Industry

Retail Technology ・ Automotive Retail ・ POS Systems ・ Self-Checkout UX ・ Enterprise UX

Rethinking In-Store Retail Tools at AutoZone

Designing Efficient, Intuitive Tools for Retail Teams and Customers

At AutoZone, I led the UX design for core in-store systems, including the employee-facing Point of Sale (POS) experience and a customer-facing self-checkout solution. The goal: streamline transactions, reduce friction, and enable store teams to focus more on helping customers—not fighting software.

In parallel, I collaborated with the mobile team to ensure consistency across digital channels and unify key retail workflows.

🧩 Problem

AutoZone’s legacy POS and in-store tools were slow, cluttered, and difficult to use—especially in high-volume
environments. Team members often relied on tribal knowledge to navigate the system, and the customer
self-checkout flow lacked clarity, often leading to confusion or abandonment.

Challenges included:

• Overloaded interfaces with inconsistent patterns

• Redundant steps slowing down transactions

• No unified experience between staff tools and customer touchpoints

• Limited scalability for newer features like mobile payments or loyalty integration

Challenges included:

• Overloaded interfaces with inconsistent patterns

• Redundant steps slowing down transactions

• No unified experience between staff tools and customer touchpoints

• Limited scalability for newer features like mobile payments or loyalty integration

🎯 Goals

• Redesign the POS system for speed, clarity, and ease of training

• Streamline the customer self-checkout flow with clearer UI and error handling

• Collaborate with mobile to align experience patterns across channels

• Optimize designs for real-world use: gloves, low lighting, and older devices

• Ensure accessibility and scalability for a growing store network

• Redesign the POS system for speed, clarity, and ease of training

• Streamline the customer self-checkout flow with clearer UI and error handling

• Collaborate with mobile to align experience patterns across channels

• Optimize designs for real-world use: gloves, low lighting, and older devices

• Ensure accessibility and scalability for a growing store network

🔄 My Role & Process

My Role:

• Lead UX/UI Designer for in-store POS and self-checkout flows

• Cross-functional collaborator across mobile, product, dev, QA, and store ops teams

My Role:

• Lead UX/UI Designer for in-store POS and self-checkout flows

• Cross-functional collaborator across mobile, product, dev, QA, and store ops teams

Process Highlights:

• Conducted stakeholder interviews and store team shadowing sessions

• Audited the current POS system to identify usability breakdowns

• Created task-based flows, wireframes, and high-fidelity Figma prototypes

• Facilitated usability tests with employees and pilot store managers

• Partnered with developers to QA final builds for edge cases and hardware issues

• Proposed reusable UI components to be shared with mobile team

Process Highlights:

• Conducted stakeholder interviews and store team shadowing sessions

• Audited the current POS system to identify usability breakdowns

• Created task-based flows, wireframes, and high-fidelity Figma prototypes

• Facilitated usability tests with employees and pilot store managers

• Partnered with developers to QA final builds for edge cases and hardware issues

• Proposed reusable UI components to be shared with mobile team

Cart & Checkout Redesign for Store Employees

Streamlined item lookup, clearer cart structure, and responsive order summary for high-speed transactions—customized for store POS hardware.

Improving Error Handling & Secure Payment UX

Designed a clearer error state for stored card verification to reduce transaction failures and agent frustration—while maintaining PCI compliance.

POS System Redesign for Store Associates

Redesigned the employee-facing point-of-sale system with simplified pricing, upsell modules, and quick access to functions like discounts and tax exemptions.

Customer Self-Checkout Experience

Built a fast, intuitive self-checkout flow aligned with the store’s loyalty program and real-time scanning hardware—designed for clarity and trust.

Designing Promotional Clarity: AZ Rewards Pricing Exploration

Sketched and iterated a modular rewards pricing component to clearly communicate member benefits like bonus rewards, tiered discounts, and exclusive offers. Tested stacked vs. horizontal layouts to balance clarity, visual hierarchy, and space constraints across self-checkout and mobile views.  

🚀 Key Outcomes

• Reduced average POS transaction steps by simplifying navigation and prioritizing top-use actions

• Improved onboarding and reduced training time for new employees

• Increased successful completion rates at self-checkout stations

• Enhanced brand perception and digital trust at in-store touchpoints

• Provided foundational patterns that informed future mobile and kiosk work

• Reduced average POS transaction steps by simplifying navigation and prioritizing top-use actions

• Improved onboarding and reduced training time for new employees

• Increased successful completion rates at self-checkout stations

• Enhanced brand perception and digital trust at in-store touchpoints

• Provided foundational patterns that informed future mobile and kiosk work

Design That Supports the Front Line

Retail employees are the face of the AutoZone brand—and the tools they use every day should work as hard as they do. This project focused on empowering store teams with intuitive, reliable systems that support their work instead of getting in the way.

Whether behind the counter or at self-checkout, these solutions reflect how thoughtful UX can improve not just performance, but human interaction and customer satisfaction.

Rethinking In-Store Retail Tools at AutoZone

Rethinking In-Store Retail Tools at AutoZone

Designing Efficient, Intuitive Tools for Retail Teams and Customers

Designing Efficient, Intuitive Tools for Retail Teams and Customers

In parallel, I collaborated with the mobile team to ensure consistency across digital channels and unify key retail workflows.

In parallel, I collaborated with the mobile team to ensure consistency across digital channels and unify key retail workflows.

🧩 Problem

🧩 Problem

AutoZone’s legacy POS and in-store tools were slow, cluttered, and difficult to use—especially in high-volumeenvironments. Team members often relied on tribal knowledge to navigate the system, and the customer self-checkout flow lacked clarity, often leading to confusion or abandonment.

AutoZone’s legacy POS and in-store tools were slow, cluttered, and difficult to use—especially in high-volumeenvironments. Team members often relied on tribal knowledge to navigate the system, and the customer self-checkout flow lacked clarity, often leading to confusion or abandonment.

Challenges included:

• Overloaded interfaces with inconsistent patterns

• Redundant steps slowing down transactions

• No unified experience between staff tools and customer touchpoints

• Limited scalability for newer features like mobile payments or loyalty integration

Challenges included:

• Overloaded interfaces with inconsistent patterns

• Redundant steps slowing down transactions

• No unified experience between staff tools and customer touchpoints

• Limited scalability for newer features like mobile payments or loyalty integration

🎯 Goals

🎯 Goals

• Redesign the POS system for speed, clarity, and ease of training

• Streamline the customer self-checkout flow with clearer UI and error handling

• Collaborate with mobile to align experience patterns across channels

• Optimize designs for real-world use: gloves, low lighting, and older devices

• Ensure accessibility and scalability for a growing store network

• Redesign the POS system for speed, clarity, and ease of training

• Streamline the customer self-checkout flow with clearer UI and error handling

• Collaborate with mobile to align experience patterns across channels

• Optimize designs for real-world use: gloves, low lighting, and older devices

• Ensure accessibility and scalability for a growing store network

🔄 My Role & Process

🔄 My Role & Process

My Role:

• Lead UX/UI Designer for in-store POS and self-checkout flows

• Cross-functional collaborator across mobile, product, dev, QA, and store ops teams

My Role:

• Lead UX/UI Designer for in-store POS and self-checkout flows

• Cross-functional collaborator across mobile, product, dev, QA, and store ops teams

Process Highlights:

• Conducted stakeholder interviews and store team shadowing sessions

• Audited the current POS system to identify usability breakdowns

• Created task-based flows, wireframes, and high-fidelity Figma prototypes

• Facilitated usability tests with employees and pilot store managers

• Partnered with developers to QA final builds for edge cases and hardware issues

• Proposed reusable UI components to be shared with mobile team

Process Highlights:

• Conducted stakeholder interviews and store team shadowing sessions

• Audited the current POS system to identify usability breakdowns

• Created task-based flows, wireframes, and high-fidelity Figma prototypes

• Facilitated usability tests with employees and pilot store managers

• Partnered with developers to QA final builds for edge cases and hardware issues

• Proposed reusable UI components to be shared with mobile team

Cart & Checkout Redesign for Store Employees

Cart & Checkout Redesign for Store Employees

Streamlined item lookup, clearer cart structure, and responsive order summary for high-speed transactions—customized for store POS hardware.

Streamlined item lookup, clearer cart structure, and responsive order summary for high-speed transactions—customized for store POS hardware.

Streamlined item lookup, clearer cart structure, and responsive order summary for high-speed transactions—customized for store POS hardware.

Improving Error Handling & Secure Payment UX

Improving Error Handling & Secure Payment UX

Designed a clearer error state for stored card verification to reduce transaction failures and agent frustration—while maintaining PCI compliance.

Designed a clearer error state for stored card verification to reduce transaction failures and agent frustration—while maintaining PCI compliance.

Designed a clearer error state for stored card verification to reduce transaction failures and agent frustration—while maintaining PCI compliance.

POS System Redesign for Store Associates

POS System Redesign for Store Associates

Redesigned the employee-facing point-of-sale system with simplified pricing, upsell modules, and quick access to functions like discounts and tax exemptions.

Redesigned the employee-facing point-of-sale system with simplified pricing, upsell modules, and quick access to functions like discounts and tax exemptions.

Redesigned the employee-facing point-of-sale system with simplified pricing, upsell modules, and quick access to functions like discounts and tax exemptions.

Customer Self-Checkout Experience

Customer Self-Checkout Experience

Built a fast, intuitive self-checkout flow aligned with the store’s loyalty program and real-time scanning hardware—designed for clarity and trust.

Built a fast, intuitive self-checkout flow aligned with the store’s loyalty program and real-time scanning hardware—designed for clarity and trust.

Built a fast, intuitive self-checkout flow aligned with the store’s loyalty program and real-time scanning hardware—designed for clarity and trust.

Designing Promotional Clarity: AZ Rewards Pricing Exploration

Designing Promotional Clarity: AZ Rewards Pricing Exploration

Sketched and iterated a modular rewards pricing component to clearly communicate member benefits like bonus rewards, tiered discounts, and exclusive offers. Tested stacked vs. horizontal layouts to balance clarity, visual hierarchy, and space constraints across self-checkout and mobile views.

Sketched and iterated a modular rewards pricing component to clearly communicate member benefits like bonus rewards, tiered discounts, and exclusive offers. Tested stacked vs. horizontal layouts to balance clarity, visual hierarchy, and space constraints across self-checkout and mobile views.

Sketched and iterated a modular rewards pricing component to clearly communicate member benefits like bonus rewards, tiered discounts, and exclusive offers. Tested stacked vs. horizontal layouts to balance clarity, visual hierarchy, and space constraints across self-checkout and mobile views.

🚀 Key Outcomes

AutoZone’s legacy POS and in-store tools were slow, cluttered, and difficult to use—especially in high-volume
environments. Team members often relied on tribal knowledge to navigate the system, and the customer
self-checkout flow lacked clarity, often leading to confusion or abandonment.

AutoZone’s legacy POS and in-store tools were slow, cluttered, and difficult to use—especially in high-volume
environments. Team members often relied on tribal knowledge to navigate the system, and the customer
self-checkout flow lacked clarity, often leading to confusion or abandonment.

Sketched and iterated a modular rewards pricing component to clearly communicate member benefits like bonus rewards, tiered discounts, and exclusive offers. Tested stacked vs. horizontal layouts to balance clarity, visual hierarchy, and space constraints across self-checkout and mobile views.  

Sketched and iterated a modular rewards pricing component to clearly communicate member benefits like bonus rewards, tiered discounts, and exclusive offers. Tested stacked vs. horizontal layouts to balance clarity, visual hierarchy, and space constraints across self-checkout and mobile views.  

Sketched and iterated a modular rewards pricing component to clearly communicate member benefits like bonus rewards, tiered discounts, and exclusive offers. Tested stacked vs. horizontal layouts to balance clarity, visual hierarchy, and space constraints across self-checkout and mobile views.  