Point of sale app design

salon collective

project overview

The Client

Petite Salon is a busy, modern salon that provides a variety of beauty services through independent service merchants. Each service merchant rents a chair in the salon and takes 100% of their service fees home in addition to their tips. The salon takes in revenue from the rentals chairs and from revenue on the products sold in the salon to clients. One of the return services that Petite Salon provides to the service merchants is a receptionist to handle booking, check ins, and monetary transactions at the end of service. Currently, the front desk utilizes three different applications to handle the daily operations of the salon.

The Opportunity

Realizing the significant issues and disconnect between applications, the owners sought out a point of sale design solution that matches their business model.

 

Methods

Affinity Diagramming

Cognitive Walkthrough

Contextual Inquiry

Deliverables

Interactive Prototype Walkthrough

 

design process

Cognitive.png

Existing tools

In order to understand the opportunity space, I first conducted a cognitive walkthrough of the three applications Petite Salon utilizes. From the perspective of the user, I produced a set of primary tasks and their associated actions. I gathered insights on the user flow and identified usability issues associated with the ease of task completion.

Contextual.png

Onsite Observation

A design team and I also conducted a contextual inquiry on-site observing the user roles, environment, activities, and pain points. This research provided a picture of the existing user needs, how these applications function in real time, and their ability to accelerate or decelerate workflow.

Synthesis.png

defining the focus

After returning to the studio, the team and I organized our data in an affinity diagram. Synthesizing the data collected shed light on the primary user task flows and associated user needs with a p.o.s. system. The most prevalent opportunity was to easily checkout customers for multiple services and products in a single transaction.

FirstSketches.png

wireframe Sketches

Lo-fidelity design sketches informed by the research set out an initial plan to simplify the check out process. I focused on clear, direct design elements to ensure a forward moving process flow with minimal backtracking, heightened error prevention, and a connection with associated tasks.

deliverable

 
 

This video is a visual walkthrough of the point of sale system design presented to the client, to see a full live version click here. Included in the tour are the key elements that provide specified tactics and design rationale. Highlights of the design goals and implementations are as follows:

  • Increase speed work process by providing a numerical login that is specific to each role in the salon (receptionist, service provider, etc) that opens a screen targeting their daily operations and tasks.

  • Removal of extra context and data that is irrelevant to the specific task at hand from each screen to reduce cognitive load.

  • Defining task flows that utilize a forward movement will align with a user’s mental model to easily move through tasks.

  • When adding tickets, reduce errors by utilizing the forward flow but also clear, direct language.

  • Include a new section for ticket history that will include the ability to switch providers easily if a mistake has been made.

  • In order to increase client understanding, have one consistent application for the client’s booking, check-ins, and check-outs.

  • Create a model where the services are boxed out on one screen with clear tip lines for that direct service and one total at the bottom of the screen.