The online pharmacy checkout experience used to be a straightforward one-step process. Two core pharmacy products funneled into the checkout page which had basic functionality such as collecting order information, displaying cost, and enabling order placement. This one-step process then consumed more jobs to be done to support additional products and features. Up until now, it successfully met business and members needs effectively.
As products across the digital pharmacy landscape evolved and more features emerged, so did the demands and impacts on the existing one-step checkout service and experience. An upcoming product roadmap further accelerated and justified the need to prioritize how we might reimagine a self-service experience that could scale for the future successfully.
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Not proactively addressing this problem of an overloaded checkout flow meant creating complexity and barriers for 60 million digitally eligible members of the pharmacy to get their prescriptions in those final moments of order placement. The risks at that scale were far too great to ignore. My challenge was to optimize an end-to-end checkout flow for people relying on pharmacy services for their health needs and outcomes.
"How might we design a scalable checkout experience, enabling users to complete tasks effortlessly with less fallout?"
My first priority was evaluating the current checkout experience, which had been untouched for a long time. A current state evaluation helped me discover painpoints, define high-level design goals, and shape a design execution strategy for a much more streamlined solution. My key design goals included:
In addition to goal setting, my timeline included key initiatives and milestones that moved the design process forward to arrive at a solution that all cross-team partners felt aligned on and positive about. My efforts included self-driven competitor evaluation, research team partnership and usability testing, design iterations and refinement, stakeholder facilitation, and frontend collaboration.
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A Cart UI was a conventional pattern and step in a checkout flow, shown consistently across all online shopping sites, positioning cart items on the left and an order summary on the right.
Sentiment and likelihood of using the redesigned 'continue shopping' feature was high and positive, as long as items were relevant. Among the design variations, there was a clear preference:
Research also recommended ensuring that the 'continue shopping' feature was visible and available for those who wanted it, but easily optional and avoidable for those who did not.
Referencing common e-commerce patterns, I redesigned the checkout flow by adding a dedicated cart, shifting from a one-step to a two-step process. Using Gestalt principles, I grouped related content and tasks across two steps to improve balance and navigation, reduce friction, prevent cognitive overload, and create a smoother, more intuitive experience for users.
Focused on enabling users to revise and consider other opportunities. Examples:
Focused on tasks critical to order placement. Examples:
The previous 'Continue Shopping' feature had a low 6% engagement rate and was causing users to leave the checkout flow. To improve this experience, I redesigned and prototyped three alternatives that encouraged users to add prescriptions earlier without leaving the cart. Usability research showed that participants preferred the feature block version (Approach C) with minor tweaks like orienting the prescription vertically versus horizontally.
"I would use C. This version feels cleaner and easier to me. It's hard to miss because it's right there."
Introducing a dedicated cart step in the checkout flow impacted other touchpoints in the flow such as the existing Checkout and Order Confirmation experiences, making it essential to assess and update the broader experience. I collaborated with my content partner and refined the design structure and information architecture to ensure consistency, coherence, and a seamless transition across the entire flow.
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The improvements made to the checkout flow laid a new foundation for growth and scalability. It accommodated for future needs while offering a smoother and more intuitive experience for people simply looking to get what they needed.
Cart abandonment rates reduced by 3% (from 45.1% to 41.9%) despite a new step in the checkout flow, validating that changes dis not introduce negative friction. Quite the opposite. In fact, usability research early on reported that a cart UI and step were conventional patterns across online shopping sites that people were familiar with and expected to experience.
Users successfully progressed through the flow, increasing cart completion by 3X and the average number of items added to the cart by 1.7X (from 1.9 to 3.3 units). People were also engaging with the new and improved "continue shopping" feature 3.3X more (19.8%) than they were previously (6%), proving interest and value.