Karen Caldwell
UX CASE STUDY
DRONEUP MOBILE COMMERCE
PROJECT OVERVIEW
DroneUp's goal was to design a mobile commerce experience for Walmart customers that enabled drone delivery of eligible products. The application needed to consider weight and size restrictions for drone boxes, availability by geographic region, and a seamless, user-friendly shopping experience.
THE CHALLENGES
Lack of clear vision by executive team.
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Size of product and location availabilities for drone delivery services.
The nascent state of the user experience design team's experience had to be addressed.
Users needed a frictionless path to select only eligible items and receive delivery confirmation.
RESEARCH & DISCOVERIES
Assess
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Audited existing designs and asked tough questions about decisions and assumptions.
Research
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Conducted deep research on successful mobile ecommerce apps.
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Understand
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Mapped edge cases: weight limit (10 lbs), box size, and delivery eligibility.
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KEY UX DESIGN & IMPLEMENTATION
Delivery Flexibility: Home or Destination Box
A major pivot came mid-project, when DroneUp leadership introduced the concept of drone drop boxes—centralized, secure pickup points for users not eligible for home delivery. This required a significant redesign to support multiple delivery methods. I restructured the user flow to allow customers to choose between home and drop-box delivery options depending on their address eligibility, creating a more flexible and inclusive experience.
Error Messaging & Clarity
To support operational integrity, I designed clear error states when a cart exceeded size/weight limitations or when drone delivery was unavailable in a user's location. These messages were not only actionable, but context-specific—providing real-time guidance on how to adjust cart contents or select an alternative delivery location.
UX FLOW
Product Selection → Cart → Eligibility Check → Delivery Method
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Only eligible items were shown to users.
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If a cart exceeded weight limits, an inline message prompted users to adjust quantity or remove items.
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Users received delivery options based on their location—home or destination box pickup.
USABILITY TESTING
Maze was used for the unmoderated user testing, designing clickable task-based prototypes to simulate real shopping behavior.
Limitations
Maze couldn't handle dynamic states or variables, so I manually linked screens to simulate feedback logic.
Insight
Users needed instant visibility into weight limits as they added items. This led to a redesign of the cart UI to surface this feedback immediately.
Key Finding
Feedback from users was unanimous—customers wanted immediate visibility into the weight of their order as they added items to the cart.
STAKEHOLDER COLLABORATION
UX Advocate
Consistently advocated for user needs—even when it meant when challenging the Product & Executive Team.
Communication
Communicated the importance for detailed event tracking to understand user behaviors in the cart and delivery selection.
Flexible
Learning the ability to flexible and easily pivot when it came to changes in the vision of the product.
REFLECTION
Impact:
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Led UX research and design across 3 flagship products - overhauled the Hub Application through 15+ user interviews, architected the Compliance Validation Portal to automate FAA compliance checks, and revitalized the stalled Mobile Commerce Drone Delivery app by designing application requirements with user needs and logistics constraints.
What I would do differently:
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Advocate earlier for team restructuring.
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Push for clearer vision and fewer decision-makers.
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Request stakeholder alignment before committing to full redesign cycles.
"Great UX alone isn’t enough—without vision and leadership,
even the best-designed product can fail to launch."
TOOLS & METHODS
Figma
Miro
Maze
Otter