Best Buy · Mobile UX · 2021
How do you save $2M on home deliveries?
What is Best Buy?
Best Buy is the largest consumer electronics retailer in the United States. Their Geek Squad service handles tech support, repair, and large appliance installation for millions of customers annually. Customers schedule, track, and manage service appointments primarily through the Best Buy app.
Overview
As Senior UX Designer at Best Buy, I led the end-to-end design of an improved appointment preparation experience in the Best Buy app — helping customers understand how to prepare for large appliance deliveries before the delivery team arrived. The project went from research through user testing to shipped product.
The Problem
Failed deliveries were costing $2 million annually
Customers purchasing large appliances — refrigerators, washing machines, dishwashers — were frequently unprepared when the delivery team arrived. The delivery failed, had to be rescheduled, and cost the company and the customer time and money. Best Buy was losing $2 million annually on failed home deliveries alone.
Known issues — documenting the current state failure points
Challenges
- Finding the right balance between enough information and too much
- Making preparation content visually digestible, not a wall of text
- Reflecting the right prep steps for different product types
- Accounting for legal content requirements without letting them dominate
- Working within the existing app architecture and competing design priorities
Process
Anatomy of the current experience
Audited the existing appointment prep screen — what content was there, what was missing, and where it lived in the app flow.
Anatomy of the current appointment detail screen
Journey mapping
Mapped the real customer journey from purchase through delivery to understand exactly where customers were getting lost and what information they actually needed, when they needed it.
Customer journey map — purchase through delivery, surfacing key failure points
Iterate on the prep experience
Explored three approaches for surfacing preparation content — each with a different balance of information density and visual clarity.
Option 1: Details live together — All prep information consolidated in a single expandable section.
Option 2: Links to details — A lightweight summary with links to deeper prep content.
Option 3: Icons preview ✓ Chosen direction — Visual icon-based format, tested best for clarity.
User testing
Tested the icon-based direction with 15 real customers. We set up a realistic scenario to ground participants in the experience before testing.
Setting the scene
- —Imagine you just bought a refrigerator from Best Buy and chosen a day and time to have it delivered
- —You've chosen to have it installed and your old refrigerator hauled away by the same delivery people
- —Your delivery appointment is coming up in a few days — Best Buy and you want to make sure it's successful
- —Looking at the details of your appointment, how would you ensure success?
What we wanted to accomplish
To test whether users can access appointment details and are clear on how to complete the tasks.
Additionally, we wanted to see how encouraged users feel to interact with task-oriented content and how clear the tasks are — including whether anything felt missing or unclear as presented.
Results summary — 15 participants, completed July 2021
Results summary
15 participants total — Completed July 2021
- —Access appointment details from overview
- —Give feedback on appointment details
- —Access appointment tasks
- —Go back to appointment details
Tested design flow
Formidable quotes on tasks
“Feels like buying a car AND THEN scheduling driving lessons.”
“No other company does this [checklist]! Nice.”
“Is there a KUDOS that you’re all ready?”
“These things are important but not sure I feel compelled!”
Top feedback
Landing / Detail
- People who saw the red status — some thought it was clickable, others missed it
- People thought the tasks may need to be further up but ALL found and accessed them
- Almost all found the detail page helpful and informative
- Not everyone cared for the video
- A few didn't think there was anything to do given the details page
Tasks
- Most found these useful and clear
- Someone wanted a completed all state
- Some found confusion with some tasks like the connections
- Most would watch video but not all
- Most would do this in order
- Some would leave this until they show up
- Split on whether these are definite requirements
- Some thought the split into day-of / pre would be useful
Return / Help
- Most found the help info on the previous page
- Most would chat / call
- Print / do elsewhere — note to web
- Some wanted a communication area for the tasks
Iterate & launch
Incorporated feedback from testing, addressed edge cases across product categories, and launched the MVP.
Recommendations & next steps
Landing / Detail
- Interactive status
- Less focus on video / clearer actions
- Pre / during / done state
- Clarity about necessity
- More info around cancellation limitations
- Update tracker to reflect tasks
Tasks
- Split into day-of and pre
- Let people know what they might need
- Clarity about what might already have been done at purchase
- Easier to understand phrasing for advanced items
Return / Help
- Leave most of this as is
- More clarity as to what Best Buy actually helps with
Appointment history — tracking service history in the app
PDP — product detail page integration with delivery prep
Post MVP — additional enhancements and scope expansion
Final Design
Final design — appointment prep screen 1
Final design — appointment prep screen 2
Outcome
The redesigned appointment preparation experience launched in the Best Buy app. By giving customers clear, visual, product-specific guidance before their delivery, the project helped reduce failed deliveries and contributed to saving the company up to $2M annually in rescheduling and service costs.