Microsoft Store app
Client: Microsoft
Role: Design lead (UX, UI, writing, strategy).
Collaboration: Technical project manager, copy writer, development team, marketing team, and leadership.
Overview
Microsoft Stores wanted to give their customers a quick tour of their highlighted experiences and events. Previously this had been done with paper handouts. The app needed to provide high engagement and ease of use for our customers around the world, earn positive feedback, and prove to be a useful resource for associates.
With user ratings, gamified completion, and sign-up prompts, I created an app and website that provide an easy way to interact with the latest content from the Microsoft Stores team.
Additionally, I created a robust back end system that made global content management effortless.
Stakeholder interviews provided a large list of desired features. Prioritized the most critical features for the initial design.
Early prototypes focused on map-based navigation. Further interviews revealed the blocker of frequent planogram changes.
Desktop layout provides attract states and deep dives into experiences, virtual workshops, events, and calendars.
Mobile user flow provides rich content experience and the option for gamified completion incentives
Porting the app into large format screens using gesture and remote control via mobile device.
Mobile experience provides independent exploration and the option to pair with a hub device.
Research insights
Discovery revealed that previous solutions did not allow customization by stores and markets. Custom control by location became a priority to ensure only relevant content was shown.
Existing event calendars where buried in an older system that was cumbersome for customers to access. We ported the rich data into our app in a way that allowed for quick engagement, and flexible display.
Beacon data showed an average attention span of three minutes. We deployed our app in a variety of locations: video wall directories, desktop PCs, and even the customer's phone.
A few months after launch, we realized that prominently showing customer view counts could be discouraging for content items that had just started.
Backend CMS allows granular control of regional campaigns and events.
Results
This project achieved high engagement for years on end, earning the app a prominent place in the marketing workflow and added feature investments.
The powerful backend CMS redefined the workflow of an entire marketing team, drastically increasing their output, and decreasing required effort.
Managing the app to adapt to new situations and needs was exciting. During quarantine, it delivered thousands of virtual workshops.