A look at the Amazon Influencer curated outfits which all associate with a QR code that can be scanned and further allows one to shop the outfit details or find similar looks!

Author: Hayden Wyrick | Major: Interior Architecture and Design | Semester: Spring 2023

The world of retail is shifting towards an omni-channel business approach. Omni-channel retailing is when a retailer utilizes different channels to further connect with their consumers and examples of these channels are things like a physical brick-and-mortar space, a website, and/or a mobile-app. I, Hayden Wyrick, am a current fourth-year student studying Interior Architecture + Design and throughout my college career I have been taught to create immersive tangible experiences within places like a retail brick-and mortar space. Yet, I began to ponder how these same experiences are further being replicated specifically on a mobile-app.

For my capstone I have begun to the ask the question of how interior designers and mobile app developers could better collaborate when designing retail spaces. For this capstone I have taken a case study approach of Amazon and Walmart because they are ranked number one and two in sells of apparel across the entire U.S. and there is a reason behind that. For part of these case studies I planned to visit each store, the Walmart Incubation Store in Springdale, AR and the Amazon Style store is in Los Angeles, CA. I had originally intended on going to both stores to observe shoppers behaviors and record their movement patterns as well as how they may be interacting with their phones or other technology while shopping.

I had arrived at the Amazon Style store and immediately asked to speak with a store manager so I could get the proper consent to conduct my research. The store manager then went to find the District Manager and before I knew it I was having a conversation with the District Manager of the two new Amazon Style stores. Shortly into the conversation he had told me that he did not give his consent for me to conduct the research I was intending to. Of course this was disappointing but I didn’t want this to ruin my trip and the opportunity to talk to someone who knows a great amount of information on the store.

In my opinion I think talking to the District Store Manager gave me much more insight than I had ever intended to gather when I stepped inside that store. We had a very informative conversation and he was sharing so many great things with me about the store itself and how all of it works. He was very interested in what I was doing, and I think that’s why he was willing to provide me with such rich information. It also served as a great networking opportunity because he had told me he knew the Store Manager of the Walmart I intend to visit and along with this he gave me names of people I could potentially interview from Walmart who are heavily involved with the design and behind-the-scenes aspects of the company. The reason he had all the great connections is because he once worked at Walmart as a Store Manager. The conversation overall contributes to my professional development in that it put me outside of my comfort zone as I was standing face-to-face with an important person working within Amazon and I felt like I held myself well and he seemed to enjoy the conversation we were having. Many may think that him saying no to me performing observations was as setback but personally I saw it as an opportunity for redirection. One of the reasons I think this is is because within this capstone I have plans to interview a UX designer from Walmart as well as an Interior Designer, yet it was much harder to find contact points within Amazon so really one could say this was an interview with someone at Amazon.

Of course I will be making the proper amendments and things alike to my IRB protocols in order for this information to be academically accepted. I would like to add though that he was leading the conversation and I was not grilling him for anything and there were a few times where he stated he couldn’t share certain information with me as it was confidential to the company. Along with his insight I also experienced the store as a shopper, and I believe this was quite beneficial as well. I got to experience first hand how the store experience was designed to go hand-in-hand with the Amazon app which is exactly what my capstone is intending to investigate. This experience allowed me first hand to see the innovation of the designers behind everything but it also leaves space for me to add my own suggestions and new ideas to build upon for my capstone.

So, the next step for me is to amend my IRB protocol so the insights the District Store Manager shared with me can be included. I will further be creating a graphic as well with all the pictures I took throughout the store of my own user journey along with the amazing technology that was included throughout the space. From there I intend to come up with my own creative ideas and suggestions as to how this experience could be further built and improved upon so that designers like me can continue to create for the future.