a new form of local reliance, so it was important to consider not just customers, but delivery workers and store owners.
Local impact
When money is spent locally, it continues to circulate and benefit the people within the local economy. This benefit disappears when money leaves the local economy to a company like Amazon
Small local stores can't compete with the speed or convenience of Amazon and online shopping
To learn about different store owners and their needs, I started by visiting the BOK building in South Philly, which houses over one hundred small businesses
I talked to owners and employees of a range of different stores about how they reach their customers.
Insights from small store owners
They sell a small enough selection of items to sell on Etsy, Instagram, and Shopify
Customers still mainly find out about them through
word of mouth
They use social media to announce sales and events
Most of the BOK tenants had smaller and newer shops. I also sought out the perspective of store owners who had more established stores in shopping districts.
Insights from other store owners
They have enough variety - but they have too many items to put on a website
They lose a lot of business to Amazon and online shopping
The customers for the stores are also key users of the service. To learn more about them, I surveyed 74 shoppers about their preferences and habits.
Key insights from shopper survey
People want convenience and fast delivery
They are willing to go to the store if they get the item that day
Feature priority
Focusing my primary and secondary research helped me narrow the scope of the project, next I had to decide which features to prioritize
Testing and improvements
Testing the wireframe with people who weren't familiar with the project allowed me to improve the flow of the experience before creating high fidelity models
Local and convenient
My goal for this project was to find a convenient way to reintroduce local reliance with a shopping experience that is just as convenient as online shopping. Anello achieved that by applying existing conventions to a new service tailored towards community.
Conclusion
Anello was a multifaceted project with many stakeholders to consider. I learned a lot about design thinking, and the process of figuring out what to make when there are no clients or constraints to work with. Although it was a speculative project, the design and research skills I practiced have lead to real improvement in the way I approach design challenges.
