Finding a layout that could accommodate the catalog was not easy
John Lewis were looking to catch up with the competition in terms of their app, and Zara in particular had just released an elegant app with high production values and motion. At the time Android take-up was far lower than iPhone and the business was keen to use Android as a platform to experiment. They had also just hired their first Head of Innovation and were embarking on developing their in-store in-app augmented experience.
Possibly the calmest bunch I’ve worked with, but still success focussed
Looking for perfection: Finding a single layout that showed the full John Lewis catalogue in its best light that made the app consistent to use and easier to develop
Experimenting with modernity: Pushing what was possible at the time with regard interaction and motion design to test user reaction before taking it to the iPhone environment
Playing with technology: Supporting the innovation pipeline for ‘in-store in-app’
Testing and demoing with handmade assets worked well for this group
Workings a lead designer on the Android app team alongside the iPhone and web teams, my approach to success was.
Going beyond tradition: I explored how layout, movement, typography and micro-interactions could help support the presentation of the catalogue
Sensible implementation: Working for an early adopter of agile we set about creating great designs based on a solid modular design system and sensible
UX Quality: There was a real focus on quality which you would expect of the brand which made this project a pleasure to be involved in
Nerd-out: Utilise my engineering background to experiment with emerging technologies as part of the in-store in-app experience development
“The app is working perfectly, but John Lewis I want to find out why you don’t do shipments to Namibia, why?”
The devil is in the detail
I designed hundreds of screens to guarantee the projects success, from saucy underwear to sandwich makers, every product worked in a single template. An elegant frame was chosen and I produced a high fidelity animated HTML prototype for testing. Experimenting in a sandpit environment, I delivered additional layers to the design including motion design that was simple and unobtrusive, maximizing real estate and directing the users eye.
Customer feedback was positive and the artwork went into production. Post launch, the designs continued to test well and the android app still has a passing resemblance to what I produced over that period.
I also delivered exploratory creative technology work for the in-store in-app experience strategy. I tested iBeacons as part of the customer journey as well as a smart shelves concept which we developed to assess each consumer gathering live data on demographics through to mood to personalise and prioritise customer support in store.
You can also download an offline version of my porfolio and CV below:
