ReturnRunners

OVERVIEW

ReturnRunners™ is an on-demand, white-glove return service for retail merchandise based in Chicago. CEO Fara Alexander created ReturnRunners™ when she found herself working 70+ hours a week and noticed a pile of clothes with tags on them she meant to return for months. By using technology to make a difference to streamline disjointed reverse logistics processes and mitigate return fraud, the idea for ReturnRunners™ was born.

THE DIRECTION

As one of four UI designers on a team, we had a three-week sprint to redesign the mobile app with the research and information provided by the UX team.

As a team, we looked at the wireframes and synthesized how to create the perfect return experience for both the customer and the runner.

How to create a simple flow for the runner
How to store account information for the customer
How to incorporate a map for the runners
How to easily manage a receipt screen

VOICE AND TONE

Before our team branched out to explore individual styles, we developed a set of guidelines. We used these as the foundation of our personal design decisions. Our team incorporated these principles from our research finding and the client’s values and goals, to keep the runner in mind.

OUR GOALS

We went forward with iterating screens to create our prototypes for testing. In addition to going into testing I wanted to focus on three additional goals:

How to build an easy receipt scanner
Does the black, gold and white color combination help the brand's identify feel upscale
How easy is the flow to create a return

USER TESTING

Users responded well to my final iterations. Some liked the addition of the company logos and said it made the design feel more personal and trusting, which I was trying to include as a design principle.
Other users stated that the design looked clean, but still lacked an overall sense of luxury. The original gold color I chose had a green tint to it that wasn’t loved, so I updated the colors once again.
Overall, the friendly font pairing made the screens easy to read. They also felt balanced, which was another design principle I wanted to achieve.
Users were able to click through my prototype with ease.

There were several disconnects with some of my image choices. I wanted to introduce an option of creating a carousel in the login screen. Instead of showing one image of a woman shopping, this was an excellent opportunity to showcase several photos of a city, bookstores and men and women. Adding a microinteraction here was an excellent opportunity to make the application more inviting.

When we presented our final screens to Fara and her team, they were more than pleased. She loved the idea of using multiple images for the splash/home screen and the new color combination. All these decisions helped Fara decide this was the right way to move forward with the look of ReturnRunners and after graduating from Designation, I began working with her in continuing building additional screens.

WORKING WITH FARA

I immediately began to work with Fara to create a simple on-boarding process. A top frustration with the current customers is always entering their information every time they need a return. Here is an opportunity to save a customers name, address and payment options to ensure a quick return process.

Another critical screen was the receipt screen function. At this time ReturnRunners™ isn't able to use a current API for the receipt process, so I sat down with the DEV team to work out a simple system to scan and input the items for a return.

LAST STEPS

My initial font choices became a problem when we were getting ready to launch ReturnRunners™ new redesign. I've picked fonts not thinking about cost and usage. I had to go back and relook at fonts within the budget and rework the design.

Within this project, I was able to iterate quickly and researching familiar design patterns helped me work with Fara on another short timeline to get the platform where Fara needed it to be. Being able to work quickly and effectively was a great accomplishment for me. It has proved helpful for me as I learn to design with intention and a purpose.

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