What went wrong?

• Chasing the trends

• Overlooking accessibility

• Overuse of color

• Forgetting the user

• Trying too hard to be unique

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Chasing the Trends
Unproven Design Trends: Adopting the latest design trends without thoroughly testing their effectiveness can lead to a poor user experience. Trends that look good in theory may not always translate to practical, user-friendly designs.
User Confusion: Rapidly changing designs to follow trends can confuse users who become accustomed to a particular interface. Consistency is key to user satisfaction and ease of use.
Ignoring Core Usability: Sometimes, trendy designs focus more on aesthetics than functionality. This can result in beautiful but impractical interfaces that hinder rather than help the user.

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Overuse of Color
Visual Overload: Using too many colors or overly vibrant shades can overwhelm users. It can make it difficult for them to focus on essential tasks or navigate through the app efficiently.
Inconsistent Color Usage: Colors should have a consistent meaning throughout the app. For example, using red for error messages and green for success. Inconsistent use of colors can confuse users and lead to errors.
Poor Readability: Overly saturated colors or poor color combinations can reduce readability, making it hard for users to read text or identify important elements.

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Forgetting the User
Lack of User-Centered Design: Not involving users in the design process can lead to an app that doesn't meet their needs or preferences. Regular user testing and feedback are essential to create a user-friendly product.
Ignoring User Feedback: Disregarding feedback from users can result in a product that continuously frustrates them. Users provide valuable insights that can highlight pain points and areas needing improvement.
Misunderstanding User Context: Failing to understand the context in which users interact with the app can lead to design choices that don't align with their needs. For example, a user on the go may need quick, easy access to specific features rather than a visually rich experience.

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Trying Too Hard to be Unique
Un-intuitive Interfaces: Efforts to be unique can sometimes lead to non-standard interfaces that confuse users. Familiar patterns and conventions exist for a reason and help users navigate apps more easily.
Overly Complex Designs: Trying to stand out might result in overly complex designs that add unnecessary steps or make it harder to accomplish simple tasks.
Sacrificing Usability for Creativity: Creativity is essential, but not at the expense of usability. Designs should balance innovation with functionality to ensure a positive user experience.

JOURNEY MAPS

Empathizing with Users:

Problem:
The initial design might have lacked empathy towards the users' actual needs and behaviors.

Solution:
Journey mapping helped the design team step into the users' shoes, understanding their emotions, motivations, and frustrations at each stage of their journey. This empathy-driven approach ensured that the redesign addressed real user needs.

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Prioritizing Features and Improvements:

Problem:
Without a clear understanding of user priorities, the redesign could focus on less critical aspects.

Solution:
The journey map highlighted which features were most important to users and which areas needed the most attention. This prioritization ensured that the redesign focused on the changes that would have the most significant impact on user satisfaction.

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Streamlining User Flows:

Problem:
Complex and confusing user flows in the Purple app hindered the user experience.

Solution:
The journey map revealed where users faced obstacles or confusion in their journey. The redesign then streamlined these flows, making tasks like ordering and checking out more intuitive and straightforward.

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Ensuring Accessibility:

Problem:
The Purple app overlooked accessibility features, excluding some users.

Solution:
By mapping out the journey for users with different needs, such as those using screen readers or requiring high-contrast modes, the design team could ensure that the app was accessible to everyone.

CHALLENGES

UI Refresh 
The problem: because of the fast paced feature roll outs and externally inherited designs, the app lacked consistency in components and looked different from the parent brand of 7-Eleven. There was no focus on accessibility and the feature roadmap was ambitious, making it hard to come up with a UI redesign plan.

Approach: First we conducted a UI audit and did a Journey Mapping exercise of the experience, with an added focus on accessibility and brand guidelines we set a new tone for the application and we made a list of most critical components to update. The plan was to roll out enhancements horizontally and incrementally. One example was colors in which we introduced a new shade of green that was bright, accessible and FRESH.

WHAT WAS OUR SOLUTION?

Consistent Visual Design and Improved Readability
Unified Design Language: Established a consistent design language with uniform button styles, typography, and iconography.
Readable Color Scheme: Chose a color scheme with sufficient contrast to ensure readability. Used softer shades and avoided overly saturated colors.

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Balanced Aesthetic and Functional Design
User Testing: Conducted extensive user testing to find a balance between visual appeal and usability.
Iterative Design Process: Employed an iterative design process to continuously refine the app based on user feedback and testing results.

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Comprehensive Accessibility Compliance
Problem: Accessibility features were inadequate, excluding some users. Solution:
WCAG Compliance: Designed the app to comply with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to ensure it was accessible to users with disabilities.
Accessibility Features: Included features like adjustable text sizes, screen reader support, and high-contrast modes.

COLOR PALETTE

WIREFRAMES

MOCKUPS