This article explores the differences between shopping in physical stores and online stores. It presents the challenges and benefits of both while highlighting opportunities for improving both experiences. tags: design

I am a part of the generation you would call millennials. Keeping tabs on the latest shopping trends, we are redefining the window shopping experience. I remember the days of brick and mortar stores, all hands and feet, needing to think what I think I need. There are parking lots (when scrambled become lost with good reason) and my cart is a pushover. There is a certain anxiety walking down the aisle, one that I am not ready for yet. I stand in line to play a game of smoke and mirrors, and I leave with some well-lit selfies. I keep an eye out for what someone else has picked, what a little birdie told me was trending. I wonder what people like me are going to judge me buy. I come home with bags I paid for, for stuff I didn’t know I need. Then, I find my missing shopping list, my newborn niece’s dress is so yesterday and my Fitbit tells me I’ve taken too many steps on my customer journey. I’m too tired to return.

I was what you would call a browser. Now, I let someone else do the crawling for me. My shopping cart pushes me to let it slide, it follows me around as I go hopping. I scroll and swipe through the aisles, dancing my way around. When I find what’s right for me, it all fits perfectly. I’m starry-eyed with starred reviews. I’ll take your best offer for I know a good deal when it pops up. We’re constantly online to see what clicks, with marketing that ads value. I for one, do my a->z shopping online. As a customer and a user experience researcher on a journey, I am one with selfish interests to make the user experience on an e-commerce platform intuitive, friendly and fulfilling. I foresee the platform as a personal shopper, a best friend who knows who I am and what I need. The more I learn about user experience design, the more I realize that learning people is a privilege. With big data, it is easy to overfit; but I am more than what my peers are. A system that personalizes and acknowledges me as an individual would be one that I would make a recommendation for.

Design is not mere decoration, it is communication. As a user experience researcher, it would be my responsibility to understand what drives people to shop (hah!), what points in the customer journey are users touched by, what the buyers’ and sellers’ journey maps look like and how (s)mall changes can make it a better experience for both. Isn’t shopping all about treating your buyers well? As Beyonce once said, if they like it, they will get engaged. Intuitive and thoughtful design is what would be the differentiating factor between online platforms in the future: handcrafting features for handcrafted people. And I for one am ready to lend a designer’s hand.