LIA BASDEN

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CLIENT: Highland Nutrition Center, health food store in Highland, IL

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STAKEHOLDERS: Health food store customers and employees

 

GOAL: Increase efficiency of putting up and taking down produce signs for employees and increase visibility of produce for customers.

 

PROCESS: Because produce selection and prices vary week-to-week, the store’s process for displaying the prices of produce is different from the shelf tags found through the rest of the store. The store’s original system for display and maintenance of produce tags relied on employee’s handwriting prices with wet erase markers on tags that were then taped to the outside of the cooler doors. This created visibility issues for customers trying to read the price of produce items, especially as the marker wore out and became harder to write with or in humid weather when the marker ink would run and prices would be no longer readable. Having the tags stuck to the outside of the cooler door also made it more difficult for customers to see the produce through the glass cooler doors and to associate the prices with the proper product once the door was open and the tags were no longer visible to them. This system was also inefficient for the store’s employees, who had to spend time handwriting the tags, monitoring the tags to ensure they stayed taped to the doors and remained readable, and helping customers interpret the tags. The new system I devised solved the visibility issue by utilizing signage tracks placed inside of the cooler. This meant the produce tags could live on the shelf under the produce, rather than blocking the view of the produce from outside of the cooler. I also designed new produce tags to fit these tracks and designed a series of smaller tags communicating prices, units, countries of origin, and sales that could be mixed and matched with the produce signs to convey the correct information. This made it easier for employees to switch out produce prices or put up prices for new produce by simply changing the combination of tags. Finally, the new tags had a more uniform look that was in line with the store’s branding, which was overall less distracting and made for a better looking produce section that centered the product, not the price tags.

 

OUTCOME: I designed and implemented a new modular system for display and maintenance of produce tags that allowed for an overall more positive experience for store employees maintaining the produce section and customers shopping for produce.