Best Buy · Mobile UX · 2022
Services scheduling: app & research
What is Best Buy?
Best Buy is the largest consumer electronics retailer in the United States. Their Geek Squad and Totaltech services handle tech support, repair, and large appliance services for millions of customers annually. The Totaltech membership ($199/year) gives members priority access to services, extended warranties, and exclusive benefits — managed through the Best Buy app.
Overview
As Senior UX Designer at Best Buy, I led UX research and design across the services scheduling experience — partnering with another Lead UX Designer and a researcher, backed by data, to redesign how customers access, schedule, and manage Geek Squad and Totaltech services. The project required pivoting mid-stream when COVID changed service delivery models, and later expanded to include a VIP support experience for paid Totaltech members.
The Problem
Customers couldn't find or manage their services
The existing scheduling flow was buried in the app and didn't reflect how customers thought about their service needs. Research surfaced confusion around appointment types, lack of status visibility, and a high rate of calls to customer service for information the app should have surfaced. Then COVID hit — and the entire model of in-store service shifted.
Known issues — documenting current state failure points
Challenges
- Understanding the full breadth of service types and presenting them clearly without overwhelming customers
- Pivoting the design mid-project to address COVID-era changes in service delivery
- Balancing the needs of multiple customer types — from casual shoppers to paid Totaltech members
- Reducing call center volume by surfacing the right information at the right moment
- Designing a VIP experience that felt meaningfully different without creating confusion for non-members
Process
Research — backed by data
Partnered with a Lead UX Designer and researcher to ground the project in data. Conducted surveys, affinity mapping, and cross-channel experience mapping to identify language inconsistencies and experience gaps across the services ecosystem.
Research — customer survey results and key pain points
Research — affinity mapping and behavioral insights
Competitive analysis — service categories
Competitive analysis — support models
Solutions mapping & experience redesign
Mapped all the ways customers could get help and shop for services — then redesigned the flow to reflect how customers actually think about their needs, not how Best Buy's internal systems were organized.
Solutions mapping — all paths to getting help and scheduling services
Wrapped experience — end-to-end service journey
All the ways to get help
All the ways to shop
COVID pivot — new appointment types
Pivoted rapidly when COVID changed service delivery. Designed new flows for shopping appointments, chat and virtual appointments — working with web, legal, and copy teams to ship quickly while maintaining quality.
All the ways — updated service flow including COVID-era appointment types
Updated services flow — revised scheduling architecture
Validating new flows
Validated the redesigned flows including store wait times, new service types, and quick testing rounds to confirm the experience held up under real customer scenarios.
Triage computers — quick service triage flow
User testing — validating the redesigned scheduling experience
VIP support — Totaltech membership
Extended the work to design a premium support experience for paid Totaltech members — a distinctly elevated version of the scheduling and help experience that reflected the value of the membership.
Paid experience map — Totaltech member journey
Where customers may get support — Totaltech support touchpoints
Outcome
The redesigned scheduling experience launched in the Best Buy app. By surfacing appointment status, service type information, and prep instructions directly in the app, the project contributed to a measurable reduction in call center volume. The Totaltech VIP experience launched as part of Best Buy's premium membership offering.