Timeline
May 2023 - Aug 2023
Team
2 Managers
1 Product Manager
2 Software Developers
1 Product Designer
My Role
Product Designer Intern
Design Lead
Responsibilities
UX Research & Interviews
Interaction Design
Wireframe & Prototype
Product Strategy Thinking
Some of my work during this internship is under an NDA, thus portions of data has been removed to protect company privacy.
What I Did Overview //
In the summer of 2023, I was given the opportunity to join LCBO's innovation team as a Product Designer. During my time there, I spearheaded 3 projects varying in importance levels, from overhauling the company's Project Intake Process to redesigning the LCBO in-store tasting software and lastly, pioneering innovative anti-theft and theft recovery strategies.
Enterprise Tool
My team undertook a project to overhaul the PIA (Project Intake Assessment) process in collaboration with PMO. Our objective was to create a seamless, well-structured, user-friendly, and crystal-clear workflow with no room for gaps or errors.
B2B & B2C
Just a week into my internship, I was brought on as the sole UX designer in an ongoing agile project known as the In-Store Tasting Program (ISTP). Think of it as the 'Costco tasting station' for alcoholic beverages, and my role was to lead all design decisions, bridge UX gaps, and provide essential design resources to external development managers and developers.
Mobile Application
In response to a directive from LCBO's CIO, my team set out to reduce theft surrounding LCBO and innovate for product recovery after theft. Collaborating closely with security and retail departments, we meticulously researched and identified the most cost-effective solution tailored to their needs. Our research-driven approach proved pivotal to our success, culminating in the presentation of an RFID scanning application MVP, which garnered enthusiastic support from LCBO's department heads.
Project 1 Breakdown
The PIA is an internal tool used by all departments within LCBO whenever a new project or idea initiative is about to be set in motion. PIA is there to be an overview of the initiative, filled in by people who would be involved, and submitted to the PMO and high-ups for review before setting the project in full motion. (aka, Gate 1-3)
Challenges
Discovering Deeper //
Given the project's urgency and tight deadline, my team got straight to work.
To get further context and better identify the gaps, we interviewed key stakeholders like
PMO (project management office) to identify the struggles they had with the previous PIA, points, and key features they need from the new PIA
IT Strategy to understand the PIA flow, what questions need to be asked and filled in, and to gain assistance in building the new PIA
Finance to know what information we have access to, and can be pulled from LCBO's internal database like employee names, pay range, department information, etc…
Key Findings
The existing PIA is a long-form within Excel where people fill in their sections
People have trouble understanding what they need to fill in
Many employees are not tech-savvy, which heavily increases the error rate
Once supposedly "complete", PMO takes a long time to review the information
Solution Tradeoffs //
From the interviews with stakeholders, it became evident that the high failure rate and people's difficulties with PIA were due to their inability to understand their roles, and who needs to fill in what. This also causes a lot of unnecessary work for PMO to contact each person for their missing information.
Meanwhile, having to scroll up and down the form to see what others are filling in can also be tedious.
Goal
Revamp the current state of PIA, make it more seamless, better structure, simple easy, clear, and no gap.
The Eureka Moment //
Through the constant back and forth with the stakeholders, we realized that Excel had the closest functionality, ease of use, and adaptability that we needed.
I also realized that PIA is merely a tool to help PMO understand the involvement and the amount of resources needed to complete different projects. This means that there are a few key pieces of information that PMO undoubtedly needs.
Thus, we brought up the idea of building a dashboard for PMO to simplify PIA and bubble up key information straight to the dashboard. We also suggested instead of having a long Excel sheet, we separate each department into its own sub-sheet to make the process more intuitive. They loved the idea, and this changed everything.
New Design Overview //
Simple is Always Better
Within a two-week period, we successfully overhauled PIA with support from PMO and IT, leading to excellent results. The PMO expressed their appreciation for the new dashboard, which significantly reduced the time required for reviewing PIA and provided improved analytics. Additionally, department heads were pleased with the enhanced organization and user-friendly nature of PIA, resulting in a significant decrease in error rates.
Designing the PIA made me realize that Design principles can be applied to different tools to better a product for users no matter if it's Excel, Figma, or building an app from the ground up with code.
Project 2 Breakdown
ISTP (In-Store Tasting Program) Overview //
ISTP is a software that LCBO began building back in 2020. However, due to Covid, the project was paused until May 2023.
I was brought on as the sole product designer to help complete the UX, UIs and fill in any gaps for ISTP.
I started by going through ISTP's documentation, and the past UX designer's designs.
Goal
Complete and Update the UX/UIs of the current work-in-progress ISTP software, assist in the designs of different functionalities, and make the product more intuitive and user-centered. (ISTP is being built on ServiceNow)
I first tested the current ISTP and did a UX gap analysis for functionalities, and UX.
ISTP Software Updated Designs //
After providing the ServiceNow Dev team with the UX Gap analysis, I began working on the prototypes and making it mobile responsive.
Challenge
As the sole UX Designer, I found it can be challenging to deal with pushback for the users. However, I also found it rewarding, balancing the experience for users to the time it would spend building it.
After back and forth with the ServiceNow Dev team, the final ISTP was set to be updated to this.
Setting a Visions
Setting a vision can be challenging. It involves creating assumptions, clarifying vague concepts, and persuading stakeholders to consider this path. To progress with the design, I discovered that it is beneficial to explicitly define the issue, establish key principles, and assign responsible individuals for specific tasks. In general, a crucial aspect was to take a moment to analyze how this vision aligns with the overall UX throughout the design.
Due to this project involving internal company information, I"m only sharing what I did, and a high level overview of the product itself. Thank you for understanding.
Project 3 Breakdown
RFID Product Recovery App Overview //
Theft has been an issue across retail for the longest time; Though LCBO has always been on the low end of the spectrum of theft per year, number has shown that ever since Covid, theft has been on an upwards trajectory.
A primary task assigned to my team involved advancing the anti-theft initiative, beginning research, and building different potential concepts for a theft recovery program.
*This project and research involved lots of internal company data, thus, it's a high-level overview of what I did.
Challenge
Researching the Ideal Solution //
To start, the PM and I initiated a brainstorming session to encourage team members to generate ideas uninterrupted. The key to this is "no criticisms".
Oftentimes, when someone presents an idea, others immediately start suggesting reasons why it won't work. To avoid this, it's better to establish some rules beforehand, so that everyone can express their ideas without fear of being judged. Once all the ideas are out, we can then review them together.
Research Led Us to a Greener Pasture //
In the next few weeks, we immersed ourselves in different research methods including user personas, user journey maps, process diagrams, swim lane diagrams, and more. This gave us a ton of data when trying to identify the best solutions to recover stolen items with different tech and options available on the market today.
Frontloading with research also gave us the confidence and reinforcement needed to go to higher-ups and present our ideas, to get the greenlight to building an MVP.
RFID Scanning App Showcase //
Given the green light, our team set up an agile development timeline, and I began building the wireframes, and prototypes. The agile approach gives the team daily feedback and review on work everyone has done, and gives us the ability to ship fast.
The final App Demo received great feedback and further validation from different departments, and further developement is going to be set in motion!
Key Takeaways //
The Power of Storytelling
From building a more compelling case for a solution to crafting meaningful and memorable user experiences, storytelling stands out as one of the most powerful tools in a product designer's arsenal. My experience at LCBO also underscored the effectiveness of using storytelling to convey my perspective to developers and upper management, garnering their support and understanding
Value to Money
My work at LCBO highlighted the importance of delivering time and cost-effective solutions that maximize value for both the organization and its customers. This emphasis on efficiency and practicality remains a guiding principle in my design approach.
KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid)
The KISS principle was taught to me the first day on the job. As designers, we can become overly confident in our designs. But the thing is, if something has a chance to go wrong, it likely will. Thus, this principle informs my commitment to crafting user-friendly and intuitive experiences.
Be a Confident Designer
The biggest growth I've had this intership outside of design would definitely be my confidence, and understanding the importance of it in the role of a designer. Being one of the roles in a company that focuses on end users, our decisions and processes are crucial to maintain a healthy balance dispite the pushbacks we will certainly face.
My time at LCBO has been an incredibly fulfilling experience. I've had the opportunity to learn from some truly remarkable individuals, particularly within my exceptional team. These four months have presented their fair share of challenges, but it's within these very challenges that I've experienced significant growth and learning as a product designer. This journey brings me one step closer to achieving my aspiration of becoming one of the best product designers in the field.
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