User Profile
Name: SW
Age: 24 years old
Personal Information: Single, female, working, have 2 roommates
List Purpose: Grocery shopping for dinner with a friend
Before Shopping
SW has a specific recipe in mind, so she uses her phone to view the recipe on a website. She takes screenshots of the recipe including ingredient lists, steps and recommendations. As she reads the recipe, she thinks of another dish that would go well with the food, so she looks up another recipe online and repeat the same process.
“I think corn bread would go well with this recipe. My friend Katy has a really good corn bread recipe, but let me look up a recipe… Oh, we have most of the ingredients. I’m going to make corn bread, too.” — SW
Once SW is satisfied with the meal choice, she opens her “photo” app and the “note” app. She uses the same list file for all her groceries, so she continues from the previous list. She creates a checklist for the ingredients in this format “2 15 oz can pinto beans”.
In this process, SW realizes that the recipe is more spicy than she would like, but she still adds the same amount of ingredients to the list. SW also asks her roommate whether they have certain ingredients. SW adds to the list anyways because she says it’s ok to have more.
“If I think my roommates have the ingredients and they are not here, I will just send a group text.” — SW
SW uses an android device that is slow to load sometimes. During this process, the phone stopped loading for couple seconds. SW does not download a lot of apps on her phone because it is old. and slow.
SW finishes adding ingredients to the checklist. She pauses to think if there is anything to add. SW opens pantry and realize she needs pasta, but she didn’t add that to the checklist.
“I am going to Publix because it is close and I know the store well.” — SW
In the Store
“I usually organize my grocery list by aisle, but I did not do that this time because I’m shopping for dinner with friends.” — SW
SW has her phone with her on one hand while she pushes the shopping cart. She pauses to read the grocery list and memorizes some of the items. She puts her phone in the pocket and get some items from the produce section. She pulls her phone out again to check and makes sure she has what she needs. She puts her phone back in the pocket again.
“I got 2 avocados instead because we eat a lot of avocados.” — SW
SW walks around the fruit aisle even though it was not on her list. SW passes by Christmas decoration and pauses to look up them. Eventually, she moves on to the next aisle.
“I do not care about brand. If the recipe calls for regular pasta, I would substitute it with whole wheat pasta.” — SW
SW couldn’t find canned green chili and tomato separately, so she got them in the same can together. SW takes out her phone and checks the list again. She has checked off all the items on the list. SW walks down the aisles even though she didn’t need anything. She suddenly remembers that she needs chips even though it was not on her list.
At the check out, SW sees apple cider on sale and pauses to think whether she should get it or not.
“Should I get apply cider? I think people will drink this. I’ll just get it.” — SW
Conclusion
From SW’s grocery list, I learned the following about my user:
- the list includes the item amount and name
- the user is familiar with the grocery store and the branding
- the list is very flexible
- the list is not shared and the user makes fast decisions
