Case Study Background

Source: Meltwater

As reported by We Are Social and Meltwater as of January 2024, 59.3% of Indonesian internet users did online shopping weekly, either it’s purchasing product or acquiring any services. This high enough number could be a parameter for companies to adapt in creating online shopping services for an easy and convenient shopping experience. Unfortunately, in this case, despite having loyal customers, Borma has not been able to optimally utilize digital technology. In an era where consumers are increasingly spoiled by the convenience of online shopping, the limitations and user-friendliness of Borma's online shopping app is a significant drawback. Borma's inability to provide a user-friendly online shopping application results in wasting huge potential revenue. Many customers who have the potential to make large purchases choose to switch to competitors that offer the convenience of online shopping.

What is Borma?

Borma is a popular supermarket in Indonesia, offering a wide range of products, from groceries to household items. It's known for its affordable prices, convenient locations, and diverse product selection. Despite the fact that Borma's coverage is still restricted to Bandung Raya area, its “One Stop Shopping” concept has managed to maintain the loyalty of its customers, as proven by its ability to occupy the second largest retail company in the supermarket category in Bandung City with a market share percentage of 28% (Central Bureau of Statistics of Bandung City, 2019).

In this case study, I applied five Design Thinking processes: Emphatize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test. So let's get into the discussion of each.

Emphatize: How was Borma Experienced by You?

To assess Borma's user experience, I conducted a quantitative survey of 10 users and analyzed real-world reviews on platforms like X, Play Store, and Google Maps. Participants rated Borma on three aspects: attractiveness, feature usefulness, and ease of use on a scale of 1-10.

Survey findings:

• Attractiveness: 5.7/10

• Feature Usefulness: 7/10

• Ease of Use: 7.2/10

Real-world reviews:

“The promo offer has too many conditions and the information isn’t given clearly”
- Diana on Google Maps Review

“Disappointed for the price difference on display and cashier, the price at cashier is more expensive”
- M Ridzwan on Google Maps Review

“From the first time I made a member card, it’s difficult to redeem points”
- Hasan on Google Maps Review

“Enough to come here for something urgent, the park fee is expensive, but the park attendance has no responsibility”
- Lugina on Google Maps Review

“Borma, would you make online shopping service like Alf*****? Will really satisfied if its come true”
- Suciantynf2 on X

“Why is in Borma, different branches have different prices?”
- Pmaulanni on X

“Yep, Borma is that complete,but no AC available. Try to come to Borma at beginning of the month, then you’ll know how long the queue to the cashier is”
- Lycheetea31 on X

“The stock isn’t updated, my order has been paid but many are out of stock. Also long process, it’s faster to come directly to the place”
- Deri on Play Store Review

“Borma, aren't you interested in making an application huh? it’ll be easy for us to look for something, no need to run around the city to visit Borma one by one. even though sent by paxel or gosend is ok”
- Namasdeh on X

The other way I do to gain a deeper understanding of user needs is by conducting a competitive analysis of Borma against its competitors: Superindo, Yogya, Lotte, and Indogrosir. This analysis collected several key areas where Borma could be enhanced: branch expansion, app optimization, interface improvement, membership benefits.

Define: What’s Wrong with Borma?

Here, I synthesized the insights gained from 'Empathize' step. The problem statement prioritizes user's perspective.

• Unattractiveness of the app. Borma App definitely needs much UI improvement.

• Difficult to navigate. Navigation bar isn’t placed in the bottom as commonly found, but in upper position that out of thumb zone.

• Unable to ensure the price easily. On offline purchase cases, many buyers experienced different price between what displayed on the rack and at cashier.

• No finding nearby branch feature. The prospective buyers can’t to find nearby Borma branch to shop at.

• No information about promo/discount T&C. Terms and Conditions for promo/discount offer need to informed clearly.

• Unable to track order status. Online buyers can’t to track their online purchase, whether its on packing or shipping process.

• No information of remaining stock. The remaining stock of products isn’t displayed on app.

• Difficult to redeem point. Buyers experienced difficulty on point redemption.

• Queue and park issues on offline purchase. On specific days/dates, payment queue to cashier is so long, also the bad experience of useless parking attendance.

• Limitation. Some facilities given by Borma are limited specific area. The app is valid in just one branch, that’s Dago. Meanwhile membership card, restricted to transaction made in Borma Cijerah Group.

Ideate: How to Make Borma Better?

After having a clear understanding of the problems, it's time to brainstorm a variety of potential solutions

• Attractive interface. Attractive interface that's in line with current UI trends, regardless of maintaining visual hierarchy, user friendliness, and high media quality.

• Easy to navigate. Navigation bar moved to bottom to be more reachable by thumb.

• Ensuring price feature. Offline buyers can ensure product prices by only scanning its barcode on app, to check whether the price tag displayed there has been updated or not.

• Finding nearby branch feature. In case online buyers don’t know the nearest branch to their current location, they can simply find it on Borma app.

• Information about promo/discount T&C. Make a page for promo/discount T&C’s further information.

• Tracking order status feature. The buyers can track lively their order status after the payment has been confirmed.

• Information of remaining stock. Adding stock information on product display page.

• Easy to redeem point. The earned point can be redeemed upon purchase.

• App optimalization. To utilize digital technology, avoid long queues and parking issues, as well as provide "shopping from anywhere" experience, it would be good for Borma to improve the functionality of the app.

• No Limitation Offer. All of Borma’s offers are given generally and not restricted to any specific user.

Prototype: The Ideas I Could Do

This 'Prototype' step is transforming ideas into tangible form that can be tested with real users. This ensures a user-centered approach by gathering feedback early on. To read more about this section, visit my Behance/Dribbble

Test: How Far It Helps You?

After finishing the prototype, I gave it to the targeted users to test the new design I made. The result found from the test is that my work has helped improve the user experience, especially in the aspects of interface design and ease of transaction processing.

Conclusion

After deeply diving on the cases occurred at Borma and its applications through Design Thinking processes, it is known that user-centered features and interface’s attractiveness are things that need to be prioritized and maintained by an application/company. I got a lot of good feedback from users after trying to position myself as real user of the application. So indirectly, designers and developers must always be willing to open their eyes and ears to receive user reviews and feedback, none other than for the sake of company development.