AAFES Website Redesign (2013)

Task

The original AAFES (Exchange) website was beginning to look extremely dated, and not meeting their customers' expectations based on the experience of other retail websites. In addition, the Store Locator feature was cumbersome, un-intuitive, and required the user to scroll through long lists of addresses. I was tasked with presenting a visual redesign, as well as providing a more user-friendly solution to the Store Locator feature.

Solution

My main focus was to make the site feel less claustrophobic, and clear the clutter off of the homepage. Usability studies also show that users are more likely to use the search feature if it's available, than to click through categories to find the product they're searching for.

The Store Locator should always use location-based services if they're available, and save your preferred location from the previous visit. Rather than forcing users to scroll through the entire list of stores in one location, allowing them to filter stores by ZIP Code saves a lot of time and frustration.

(Click image to enlarge)