Constellation Brands Inc: An Internal iOS App

a digital way to become a brand ambassador

ROLE

UX UI Designer

TOOLS

Sketch
InVision
Marvel
Axure

THE GOAL

Constellation Brands, Inc. (CBI) is a Fortune 500 alcoholic beverage company with over 8,000 employees. We helped CBI’s Digital Innovation Team understand what could be added to the Ambassador app’s core functionality to improve employee interaction with CBI products. So employees can act like an owner using the Ambassador app. In other words,

“How can we encourage CBI employees to become Brand Evangelists by using the Ambassador app?”

DIVING INTO RESEARCH

We talked to CBI employees and based on the users’ answers, we identified the competitors of Ambassador App.

After speaking with 10 CBI employees, we found out that the Ambassador app was spun off from an app made for sales representatives so that the app itself was hard for non-sales employees to use. Out of 10 interviewees, only four people had actually used the Ambassador App.

We focused on what apps they can use instead of the Ambassador app when they look for CBI products. We found some apps that compete with the Ambassador app for the attention of CBI employees. They provide context-based experiences for finding and filtering nearby products, and they effortlessly expand user knowledge, by suggesting products by meal, occasion, taste or varietal.

Yelp lets users immediately browse results based on preselected categories, without having to search for a specific term.

Hello Vino provides information about wine pairing so that users can find wines on their own preferences.

But we also realized that evangelizing CBI brands is not the only priority of employees.

“I'll be frank, I’ll go for the food that I want. If they have our product, great. If they don't... I'm going to go and then not buy a CBI product.”

- Sarah, Director at CBI

Even though our client wanted employees to represent the brand anywhere they go, employees had their own personal lives separated from their work. Based on these findings, we built our persona to help us empathize with our users as we start to define the problem they face.

In accordance with Olivia's pain points with the Ambassador app, we created her Friday night journey map. It reveals how frustrated she gets when her friend expects her to be knowledgeable on alcoholic drinks since she works at CBI.

THE PROBLEM

CBI’s non-sales employees need a digital way to discover CBI products in order to seamlessly integrate these products with experiences they are searching for, thereby cultivating a meaningful connection between their personal lives and the products they represent.

EXPLORING CONCEPTS

Concept 1: Experience Focus

A mobile application that allows users to pick alcoholic beverages based on experience preferences; rewards CBI employees with special experiences like tastings and brewery tours.

Scenario: Olivia takes her team out to happy hour.

Concept 2: Education Focus

A location-based mobile application that allows users to learn about CBI products and brands; rewards CBI employees and friends with alcohol delivery service referral code.

Scenario: Olivia is planning to meet a friend for dinner near her office, on short notice.

Concept 3: Pairing Focus

A mobile application that pairs CBI products with particular foods or recipes; rewards CBI employees with experiences & company perks for reviewing CBI products.

Scenario: You and your fiance are hosting a dinner party for some close friends and family.

EXPLORING CONCEPTS

WHAT USERS SAID

Users were excited about discovering CBI products through activities they’re already doing, like going to dinner or making a meal.
We also learned that they still wanted detailed product information, but not necessarily about the story of the product or brand. It’s the memorable experience that they create when they do something they enjoy with a particular product. That becomes the story they connect with. So they wanted detailed tasting notes, pairing suggestions, and where to find a product. So they can easily incorporate that product into an activity.
We know we want to reward engagement - but perhaps not in a tangible way, maybe in a more intrinsic way.

Below is a diagram to show how the three concepts converged into two reflecting the testing results.

CONVERGING CONCEPTS

Concept 1: Experience-First

Pain Point:
“I start with what I want to do, then I look for a drink that would go well with it. I can’t do that on Ambassador.”

A map and a location finder, sortable through selectable occasions options that helps users supplement their normal outings with CBI products

Concept 2: Product-First

Pain Point:
“Searching for a CBI product that I want is hard on Ambassador”

Instead of the normal hassle of sorting and filtering, this concept leads with a homepage that allows users to explore CBI products based on season, popularity, or location

As I described on the diagram above, we added useful features such as suggested pairings and crowdsourced tags in the product detail page, and 'Get a Ride' feature in the location detail page to support the above concepts. This also helps with the fundamental goal of increasing employee engagement with the app.

Product Detail Page

Location Detail Page

CONVERGING CONCEPTS

WHAT USERS SAID

Users preferred the Product-First Concept, prioritizing detailed and useful product information.
The Experience-First Concept can be featured in the Product-First concept since it creates an authentic connection between CBI brands and employees.
Users felt confused about the in-app map and thought it was unnecessary. They rather wanted to search and browse products than using the map feature.

DESIGNING SOLUTIONS

Finally, we honed in on a solution which is a mobile application that allows employees to ultimately become CBI brand evangelists as well as discover products in their daily lives.

View Prototype on Axure 🔗

We eliminated the in-app map feature while enabling users to find the location on Google maps. In addition, we allowed users to find products on the homepage based on not only the season, popularity, and current locations, but also activities by combining the first and the second concepts.

CONCLUSION

From the usability tests, we received positive results on usability and satisfaction and brought out some future considerations.

Since the “explore by occasion” feature labels were not intuitive, use more familiar language and labels.

Refine nearby locations by sorting them into restaurants, bars, and stores to allow users to easily search.

Test interactive elements that could further enhance the connection with CBI products such as carefully selected personalization features.

MY REFLECTION

- Don’t Hesitate to Go Back to the Raw Data

When we were stuck and dithered about the users’ needs, it was hard to synthesize all the data in a limited time. The time pressure also made us scared to start over again. We felt lost. In the end, we decided to go back to the data from our research and interviews. We re-filled the whiteboard with new findings. It even led us to a new problem statement, which satisfied the needs of most of the users. By thoroughly empathizing with the users again, we were able to understand them deeply and discover their ultimate needs.

Hi-Fi wireframes

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