Walmart Technology / Walmart Support Chatbot
I joined Walmart Technology as a principal designer because I wanted to be part of their exciting emergence into the era of AI + Human technology.
In the late 2010s, Walmart began heavily investing in technologies designed to seamlessly integrate into consumers' everyday lives—making routines more streamlined and effortless.
One standout example is in grocery shopping, which can often feel like a cumbersome chore. Walmart Technology envisioned a smart ecosystem that automatically detects food expiration dates and inventory levels, then places orders, arranges delivery, and even coordinates restocking—all without the customer lifting a finger.
Another exciting frontier in Walmart Technology's AI journey is empowering our two million associates worldwide.
We set out to boost employee productivity and strengthen internal connections by building Walmart's first AI-powered Support Chatbot. This intelligent tool handles everyday tasks—like sending reminders and guiding associates through routine processes such as monthly passcode updates—while also addressing more sensitive and complex issues, such as privately and compassionately filing harassment reports.
Our guiding principle was simple: deliver quick, easy, and clearly defined resolutions before issues even arise, helping associates focus on what matters most while feeling supported every step of the way.
Walmart Support Chatbot / Step 001
Research, Audit & User Interview
After consulting closely with stakeholders, we launched the project by conducting a thorough audit of the existing non-AI-powered Walmart support chat, along with various FAQ-style documentation sites.
We quickly identified key pain points: the design language and user experience across the Walmart associate ecosystem were inconsistent, and the components lacked scalability and flexibility—making it difficult to incorporate diverse multimedia content or adapt to evolving needs.
Through in-depth user interviews and surveys with associates, we uncovered a recurring theme: after interacting with the current support system, employees often felt abandoned, confused, and frustrated by a lack of clear resolution or sense of task completion. These insights became the foundation for building a more intuitive, empathetic, and effective AI-driven solution.
Walmart Support Chatbot / Step 002
Human vs. Machine
One fascinating insight from our research on brand voice for the Walmart Support Chatbot was defining the clear boundary between human support and machine support.
Overall, associates strongly preferred human interaction—it feels natural, requires no learning curve, and effortlessly scales to any conversation depth. However, from a corporate perspective, relying solely on human support isn't sustainable: it's expensive, difficult to scale, and risks creating silos of "tribal knowledge" that aren't easily shared or documented.
These findings guided our design philosophy: build the Walmart Support Chatbot to communicate with genuine human sensitivity and empathy, while setting clear expectations that it's an AI assistant. Positioned as the always-available first line of defense, it handles routine and sensitive issues quickly and privately, escalating seamlessly to human agents only when truly needed. This hybrid approach delivers the best of both worlds: instant, scalable support with a warm, human touch.
Walmart Support Chatbot / Step 003
Style Guide
As Principal Designer, I led the creation of a responsive and scalable design component system specifically tailored for the AI-powered Walmart Support Chatbot.
Building on Walmart's existing design assets—which were originally optimized for desktop web experiences—I evolved them into a flexible, scalable, and mobile-first system that ensures consistency across devices and platforms.
A key element was adopting a modern Card-based interface. This card structure allows dynamic insertion of the most appropriate response formats—whether text, forms, carousels, or multimedia—delivering exactly what associates need in the moment, without overwhelming the conversation flow.
Thoughtful details further elevated the experience: subtle timestamps, intentional spacing between message bubbles to reflect natural pauses and speaker transitions, and a gentle "thinking" animation that signals the bot is processing. Together, these elements create a seamless, familiar, and confidence interaction—making associates feel truly heard and supported, even when engaging with AI.
