Redesigning Walmart's UGC Experience

I was entrusted with the critical task of overhauling the global navigation system across all primary digital touchpoints. Recognizing that the navigation serves as the gateway to the entire Walmart ecosystem, this redesign was driven by the need to streamline user journeys, improve discoverability of key features, and seamlessly integrate evolving aspects of the Walmart experience, including its growing membership program, rich UGC, and foray into social commerce. 

Role: UX Designer | UI Designer

Timeline: 6 months

Tools: Figma

Deliverables: High Fidelity Mobile and Desktop Comps

Target Audience: Consumers, Sellers, and Third Party Vendors

The opportunity

As one of the world's largest retailers, Walmart.com's user experience is critical to its success. A key component of that experience is user-generated content (UGC), which builds trust and helps customers make informed purchasing decisions. While at Walmart as a Senior UX Designer, I led the redesign of the UGC ecosystem, which included a complete overhaul of the customer review system and the end-to-end user experience for order fulfillment and delivery.

The challenge was to create a more transparent, trustworthy, and seamless journey for millions of users, from the moment they read a review to the moment their package arrived at their door.

Lack of Transparency in Seller Reviews: It was difficult for customers to distinguish between reviews for products sold directly by Walmart and those from third-party sellers. This ambiguity made it challenging for users to assess the reliability of a seller and the quality of their products. 

• Outdated UGC Interface: The system for submitting and viewing reviews, photos, and videos was cumbersome and not engaging for users, leading to lower-quality contributions and a less vibrant community.
• Fragmented Fulfillment Experience: Once a purchase was made, the user journey for tracking and managing delivery was often disjointed, especially for orders involving multiple items from different sellers. This lack of a unified view created anxiety and increased customer service inquiries.

Working with third-party sellers at Walmart presented a unique set of UX challenges that go beyond a typical e-commerce site. When customers shop on Walmart.com, they expect a certain level of quality and service. However, after we received seller feedback, we learned there was not enough customer transparency on the site to leave seller reviews.

Additionally, in a world of competing to gain marketshare a seller might be offering the exact same product as ten other sellers. In this scenario, positive reviews become the key differentiator. Customers will almost always choose the seller with a higher rating, even if the price is slightly higher, because it reduces their perceived risk.

The solution

My approach was centered on building trust through transparency and creating a more intuitive user journey. The solution was twofold:

1. Revamping the User-Generated Content Experience - To address the lack of transparency, I designed new components that clearly distinguished between different types of UGC, customer reviews, seller reviews, write a review, and a follow up customer email template. 

Dedicated Seller Review Module: I designed a distinct section on the product page to showcase reviews specifically for third-party sellers. This module included the seller's name, rating, and a link to their profile, allowing customers to make a more informed decision before purchasing.

Enhanced Content Submission: I redesigned the "write a review" flow to be more engaging and user-friendly, encouraging customers to upload photos and videos. This not only enriched the product pages with more authentic content but also increased user engagement.

Unified Review Display: The new design seamlessly integrated product reviews, seller reviews, and customer media into a single, easy-to-navigate section on the product page, providing a holistic view for the user.

 

Final design & outcome

While specific metrics are confidential, the redesign led to significant qualitative improvements in the user experience:

Increased Customer Trust: By clearly surfacing third-party seller reviews, we empowered customers to make more confident purchasing decisions.

Enhanced User Engagement: The redesigned UGC submission process made it easier for customers to share their experiences, leading to a higher volume and quality of user-generated content.

Reduced Customer Friction: The optimized fulfillment experience provided greater clarity and reduced anxiety, creating a more positive post-purchase journey for millions of Walmart customers.