Noww
Photo by Ewien van Bergeijk - Kwant on Unsplash
Noww is changing the way we find and shop for items.
Founded by an entrepreneur whose goals are to enable anyone to shop for anything anywhere just by snapping a photo from your phone and democratizing the “influencer market”.
Prototype of the mobile app, Noww
The Opportunity: Learn about shoppers’ behaviors and design a mobile app that auto-populates an exact match by snapping a photo and rewarding users that promote the app.
We’ve all been there. We see something that we like on a person whether it be at a coffee shop, on TV/movie, in a print ad, etc. We take a mental note of discerning characteristics to do a Google search later only to come up short. You’re either scouring pages upon pages of “similar items” or something that is nowhere remotely close to what you were looking for.
HOW FRUSTRATING!
What if there was a way to end this headache and find the things you are actually searching for at the moment in time with an app?
What if you could earn rewards every time someone complimented or asked where you bought something you owned?
No longer will we have to search the web endlessly for that jacket we saw someone wearing at the coffee shop or the bar stools we saw at that swanky hotel.
With Noww, you can simply see, snap, and shop.
Eyeing the model’s sunglasses on the billboard? Simply snap a photo to auto-populate the exact or similar pairs.
Who’s this for? Anyone with a smartphone!
Yes, really! The client was very ambitious in wanting to be the next Amazon/Google/Instagram and wanted the app to be accessible to all and to make shopping quicker and easier.
Photo by Paul Hanaoka on Unsplash
Roles & Responsibilities: Due to COVID, all collaboration and user testing were done remotely over Zoom video calls.
I was one of two UI designers. While we conducted user research and user testing of wireframes and prototypes together, we each designed a divergent interpretation of the mobile shopping app with two different user flows.
Scope & Constraints
Research showed that online shopping was pretty split between men and women, contrary to what the client believed.
In my first design meeting with my client, she presented a surprising statistic that most online shopping is done by women (86%!) but most sites are engineered by men leaving an opportunity to create a shopping app tailored to women.
The client initially had the intention of testing the app on women (Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z), at least for the first round of test subjects, but I recalled her lofty goals to compete with Amazon/Google/Instagram and asked if we should also include a few males for their input to which she agreed. The scope of the project went from studying women and their shopping patterns to including men.
Conducting user tests during COVID greatly impacted if the app would even be feasible with social distancing measures in place.
The scenario the client gave was to imagine that you saw someone wearing cool sneakers; you would approach the person and ask if he/she was on the Noww app and if you could take a photo of said sneakers. Or, vice versa-- someone would compliment a clothing item of yours, ask to take a photo of it and if you were a Noww member, you would earn rewards on the app.
Pre-COVID, this may not have been an issue, but with emphasis on social distancing, this scenario might make users feel uncomfortable.
Process & Design Explorations:
Create an app that embodies what the founder envisioned while satisfying shoppers’ needs
To get a better understanding of our shoppers and figure out the must-haves for the app, I asked a series of questions to learn about their shopping behavior: what motivated their purchase decisions, what drove them away, if they would be open to sharing where they purchased a clothing item with a stranger or asking, etc.
Wireframes were created to show the user flow of the app and to make sure each step made sense to the user. Then we prototyped two divergent user flows to test different features.
Pictured above: Two different user flows detailing the journey to snap and shop a shoe (A) and a piece of furniture (B).
I dealt with the buying process of B.
Usability tests revealed that shoppers felt “1-click” shopping was too hasty and needed a page reviewing or confirming the purchase.
Usability tests revealed that shoppers felt “1-click” shopping was too hasty and needed a page reviewing or confirming the purchase.
“WHOA if this was real I would be panicking! There needs to be a review/confirmation page.”
“So I just bought it?!?!? I don’t love that….. I’m freaking out.”
“I don’t like this at all. What if you accidentally click it? You gotta give people a chance to review before they buy.”
After tapping “Buy noww” in the first prototype version, the next screen would notify the shopper that the purchase was completed which resulted in strong negative feelings amongst the users.
Shoppers need some sort of safety net before pulling the trigger on a purchase.
“That was way too risky. I would want a popup of a confirmation of shipping, what card i’m using, how long shipping will take.”
“There needs to be a review/confirmation page. Confirm where it’s being shipped!”
Adding a screen to review the order with a swipe motion to buy ensured there were no accidental impulse purchases.
Shopper feedback varied in how they would like their favorite items displayed and any other additional feature that might be useful
The majority of our shoppers favored a vertical scroll over a horizontal scroll to view their items but appreciated items to be categorized as well as a search bar to find items easily. Other features that got our shoppers excited were price drop alerts and notifications if an item was out of stock and suggestions for similar items.
The majority of our shoppers were onboard with the idea of a QR code unique to the user to earn rewards and share item details with other shoppers.
The client had the idea that the app would be invite-only at first and issue the first round of users a bracelet to wear that could be scanned for points but also serve as a conversation starter or signal that they were on the Noww app. When we asked our shoppers their initial thoughts on wearing this accessory, only a few (less than 5%) were open to wearing the bracelet whereas nearly 60% were against having to keep up with another piece of jewelry on their body.
Users preferred to scan a unique QR code as opposed to wearing a bracelet tied to the app.
Shoppers felt the initial color scheme (pink and orange gradient) was a bit too feminine and reminiscent of another social media app.
Per the client’s request, she asked that the first iteration mimic the app icon she had in her email signature which were warm colors (pink, orange, with purple) and very similar to Instagram. I designed with an orange and pink gradient variation and only a small number liked the color scheme (20%) but did mention that it would be eliminating the male population. Suggestions were to remove the pink altogether and explore something more gender-neutral.
The app icon on the left is the current logo the founder is using. I did my best to incorporate her desired theme into the first version of the app design which was met with feedback to select something more gender-neutral.
Outcomes & Lessons Learned: Not Noww, but maybe later?
In the end, the client was pleased with the designs and when the project came to an end, she offered us an equity stake in the company once it took off. (We politely declined.)
I am grateful for the experience and the valuable lessons, there are a few things I would have done differently:
I scheduled a meeting with the client after each round of testing to present the findings. For my next client meeting, I would send an agenda the day prior giving the client an idea of what will be covered, and make notes to have checkpoints during the presentation to check in with the client to see if there are any questions.
One thing that held us back was waiting on items from the client such as a list of contacts to use for the usability tests. Because of that, we were forced to tap into our own personal network to get the project moving. While we did have certain terms and conditions, I believe it would have been beneficial to include terms that state the work would not begin until all requested items were received.
I think what would have also been helpful would have been to send a recap of the meeting and include any necessary reminders.
If I were to continue working on the project, there would be other features that I would like our shoppers to test such as:
Suggestive selling right before the shopper is about to check out (Would you like to add this as well?)
Adding a social aspect of the app. (“Your friend just saved this item.)
Exploring an intuitive chatbox/assistant (“You left 5 items in your cart, are you ready to check out or do you need assistance?”)
Ask if users would be open to wearing a free Noww facemask to promote visibility but also signal to other shoppers that they may be open to conversation about the app
What’s going on Noww
As of today, the founder is filing patents for the unique shopping feature (to allow the shopper to add items from multiple brands to one cart, she coined it “Shazam of shopping”), assembling a team, and executing the MVP.