me@walmart™
Project Type: Product
Role: Creative and Strategic Direction
Deliverables: Vision & Strategy, UX Research, Product Design, Design System
Introduction
In 2020, Walmart CEO, Doug McMillon, launched an initiative across the company called “One Walmart.” One of the principle goals of the mission was “to unify and improve the holistic experience for our customers and associates.” The ultimate financial goal was to reduce the overall cost to serve while investing in new technology to boost Walmart’s stance amongst stiff competition and demonstrate innovation in the marketplace.
70% of Walmart Associates quit their job in the first month.
Costs Walmart approximately $250,000 and about 3 weeks to onboard an associate.
Walmart was struggling to attract and retain store associates. As part of the “One Walmart” initiative to modernize the in-store experience, I was brought in to lead a cross-functional team to design a customer-grade associate platform, streamline and retire legacy tools, and activate a major strategic partnership with Samsung.
Approach
The goal was to consolidate 100+ tools into a single platform, driven mainly by speed and cost savings. I refocused the team on fundamentals—research and discovery—to avoid carrying forward legacy problems and ensure a better overall experience.
We used heuristic analysis to map the system and surface what users said worked and what didn’t.
We turned our research into a framework that guided decisions and targeted major pain points.
We engaged directly with associates to understand their problems and create a sustainable experience.
We used market benchmarks and adjacent examples to inspire new approaches to the experience.
One clear opportunity emerged: associates needed a true consumer-grade experience. Many described feeling like “second-class citizens with second-rate tools.” Using Walmart’s new consumer design system as a springboard, I pushed the team to rethink the front end and design an experience worthy of the associates who keep the business running.
“Get rid of the zombies.” Research revealed consistent feedback that the existing illustration style felt lifeless and uninspiring. We saw this as an opportunity to elevate expression, representation, and overall visual energy.
The Solution
Entering the design and testing phase, I led a cross-functional team to define a shared vision: a single associate tool that simplifies work, improves service, and supports life outside the job. We established three principles to guide prioritization and ensure we stayed aligned to user needs.
1
Create personalized messaging and role-relevant tiles tailored to each associate, eliminating the sense of being “just another number.”
Walmart makes me successful.
Design tools that give associates actionable information to do their jobs well and support ongoing growth.
2
Walmart akes care of me.
Building on the principles, we focused on the associates’ core pain points and jobs-to-be-done—prioritizing onboarding, starting the day, well-being, time management, and communication.
Keep well-being top of mind by building moments into the journey to check in and gather feedback daily.
3
Walmart knows me personally.
Refocusing on discovery helped us recover time and deliver more from our backlog. With inventory accuracy at just 65%, we targeted this critical issue and used Samsung hardware to prototype a sound-driven, more intuitive inventory capture workflow.
We used intuitive sound cues to guide associates—crackling as the scanner neared an item and simple beeps to mark progress and completion. This playful yet productive approach reduced inventory capture time by two-thirds and increased accuracy to 98%.
Outcomes
“We just did something pretty cool to assist Associates — and make them feel important, too. As retail continues to evolve — and quickly — it’s more critical than ever to equip our people with the tools and technology they need for success. Brian’s leadership was and will be so critical to our success as we continue to scale the Associate experience going forward. He pushed to the point where we ended up with something that was infinitely much better than where we started.”
– Drew Holler, Senior Vice President, People Operations at Walmart
+90%
Associate enrollment in the first week of launch
+3K
Newly hired associates reported they felt prepared for their job on day one
+15
Minutes saved by associates by utilizing mobile clock-in
+20%
Referrals to HR from existing associates