Axfood
The designs presented in this case study are conceptual and do not represent the actual software, and some images have been blurred, both due to privacy reasons - Contact for demo
Intro
Axfood is one of Sweden’s largest grocery groups. Several store brands run on the same underlying systems, and I joined as the UX/UI design consultant responsible for every new in-store digital interface.
Over four years I designed around 25 applications. In-store apps, support apps, financial apps, campaign apps. My job was to balance what the business wanted against how store employees really work, and to build user-centered design into how the organization works.
Over four years I designed around 25 applications. In-store apps, support apps, financial apps, campaign apps. My job was to balance what the business wanted against how store employees really work, and to build user-centered design into how the organization works.
Challenge
Three things made this hard at the same time.
The systems are built in SAP Fiori. It is a framework with firm opinions about layout, components and interaction, so every design decision has to work inside it or it turns into technical debt for someone else to pay.
Each brand under the Axfood umbrella runs its own in-store processes. One interface therefore has to serve several different ways of working without splitting into a separate variant per brand.
UX ownership was also unclear when I arrived. An earlier attempt to establish it had not held, so design decisions were being made in several places at once and nobody had written down why.
The systems are built in SAP Fiori. It is a framework with firm opinions about layout, components and interaction, so every design decision has to work inside it or it turns into technical debt for someone else to pay.
Each brand under the Axfood umbrella runs its own in-store processes. One interface therefore has to serve several different ways of working without splitting into a separate variant per brand.
UX ownership was also unclear when I arrived. An earlier attempt to establish it had not held, so design decisions were being made in several places at once and nobody had written down why.
Design
I designed the in-store solution as a set of interfaces that share one structure and one visual language. They are tailored per brand only where the underlying process differs.
Everything follows SAP’s design principles, which keeps the result recognisable as one system across touchpoints. Where Fiori’s defaults worked against the in-store task I documented the deviation and the reasoning behind it, so it could be argued about openly.
For the ownership problem I set up a structured UX process. Design decisions and the thinking behind them go into one central place, so anyone joining later can look up what was decided. Alongside that I ran workshops and internal education to spread an understanding of user-centered design across departments.
I also introduced a defined handoff to frontend. It cut most of the back-and-forth about what a spec meant.
Everything follows SAP’s design principles, which keeps the result recognisable as one system across touchpoints. Where Fiori’s defaults worked against the in-store task I documented the deviation and the reasoning behind it, so it could be argued about openly.
For the ownership problem I set up a structured UX process. Design decisions and the thinking behind them go into one central place, so anyone joining later can look up what was decided. Alongside that I ran workshops and internal education to spread an understanding of user-centered design across departments.
I also introduced a defined handoff to frontend. It cut most of the back-and-forth about what a spec meant.
User Testing
Designs were tested with store staff working the floor.
The app for temporary staff went through a round of annotated sessions where I mapped each participant’s path through the task and compared them side by side. That is where assumptions about store routines met what people do when they are short on time. The findings went into the next iteration.
The app for temporary staff went through a round of annotated sessions where I mapped each participant’s path through the task and compared them side by side. That is where assumptions about store routines met what people do when they are short on time. The findings went into the next iteration.
Result
Axfood hired their first design lead and started building an internal UX competence after this work. That is the outcome I am proudest of. User-centered design stopped being something a consultant brought in and became something the company wanted to own.
The in-store interfaces share one experience across the brands, and the complexity of SAP Fiori sits in the design rather than in the hands of store staff. Better alignment between the brands made store operations and customer interactions more consistent.
The documentation and the handoff process outlasted the individual projects. New applications now start from decisions that have already been made and written down.
The in-store interfaces share one experience across the brands, and the complexity of SAP Fiori sits in the design rather than in the hands of store staff. Better alignment between the brands made store operations and customer interactions more consistent.
The documentation and the handoff process outlasted the individual projects. New applications now start from decisions that have already been made and written down.
Jag har haft förmånen att arbeta tillsammans med Eric i flera projekt och kan varmt rekommendera honom.
Eric kombinerar hög kompetens inom UX-design med ett starkt användarfokus. Med sitt strukturerade arbetssätt och sitt pedagogiska, lugna sätt bidrar han till att skapa tydlighet och samsyn, även när frågorna är komplexa.