Advance Auto Parts, Carquest, & Walmart

Worked on both the UI and UX side to ensure product flow consistency throughout the customer experience. Since this was a time when Carquest had just merged with Advance Auto Parts along with a partnership with Walmart, there was a lot of moving parts here. They were also in a midst of a slight brand refresh while we were doing the discovery sessions. The app had to be both robust, so it covered all of their products and services with an ease -of-use. I spent two weeks researching competitors and related industries (including their existing website) before jumping into this project. When I was first introduced to this project, it was basically a few unfinished Sketch files that didn’t have the right user-flow from start to finish and the whole thing was pretty much unorganized. I was given the opportunity by their in-house lead designer who inherited these files a chance to collaborate after being given a few test-flows to see how I would solve this problem. After creating a few different scenario-flows, the problems were solved for these functionalities and now the real work begins.

I collaborated with their in-house team and was given time and creative flexibility to explore all possible scenarios based on my research. We wanted to see which approaches worked best from start to finish during the sign-up process. We then cut the lo-fi wire-framing process short and jumped right into high fidelity designs since we already know the brand components. We created multiple moodboards (a competitive analysis board) of all the other companies we liked and studied the best highlights of their flow. After a process of elimination, we were able to narrow down our decision in terms of direction, style, and flow. As you’ll see below, there was a few experiments before discovering this clean and slightly gamified style with the right ease-of-use. Soon after, we had a place for everything including all the promotions and programs that needed to be incorporated.

Once we’ve identified the hierarchy and proper placement for all of the functionalities (including top categories, the speed perks programs, maps, locations, shop, garage, adding vehicles, dashboard, QR code functions, and so much more), it was pretty much smooth-sailing from here. All files were transferred to Figma for an easier collaborative work between teams and it worked out beautifully. At this point, a design system was created, which made the work much easier and more concrete. We did a few more style explorations as we wrapped up the flow/prototype and worked on the Walmart webpages and advertisements where they were going to also sell their products. This long endeavor was one of the most enjoyable project I’ve ever done. From iconography, UI, UX, to advanced graphic design for the images, I was able to utilize my previous skills to this job. The app is a success and you can download it from their site.