Improving Aldi’s internal communications app
About the project
Aldi has more than 990 stores in the UK and employs over 40,000 people. They offer an internal communication app for all employees, working in the stores, distribution centres and head office.
The app was focused towards head office employees (which are about 1,400) with news and blogs being the main, most prominent features. The app was outdated and in desperate need of redesign.
Method
The UX research was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, I conducted a heuristic evaluation to identify the app's improvement areas, bugs, and confusing behaviour.
In the second phase, I conducted 12 interviews with employees from various roles across the business to understand how they use the app on a daily basis. The interviewees were selected to represent a diverse range of employees, including store managers, assistants, distribution centre staff, and head office personnel. The interviews were conducted remotely, and each interview lasted approximately 60 minutes.
Qualitative research participants
12 participants
Store assistants
Head office personnel
Warehouse operatives
Based in the England, Scotland and Wales
Research results
The app's information architecture was cluttered, with some features being hidden within layers of menus. The main menu was scrollable and featured over 15 different items, from news to benefits, quizzes and different initiatives offered by the business.
The design also lacked consistency and failed to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
The interviews revealed that employees found it challenging to use the app effectively, particularly those working in stores and distribution centres. They said that the app's design was not intuitive, and it was challenging to find the information they needed. Because of high amount of information and the way the content was organised, most employees that I interviewed did not know about many of the great initiatives that the business was offering to them
Most employees outside of head office complete shift-work and almost all of them mentioned how difficult it is to find their rota within the app. Requesting holidays or reporting sick leave was also another important area for the interviewees.
Conclusion and recommendations
The research I conducted for Aldi revealed that the app was not meeting the needs of employees across the business and required redesign.
The user interviews revealed that employees outside head office were not given a seat at the “design table”. Most of the interviewees mentioned that this is the first time that store and distribution centre employees have been asked for feedback.
Based on the research findings, I made several recommendations to enhance the app's user experience.
Improving the information architecture
Simplified the app's interface and adding bottom navigation
Removed the layered menus and brought important information up front where users can find it easily
Created a separate “personal space” where employees can have quick access to holiday and sick leave requests, rotas, payslips and benefits
Created a separate “business space” where the business can promote different initiatives such as wellness, product feedback, quizzes and more
Accessibility issues and design consistency
Fixed clickable elements such as buttons to meet accessibility standards, ensuring they are easily tappable for users with motor impairments or those using assistive technologies
Simplified the colour scheme and improved colour contrast: adjusted the text and background colours to ensure readability for users with visual impairments, adhering to WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) standards
Implement clear focus indicators: added visible focus indicators to interactive elements
Provide alternative text for images: Add descriptive alt text to images to provide context for users who rely on screen readers
Introduced a simple design system to improve consistency thronging the app
