korb™ Smart Bag

Product Concept

Completed in 2020 at YSDN.

“And just like any company that blissfully ignored the Internet at the turn of the century, the ones that dismiss the Internet of Things risk getting left behind.”
— Jared Newman

This project was done in collaboration with Nicole Lozano and Johanna Lim.

Also featured in Artichoke Magazine Volume 10 No. 5

A man wearing korb™ on his right shoulder.

Tasks

Extensively researched the respective market and developed a PACT analysis to ensure the need of our product.
Created user personas of our target audience and applied features specifically to solve their pain points.
Completed a comprehensive UX workflow of the entire app. Learned to create an MVP product for customers to begin using.
Effectively collaborated with a team of designers. Important design decisions were made together through regular work calls.
Effectively collaborated with a team of designers. Important design decisions were made together through regular work calls.

Design Challenge

How can we make shopping more efficient and safer for all parties involved using the Internet of Things?

Pain points & user personas

Identify the problem then solve it.

1. LONG LINES
Long checkout lines, long fitting room lines. Nobody wants to spend their day standing and waiting to be served.

2. INCONVENIENCE
Ever gone to a store only for them to not carry what you wanted? Customers have learned to fear the words "out of stock".

3. LACK OF SUPPORT
There aren't enough workers for customers. This puts stress and pressure onto them to perform and serve. They're busy enough!

4. HEALTH & SAFETY
Especially relevant today, sharing publicly used items can put you and your loved ones at risk. It's much better to use your own things.

5. REDUCING WASTE
Tons of plastic waste is due to the overuse of plastic in retail environments. Things like reusable bags are a must in today's world.

Did you know “korb” means “basket” in German?

The branding process was just one part of this multidisciplinary project. Our team considered korb™ a tech concept first and foremost. Not a shopping one nor a retail one. And so we chose a blue and colder colour palette; something that is seen in a lot of tech companies’ brands.

The submark consists of combining the visual elements of the letter “K”, a shopping cart, and a checkmark into something that was unique and recognizable. Most importantly, it captured what our concept was focused on: in-person shopping.

korb™ Website showcasing different bag sizes.

Optimize the in-person shopping experience with the power of one app.

The key to making a successful app concept was to keep it lean and simple. It’s easy for designers to get sidetracked by all the different roads their project can go down; but I believe it’s a skill to remain focused and design to solve one problem at a time.

Our main focus was to automatically track a customer’s items as they place it within their korb™ bag. All features in the app are only there to assist in such workflow.

Valuable lessons learned

1. THE VALUE OF EXPERIENCE
The original idea for a smart bag was mine and came from my personal experience working retail at Uniqlo. I'm glad I was able to bring my real-life experience as both a worker and a customer into a design project in order to solve an issue.

2. COMMUNICATION
Working with Nicole Lozano and Johanna Lim was a joy. We were able to bounce ideas off each other, discuss design choices, and eventually come to a solution we all agreed upon. I've learned the importance of communication and having your own opinion on the things that matter instead of being apathetic towards them.