Redesign of a functionality in the Bees app
Uma cerveja, por favor
Brief
Bees is the application for wholesalers of AB InBev – the largest beer manufacturer in the world. It serves orders from over 6 million small and medium-sized retailers across the globe. Weissbeerger is an Israeli tech company acquired by AB InBev, focused on the creation of innovative Big Data solutions for the food, beverage and retail sector. And they are in charge of one section of Bees!
Problem
One of the functionalities of this section is recommendations.
This section shows users only 3 recommendations based on popular items that customers like them purchase but that have not been bought by the user in the last 3 months, accompanied by an indication of their current purchase volume.
Currently, this list is “view-only” with no functionality.
Challenge
We want to expand the functionality and action possibilities of the “Bestsellers” section. Show more than 3 recommended items.
Show recommended items from multiple categories
Add the “add to cart” functionality for each recommendation.
Research
Persona
Edson
Fortaleza, Brazil.
45 years old, married, 2 children
Goals
He wants to grow his business and is evaluating the possibility of opening a branch in another neighborhood of fortaleza with higher purchasing power.
Motivations
He wants to build a family business, he wants to leave his children a prosperous business.
Frustration
He is not skilled with technology, he entered the digital world just a few years ago and tends to get lost in digital processes.
Ramon
Guayaquil, Ecuador.
30 years old, Single
Goals
Open his bar two years ago. And he fights day by day to keep it open.
Motivations
He is an entrepreneur and developing his business makes him happy.
Frustation
The political and economic situation in his country is very disturbing and he sees the future difficult.
Immersion
There’s no better way to understand the people you’re designing for than by immersing yourself in their lives and communities.
Armed with patience, a sheet of paper and a pencil I sat for a couple of hours at 3 stores to see how and when users related to the app.
At small and mid-sized stores, the owners/supervisors socialize a lot with their customers. They act as a host, of sorts. Often times they address customer questions themselves, handing them the products or accompanying them to the spot in the aisle where the product is located.
They also usually do more than one thing at a time when they are behind the counter or at the cash register, they may serve a customer, scan products or talk to a supplier.
They do not have a fixed stock-taking routine, it is usually random. They walk past an aisle, a product is missing and they write it down for the next order.
This immersion in their habits drove me to observe two main characteristics
1) that for mobile actions they generally use one hand, since the other one is busy.
2) due to the little attention they pay to their actions – since they do several things at a time –, they usually mix up products
ideation
The main usability strategy is for the user to be able to browse, select and confirm orders of the selection with just one hand.
The user is a worker that spends a long time on their feet at the store. They work on shelves and at the store room with the phone in one hand and they need the other to move products or do the checkout.
All operations need to be accomplished by moving the thumb (touch, drag up/down or drag left/right).
Prototype
The interface uses the application’s look-and-feel, and colors are used to highlight the card.
The card works as a banner. The large image of the product on the outside of the card gives it a modern and eye-catching style.
For the selection of categories we use a modern menu with a streamlined interaction. We prefer using “words” rather than icons to avoid confusing it with the app’s menu.
The product selection module appears from below with a fun interaction. It has an infinite scroll for the products. And it matches the style and look-and-feel of the app.
