Kohl's ZzzZoo — a kid-friendly ecosystem

My role

An independent internship project

Kohl’s ZzzZoo was an independent project I led during my internship at Kohl’s headquarters in Milwaukee — from ideation and UX research to wireframes, prototyping and presentation. It was a great way to learn how today’s retail and eCommerce world works.

Design highlights

Build a kid-friendly ecosystem

Research insights

Key design rationale

In-store shopping can’t simply be replaced by online

of shoppers are in-store only

78%

of total sales come from in-store-only customers

64%

of sales come from in-store purchases

72%

For confidentiality, only some actual values are shared.

Families choose Kohl’s, and Kohl’s chooses families

Over half of Kohl’s customers shop with kids very often.

Kids have a huge impact on the shopping experience

And the only thing they interact with is the shopping cart.

Design process

Observe, listen and empathize

From 6 in-store observations across 5 stores and 11 interviews with customers and associates, I created a persona, Becky, and her experience map to highlight the key findings.

Data analysis

Propose an upgraded experience

With the first round of research in hand, I used an affinity diagram and the Elito method to build the design and make key decisions about the flow and interaction details.

Design ideation

Storyboard sketching

I like storyboards for connecting the dots between research and the concepts in my head — especially on projects that need early buy-in. They bring your audience into users’ daily lives and spark a real, iterative conversation about improving the in-store experience.

Testing & iteration

There is no end in design

Using the RITE method, I tested the core flow with a paper prototype, sorting issues into four groups to iterate quickly: obvious cause and quick fix; obvious cause but hard fix; no obvious cause or solution; and issues caused by other factors.

Strategy design

Working with data in mind

As interest in ZzzZoo grew, one question kept coming up: what’s the business value? How much could this concept bring in?

Estimating business impact this early is always hard, but working with design strategy and the business data team, I estimated the sales increase using the latest traffic and conversion data from 5 sample stores, deliberately conservatively. That extra mile paid off when several teams later asked for walkthroughs of the concept.

Visual design

Style language

Design walkthrough

A trip to Kohl's ZzzZoo