Starting out my time with Lowe's, I was attached to the taxonomy analysts as part of the design team tasked to produce an administration portal for the taxonomy analysts to complete their work.
​
What is taxonomy? A taxonomy is a scheme of classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. A taxonomist is an analyst of this data. This helps people find the things they're looking for. An example of this playing out is a taxonomist correctly classifying a hammer as a hand tool, so that when a customer is looking for that hammer, the customer knows where to look.
​
While there were some moving parts, the team was comprised of myself, an interaction designer, 3 senior taxonomy analysts, about 5 junior analysts, and the developers.
Roles: Product Designer and Project Manager
Problem
The main issues for this project were that the legacy system did not allow the taxonomist to make certain changes or obtain certain information. That resulted in exporting Lowe's data into Excel to view the information and then notifying a developer to make the changes, due to the taxonomist not having the ability in their tools. The result was an error prone and lengthy process for corrections to occur.
Process
-
Individual meetings (3 seniors analysts)
-
Produce initial requirements and design
-
Team meetings
-
Test prototype (5 junior analysts)
-
Gain functionality approval to develop
This systematic approach consistently worked to quickly take in all user perspectives and keep everyone on the same page about project objectives. This was used for many projects and was able to be replicated successfully in my later work with the Data Quality team.
As a design team, we organized our projects in Figma in accordance with our workflows, so we always knew where assets were and the progress of each.
Design Roles
Research
Visual Design
Architect
User Flows
Project Management
User Testing
Tools
Figma
Jira
Confluence
Microsoft Teams
Deliverables
Sitemaps
Mockups
Prototypes
Getting up to speed
By the start of my first day, the first project within the taxonomy application was already being designed. So to catch up, I read taxonomy related documents in Lowes' Confluence (knowledge hub), watched the previously recorded meetings, asked questions in current meetings, and read these two books; The Accidental Taxonomist and Information Architecture. These two books would later help me to lead in the designing of the application's Search and Metadata.
Individual Meetings
Starting each project, I conducted individual meetings with each of the three senior taxonomy analysts. Using a prompt that the team prepared for the project earlier, we met to get on the same page about what we were building to form initial requirements and a design progressed with each session.
Project's Initial Prompt
Business Requirements
-
Change the project name from Metadata to Alternative Word Management due to the term "metadata" being used in other ways throughout the organization
-
A simple way to ensure that product information is being named accurately, so end users can find what they are looking for easily
-
Ability to CRUD (Create, Read, Update, and Delete each term)
Practical Example
Lets say a vendor of Lowe's that sells sunscreen wants to upload that product's information.
So shoppers that want to purchase that bottle of sunscreen can find it easily, Lowe's wants to make sure that the vendor puts the product in the Preferred Term "sunscreen" instead of the Alternative Terms "skincare", "skin care", or "suncare".
Therefore, when a vendor tries to use an Alternative Term, their attempt is turned into the Preferred Term.
Initial Design
Team Meetings
After coming up with the initial design throughout the individual meetings, the team all came together to discuss what should be imporved.
Usability Testing
At this point we were ready to test the prototype using Figma. I tested the prototype with the 5 junior analysts.
This worked because...
-
it provided the optimal 5 rounds of testing
-
these analysts were not previously involved in the design process so, it ensured me that a taxonomist using the product for the first time would be able to do their job
-
the testers always had good ideas on how the design could be improved
Tasks
-
Quick intro to Alternative Terms
-
Add an alternative term from entry point 1
-
Add an alternative term from entry point 2
-
A/B preference testing
Notable Changes
-
A flatter design so that the user could make all actions on one screen rather than the two screens from the initial design, leading to a smaller cognitive load and less errors
-
Add entry points to the Alt Term Task where the user would need to use it
Gain Functionality Approval
This meeting was scheduled with the senior analysts to go over the changes from the prototype tests and gain their approval to begin development of the design.
Entry Point 1
Entry Point 2
Lessons Learned...
This was one of the many projects I worked on between the Taxonomy and then later the Data Quality team. This isn't taught in any design programs, but culture matters. Positive minded teams with a high level of respect for each other will outperform a negative minded team. Also, its just a better work environment.
​
As the design lead, I held myself 100% accountable even if I was only 10% responsible. Meaning, if something isn't correct within the project, I'm taking responsibility and making myself available to be the person to fix it.
​
While at Lowes, I got to work with many smart and talented designers. When they shared their work I was a sponge for the best ideas and implementation. When I couldn't figure something out, I would ask whoever I thought would be most helpful in that area of expertise. This lead not only to an improved product, but my own skill level raised in various areas.
​
Sr Designer | Lowes
"Marlon brought valuable insights to his work at Lowes. Marlon gets to the heart of what UX design is all about: going through a process to solve a user's problem. He was delightful and engaging throughout the entire discovery process."
"Working with Marlon was an exceptional experience. His intuitive flow for design resulted in a great product. I’m grateful he was on board to assist!"