Metro Digital Transformation (app/website/loyalty)

Three questions for the project team

What was the particular challenge of the project from a UX point of view?
The particular UX challenge was in the sheer volume of edge cases that needed to be handled in the creation of product tiles (different info is important for the consumer depending on the type of product presented, e.g. a cut of meat isn’t selected in the same way a lipstick would be). The pressure to standardize while also personalizing was difficult. In addition, working with a multitude of teams – each in the process of developing an aspect that we were dependent upon – meant a lot of moving parts to design and iterate for, while always keeping in mind the consumer’s ultimate needs was a major challenge. New brand elements, functionalities, loyalty components, and more factored into our design experience.

What was your personal highlight in the development process? Was there an aha!-moment, was there a low point?
The highlight happened when finally, after months of working and iterating on endless designs, everything started to come together and solidify. Requirements were no longer drastically changing, the feedback from consumers during tests was overwhelmingly positive and a clear way forward was understood by all parties. Our major a-ha moment was learning about how the consumer views grocery shopping, the habits they’ve learned, and how different it is than what we knew about general online shopping behaviour. This distinctness of our consumer’s approach directly impacted our entire outlook on the interfaces we were designing and how best to position the Metro benefits.

Where do you see yourself and the project in the next five years?
The work that we’ve done, while important, is not a permanent end-goal. The grocery industry and consumer habits have evolved significantly in the past five years, but the next five years can have just as important – if not bigger – impact on the way we all do our weekly grocery shop. Factors including environmental concerning surrounding packaging, freight and sustainability, AI-powered grocery need predictions and automated deliveries all have a major impact on the digital grocery platforms and what strategic role they can play for the consumer. We firmly believe that this is only the beginning therefore if Metro wants to ensure a place in the future landscape, they need to be forward-thinking about how to evolve.