Finding a Store

I designed and prototyped native app entry points for New Look's store finder, helping the app support customers who wanted to connect online browsing with nearby physical stores.

Live New Look store finder experience in the native app.

The outcome

The feature was rolled out to all users and went live on iOS and Android. The number of user journeys including store finder went up.

Context and goals

New Look has around 500 stores in the UK. Business leadership identified this as a competitive advantage that could help differentiate New Look from pure-play competitors.

After delivering basic native app features and seeing better numbers than mobile web, we looked for ways to encourage multi-channel shopping journeys with the app.

User need

Some customers wanted to see and feel clothes in real life before buying online.

Buy now, wear now

Customers wanted to know if an item was in stock nearby so they did not waste time going to a store.

Business opportunity

Support the "Be Local" strategy, drive footfall, and encourage multi-channel shopping.

My contribution and responsibilities

I focused on interaction design, native app design, prototyping, and user research. The work used previous research, analytics, prototype feedback, and stakeholder alignment to decide where store finder should appear in the native app journey.

Use cases

Lunch-break shopping

When a customer is at work and remembers saved items in the New Look app, they may want to check if there is a store nearby so they can visit during lunch and wear the item tomorrow.

Planning a store visit

When a customer is at home browsing the app, they may want to check when their local New Look store opens tomorrow so they can try an item on before deciding whether to buy it.

Analytics and assumptions

I used Adobe Analytics to understand how often and where in the journey users looked for stores on mobile web. Only a small percentage of mobile visits included a store finder journey, but one third of those visitors used it within a few minutes of arriving on the site, and that split went up to two thirds within the next few minutes.

Before concepting with UI designer Kevin Healy, I clarified the assumptions we would base decisions on:

showing New Look's physical stores in the journey could build trust and encourage omni-channel journeys
users were more likely to look for a store near the beginning of their journey
store finder did not need to be in a featured position throughout the app because of low usage
device location should be a smart default so users did not have to actively search for the nearest store

Entry points in the journey

We identified three points in the existing app where store finder could appear: the home view, product details, and the Me view, which was a common pattern in other shopping apps.

Store finder entry point on the New Look home view. — On the home view at the start of a journey.

Store stock entry point on a New Look product details screen. — When checking product details.

Store finder entry point in the New Look Me view. — Me view, based on a common pattern in other shopping apps.

Store stock lookup on product pages

We descoped stock availability lookup on product pages because of API constraints, but designed a solution that used the existing mobile web functionality in web views.

Store stock lookup flow using existing mobile web functionality in web views.

Promoting local stores early in the journey

Putting store finder on the home screen was an obvious choice from our learnings, but the design needed to balance discoverability and prominence because engagement with store finder was low on mobile web.

A top icon put the nav bar off balance and required active search.

Store finder section exploration at the top of the home view. — A section at the top of home drew too much attention for the feature's importance.

Pull down to reveal store finder interaction. — This led to the idea of pull down to reveal.

Designing the pull-down affordance

A quick prototype test showed the interaction was hard to discover, but once users found it they described it as a playful, positive experience. That feedback led me to refine the idea.

In addition to showing a call to action to find a store, I designed a handle bar that filled as the user pulled down, indicating something was happening, with haptic feedback when they could release to reveal.

this solution tested well
it worked with the CTA if users did not discover the pull-down interaction
it created a playful, modern interaction that worked well on larger screens with one hand
it created an opportunity to use the interaction in the future for in-store mode

Pull-down handle affordance filling as the user pulls. — Pull-down handle affordance showing progress before release.

The app does the work, not the user

As New Look had more than 500 stores, it was likely there was one near the user. We wanted to show this without making the user actively search. Once the user gave permission to use device location, the app showed the nearest store.

The same principle applied to store details: show how long it takes to get there and the fastest way, then hand over to another app for turn-by-turn navigation.

Location permission request and nearest store in the New Look app. — Showing the nearest store and asking for location permission only when needed.

Directions, opening times, and handoff to third-party navigation. — Showing directions, opening times, and handoff for turn-by-turn navigation.

High-fidelity prototype

I built a high-fidelity prototype that helped us get early feedback from users. We also used it to show interaction details to developers and get buy-in from stakeholders.

Segment of the Origami prototype for store finder. — Segment of the Origami prototype.

Prototype demo used to show the interaction flow.