Smart locker system
Enabling sustainable renting sharing and storage
Company
Role
Product Designer
Duration
6 Months
Team
5 Devs, Technical Lead
3 Designers, PO
Our research was comprehensive, combining surveys, competitor analysis, market research, field visits, and discussions at industry fairs and events.
Initial Focus: SUP rentals in coastal areas showed demand for contactless access.
Expanded Scope: Residents wanted to rent tools/games; offices needed storage for employee & visitor's belongings.
Market Opportunities: Housing companies saw value in smart lockers to foster community sharing, while offices sought flexible storage solutions to optimize limited space. Items like tools, board games, and bike repair kits were in high demand for short-term use.
Accessibility: Lower lockers for wheelchair users; size-based assignments and and durable materials (metal over wood) to withstand weather and ensure safety.
The ideation phase involved collaborative brainstorming, sketching, and iterative design to translate research into actionable features. My responsibilities included:
Customer Journey : mapped flows for renting tools, exchanging items, storing bags, one of the example is listed below :
Feature Definition: We prioritized an email-based/sms based system to avoid app downloads or account creation, QR code verification for location confirmation (replacing Google Maps due to web app constraints), and a standardized metal locker design for durability.
Initial sketches outlined the web app’s interface &locker access process.
CTA (Call to action)
Features
Design System Creation: Team and I created design system with standardized fonts, colors, headings, and spacings to ensure consistency across the product line, balancing flexibility for new clients with maintainable constraints.
Pricing and Services: I designed pricing tables based on market research, offering tiered rates for hourly, daily, or weekly rentals, tailored to item type and use case/service based on durations.
The process was iterative, with daily stand-ups, weekly syncs with the Product Owner and Technical Lead, and Jira for task tracking, ensuring alignment across the team.
As a lead product designer, I translated ideation into a functional, user-centric web app & admin app for a multilingual experience across 🇩🇪🇬🇧🇳🇴, while addressing technical and legal constraints.
The web app enabled users to book lockers and unlock them eliminating the need for native apps or physical screens and a admin portal to manage, monitor locker usage. Locker assignments were intelligently tailored to user needs, such as lower lockers for accessibility and sizing based on stored items. The locker service was tailored for different use cases (product rental, handovers, storgage, SUP rental, key handovers for hotels). Research into weather resistance informed the choice of durable metal lockers to ensure safety and longevity.
To validate the design, we conducted extensive usability testing across four iterations, refining based on user feedback and technical constraints:
Prototype Testing: A physical locker prototype was used to test the end-to-end experience, from booking to locker access. I conducted first-person tests to evaluate the web app’s usability, measuring clicks needed to complete tasks and identifying friction points.
Testing confirmed that users found the system intuitive, with faster adoption of the web app compared to native apps, validating our email-based approach.
The smart locker system is now live in multiple 🇩🇪German and 🇳🇴Norwegian cities, deployed in residential complexes, corporate offices, and coastal areas for SUP rentals. Key outcomes include:
User : Our goal is to increase booking completion of the renatl items among first-time users and saw a 15% increase in the conversion rate and user satisfaction by 20% through research-driven design(50+ residents surveyed).
Revenue growth: The startup attracted new housing and corporate clients, increasing revenue as locker usage scaled. A custom dashboard provided insights into booking patterns and user demographics, informing future expansions.
Sustainability, convenience & user adoption: The system enabled sustainable sharing of tools, recreational items, and storage, reducing the need for ownership. Users praised the contactless, email-based access for its simplicity.
Business Processes: My work in creating customer service flows, pricing tables, and standardized designs streamlined onboarding for new clients, enhancing scalability.
I gained expertise in end-to-end product design, from research to implementation, and honed skills in cross-functional collaboration, design system creation, and balancing user needs with technical constraints. Leading customer journey mapping and business process design deepened my understanding of scalable solutions.
This project showcases my ability to deliver user-centric, scalable solutions as a UI/UX and Product Designer, balancing innovation, usability, and business needs in a collaborative team environment. I’m excited to bring this expertise to future projects, creating impactful digital experiences that simplify and enhance users’ lives.