Amazon Sustainable Redesign
See how UX design can improve sustainability, from in depth research to design mock ups.
Overview
With the rapid rise of online retail spending, Amazon has proven itself as a clear leader and innovator. Promoting 2-day shipping, and even 1 day shipping, the retail giant has few competitors that can match their sheer speed and convenience, but what is the environmental cost of this convenience?
Problem
Despite not needing retail establishments to drive too, online commerce still leaves a larger carbon footprint than traditional retail [8]. This fact can largely be attributed to the increase in rush shipping and the unsustainable inefficiencies it produces.
Despite efforts by Amazon to promote greener shipping options, Rush shipping remains king, as its unoptimized interface does not prioritize sustainable shipping. I aimed to answer the following question:
'Can an improved user interface bolster more sustainable decision making by the user?'
The Project
With this project I aim to accomplish three primary tasks:
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Research the Issue - Understanding where Amazon's fulfillment systems fail will aid in developing a solution.
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Develop Informative Literature - A key component of design is communicating information. Whether shared with colleagues, Amazon, or users, this literature justifies the need for redesigns.
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Conduct User Research - Identify how the user interacts with Amazon now and how these interactions can change.
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Redesign the Amazon Checkout - UX design is a powerful tool that can tackle difficult issues with simplicity.
Team
Solo
Tools
Figma
Excel
Photoshop
Illustrator
Pencil and Paper
Lucidchart
Process
Secondary Research
User Research
Ideation
Mock-ups
Project Length
4 Weeks
Secondary Research
Strategy
Extensive research already exists on the subject of sustainability in relation to online retail. Amazon's rush shipping specifically has many detractors with valuable insights into potential changes. I drew on this bank of knowledge to develop an improved plan of action. All sources are listed at the bottom of the page.
Research Literature
To easily convey the information gathered through this secondary research, I developed informative literature that can educate colleagues, potential users, as well as the Amazon team. Communicating complex information to a diverse set of stakeholder is key to working on UX teams in order to align the goals of a project.
This poster aims to communicate the problem and address potential solutions in a digestible format, best suited for stakeholders not directly involved in the development of the project.
Departing from the poster, I developed a memo formatted document that provides a more in depth discussion into Amazon rush shipping and the environmental impacts. This document is directed to those that require further insight into the problem than a poster can provide.
User Research
Persona
"I'm not sure how I can stop climate change, but I always recycle my Starbucks order"
Profile
Meet Elijah Taylor, 33
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Loyal Amazon Prime user since 2015
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Software developer working outside of San Francisco
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Leads a busy life and likes things to be quick and convenient
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Cares about environmental sustainability but doesn't know what he can do
I created a user profile to personify the demographic that is most likely to utilize Amazon Prime and be receptive to an Amazon sustainability initiative. This persona will be considered when designing.
Survey
To better understand the Prime user base I deployed a simple eight question survey through students, online message boards, friends, and family. This survey seeks to measure user understanding and use of the sustainable shipping methods, and to measure customer interest in environmental sustainability and package reduction.
Results
Never Every Purchase
Prime Frequency
Over half of respondents use rush shipping exclusively.
Google Forms survey screen. See full survey here
The survey attracted 96 responses, allowing a detailed look into user thinking. Of the 96, 87 had ordered a product on Amazon Prime in the last 3 months. I gained the following insights:
Survey results and insights. See full response results here.
From this survey, three findings are clear: respondents lack awareness of sustainable shipping methods, rush shipping remains most prevalent, and respondents desire sustainability and waste reduction.
Existing Interface
Findings
The existing Amazon Prime checkout process begins at the product page where items can either be added to the cart or sent to checkout. No sustainable shipping options are listed, only rush shipping is advertised.
Annotated product sidebar (left) and checkout screen (right).
The interface deprioritizes sustainable shipping methods by:
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Excluding them from the product page
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Burying the options in a wall of text with poor hierarchy
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Auto selecting rush shipping
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Excluding sustainability imagery and information
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Visually emphasizing 'Place your order' buttons to skip delivery selection
Implication
Together, these design choices reduce the likelihood of a customer selecting sustainable shipping options. As found in the secondary research findings, this emphasis on rush shipping reduces Amazon sustainability and increases costs.
Ideation
Wireframe
My main focus was to modify the checkout page shipping option panel. As I found, this selection screen is difficult to read and does little to distinguish the sustainable shipping methods. As found in the MIT study [3], simple 'green' imagery and descriptions of environmental savings leads the user to choose sustainable shipping more often.
Initial wireframe ideation sketches
Key Attributes:
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Image of product.
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Product description and relevant information.
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Green panel and imagery to immediately indicate sustainability.
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No-Rush Shipping selected by default
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Environmental impact of green shipping option.
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interactive calendar for more intuitive Amazon Day Shipping.
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Amazon Day Shipping information.
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Submit button.
Checkout pop-up wireframe
Mock-Ups
Checkout Redesign
Applying what I gathered from secondary research, demographic research, surveys, and more, I developed a mock up, redesigning the amazon checkout page and confirmation screen. I sought to make it more readable and highlight sustainability through this design.
Checkout sustainable redesign mock-up
With this design I emphasized the sustainable shipping options and provided much needed clarification. I made the following additions:
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Green imagery in top banner and shipping selection panel.
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Highlighted sustainable shipping options in green.
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Improved visual hierarchy for clarity and readability.
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Environmental savings listed under shipping options.
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Instructions and explanations under green shipping option.
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Moved 'Place your order' button to bottom right, reducing emphasis.
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Auto selected 'No-Rush Shipping'
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Changed 'Prime Delivery' to 'Rush Shipping'
Confirmation Redesign
To further highlight sustainability, I continued the green imagery and acknowledgement of sustainability to the confirmation screen. By reminding the user of the environmental benefits, I reward them for their selection and keep sustainability on their mind for future purchases.
Confirmation screen sustainable redesign mock-up
Conclusion
What I Learned
With this project, I realized the amount of research and critical thinking that can go into relatively modest design changes for large platforms. I better understand how I can use different research methods, like secondary research, demographic research, surveys, etc., in tandem to develop the most full picture of a situation. Communicating these ideas effectively to different stakeholders was also a crucial takeaway from this project.
Next Steps
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Develop an Interactive Interface - The high fidelity mock ups were a great start to model the look and functionality of a new user interface. Working with developers to bring this concept to life would aid in functionality development.
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Conduct Usability Tests on New UI - Usability testing would identify areas of improvement for future iterations and reveal whether the design changes increased adoption of sustainable shipping or not.
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Work with Amazon - As this project is intended for their application, working with Amazon would aid in developing the interface to work for the organization, understanding what they need and expect from their service.
References
1. Bird, J. (2018, July 29). What A Waste: Online Retail’s Big Packaging Problem. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonbird1/2018/07/29/what-a-waste-online-retails-big-packaging-problem/#7cc24917371d
2. Del Valle, Gaby. (2019, April 23). Amazon 2-day shipping: why packages sometimes arrive later. Vox; Vox. https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/4/23/18508093/amazon-prime-two-day-shipping
3. DePillis, L. (2019, July 15). Rush shipping is often free. But the environment is paying for it. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/15/business/fast-shipping-environmental-impact/index.html
4. Nguyen, T. (2019, October 16). Amazon’s 1-day shipping is convenient — and terrible for the environment. Vox; Vox. https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/10/16/20917467/amazon-one-day-shipping-bad-for-environment
5. Peters, A. (2018, April 20). Can Online Retail Solve Its Packaging Problem? Fast Company; Fast Company. https://www.fastcompany.com/40560641/can-online-retail-solve-its-packaging-problem
6. Rani Molla. (2017, June 8). For the wealthiest Americans, Amazon Prime has become the norm. Vox; Vox. https://www.vox.com/2017/6/8/15759354/amazon-prime-low-income-discount-piper-jaffray-demographics
7. U.S. Amazon Prime user reach by age group 2020 | Statista. (2020). Statista; Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/304940/amazon-prime-us-age-distribution/#:~:text=Amazon%20Prime%20user%20reach%20in%20the%20U.S.%202020%2C%20by%20age%20group&text=As%20of%20January%202020%2C%2081,usage%20reach%20in%20February%202020.
8. Weideli, Demitri. Environmental Analysis of US Online Shopping. Dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2013. MIT, 2008.
9. Weise, E. (2018, June 8). Blue bins overflow with Amazon and Walmart boxes. But we’re actually recycling less. USA TODAY; USA TODAY. https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2018/06/08/cardboard-recycling-rates-drop-shopping-amazon-walmart-surges/630967002/