With Amazon’s $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods placing a spotlight on the future of retail experience design, MEX founder Marek Pawlowski talks to Josh Shabtai of Lowe’s Innovation Labs about how the home improvement giant is experimenting at the cutting edge. Josh shares some of the techniques they’re using to maintain organisation-wide narratives around user-centred innovation, from creating comic books to tapping into the design skills of shop floor employees. The conversation goes on to explore how Lowe’s is combining applied neuroscience and more traditional user research techniques to get a clearer sense of people’s reactions to pioneering technology – like robotic exoskeletons – as well as Josh’s own journey from creative agencies to designing one of the first augmented reality games with a Star Wars-themed Laser Tag gun. Get in touch with feedback and questions @mexfeed on Twitter or email designtalk@mobileuserexperience.com.

Listen via

• iTunes
• Soundcloud
• Stitcher
• TuneIn
• Or search ‘MEX Design Talk’ in your favourite podcast player

On this edition

• Marek Pawlowski, co-host & founder of MEX (@marekpawlowski)
• Josh Shabtai, Director, Lab Productions & Operations, Lowe’s Innovation Labs (@joshshabtai)

Links

• Lowe’s Innovation Labs
• Star Wars Arcade: Falcon Gunner, the first augmented reality Star Wars game
• Kyle Nel, VP, Disruptive Innovation, Lowes
• Kwame Nyanning of McKinsey on the power of language in design from episode 33 of MEX Design Talk
• Video of Lowe’s Exosuit in action
• Robotics at Virginia Tech
• Lowe’s work on applied neuroscience with Neurons, Inc.
• Google’s Tango platform
• Breath of the Wild, the Zelda game for Nintendo Switch

About MEX Design Talk & how to get in touch

The podcast for the MEX community, interviewing UX pioneers, exploring emerging technologies, user behaviour and how to design better digital experiences.

• Archive of previous MEX Design Talk episodes
• Subscribe for future editions by searching ‘MEX Design Talk’ in your favourite podcast player. We’re also on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher and TuneIn. For the old school, here’s our RSS feed
• If you enjoy MEX Design Talk, please help others discover the podcast by giving us a 5 star rating and a review on iTunes
• Get in touch with feedback and questions @mexfeed on Twitter or email designtalk@mobileuserexperience.com.
• MEX events
• MEX journal

Thanks

• Jukedeck, for the artificial intelligence engine which provided the music