CASE STUDY: E-COMMERCE
Under the Eaves
User Research - Business Research
Branding - User Testing
Interaction Design - Prototyping
Summary
Under The Eaves is a fictional local home interior company located in Marietta, Ga. Established in 2008, Under the Eaves provides quality home furniture and decor delivered with care and trust. They were having an issue where customers were not fully committed to purchasing products within the store. Through research and synthesis, I found the problem was that Home decorating hobbyists needed a way to research and purchase budget-friendly home goods so that they could redecorate their own home as well as family and friends.
I decided to create an eCommerce site tailored towards decor enthusiasts who love the hunt for a good deal. Under the Eaves to attract new customers and increase sales by providing a highly curated inventory focusing on hand-picked quality home goods. The design will maintain the brand’s image: “small shop” appeal and great customer service.
TIMELINE
2 Weeks
ROLE
UX Designer
OUTCOME
An easy-to-follow e-commerce site that is aesthetically appealing yet informative.
PROGRAMS
Sketch, InVision, Google Drive,
Adobe CC, Whimsical, Miro, OptimalSort, Zoom
Understanding the User
In order to understand the needs and pain points of the users, I conducted a few interviews. I spoke with a few users between 25 and 55 years old to ask them about their home and online shopping experiences. I wanted to know how they felt about their home, why they would purchase home goods, what hesitations they have when shopping online.
I began to synthesize the data by creating an affinity map using Miro. Through affinity mapping, I was able to reflect on the information which led me to discover some trends and patterns. Some of those findings were:
Personas
After reflecting on the insights from the interviews, I began to craft a persona as a way to visualize the primary users and to help key stakeholders gain sympathy for the target issues. I created a primary and secondary persona, Charlotte and her daughter Emma.
Charlotte’s Story.
Charlotte is a busy mom and wife living in the suburbs of Atlanta, Ga. She enjoys arts & crafts, reading blogs on lifestyle, and hosting dinner nights. Since Emma is moving out for college soon, Charlotte wants to turn Emma’s old room into a guest bedroom and needs a way to furnish her guest room while keeping it under her budget. Emma is excited about furnishing her new on-campus apartment and needs a way to purchase products easily and while staying within her budget.
Understanding the Business
Through business analysis, I wanted to understand the current eCommerce retail landscape. Through competitive and comparative analysis, I researched several home good companies as well as companies that offered similar services in different industries.
Criteria of Comparison:
Navigation: Is it comprehensive yet concise? Straightforward?
Filtering System: How easy is it to filter by price? It is conveniently placed where the user can find it?
Product Descriptions: How detailed is the information?
Checkout Process: How many clicks does it take to successfully place an order?
Themed Categories: Are they catering to special users? Teenagers? College Season? Holidays?
Web layout: Overall, is the site aesthetically pleasing?
The main findings that came out of the analysis were that home good companies used a familiar layout. The sites were easy to use so users would not be confused about where features were placed. Through the comparative analysis, I found some good ways to filter pricing, categorize special home good products, and how to provide detailed descriptions.
PROBLEM
Home decorating hobbyists need a way to research and purchase budget-friendly home goods so they can redecorate their own home as well as family and friends.
Approach
To connect the research to the design direction, I began developing How Might We statements by asking
How might we solve this problem?
How might we help users research purchasing home good products? Help users find products for special occasions? Help users stay within budget?
SOLUTION
Create an eCommerce site tailored towards decor enthusiasts who love the hunt for a good deal. The site will allow the user to easily find new and used home goods with detailed descriptions. The site will guide the user through the home decorating experience with quality products and affordable prices.
Understanding the Users’ Mental Model
Next, I conducted a few card sorts to understand the users’ mental model. I wanted to see how users categorized products. This will help with structuring the site to be easily navigable. Through open card sort, users are given cards to organize into groups and assign labels for those groups. During a closed card sort users are already given the category labels. I performed two open card sorts and one closed card sort with several users.
A few insights came from the study:
One of my original assumptions was incorrect. Many users chose to place furniture in their respective rooms instead of categorizing them under ‘Furniture’
Predetermined categories helped users sort the cards easier. Many users categorized the same products together during the closed card sort.
Decor and gift products are difficult to categorize in a home store.
To structure and organize the content on the site, I developed a site map based on the results of the card sorting phase.
User Flows
I began to brainstorm and sketch some ideas on how the users would navigate the site to perform a task. Going back to the personas, I used Charlotte and Emma's scenario to see the task could be accomplished.
Sketches + Wireframes
After brainstorming some user flows, I started sketching some wireframes to understand how the content would look on the site. The business analysis came in handy during this time. I thought of the pros and cons of those sites to curate a good experience for the user.
Some must-have features were:
Blog-like listicles for wondering users
Pop-out cart to views to keep users aware of what is in their cart and pricing
Easy to use filtering system for specific user needs
Seamless checkout process
Testing
I conducted two rounds of usability tests with a few participants. The selected participants were men and women between 25 and 55 years old. We met remotely via Zoom. The participants were given three tasks to complete.
Design System
During this phase of the process, I started to implement the brand’s identity into the design. I created a mood board to help me capture the essence of the brand.
What’s Next?
If I were to do this process again, I would interview more users to dive deeper into Emma's persona. I would also research more on consignment stores to see what the current trends are. With more products on the site, I would run another card sort with more people to understand the information architecture of the site. Now that I have done two rounds of testing and iterations, I am interested in running additional usability tests to determine whether the changes were successful. Lastly, I would meet with the marketing team to begin the branding phase.
Reflection
Overall, I think this project turned out well! The most interesting part of the project was the card sorting phase. It was interesting to challenge my own assumptions and see how users actually think. The usability testing phase was also interesting seeing that everyone was able to complete the tasks with different success paths. I also enjoyed creating the wireframes but I did a little too involved with design. I ended up spending more time in the design phase. The most challenging part of the project was getting started. I wasn’t sure how to approach the business' problem. After some clarification and some planning, I was able to get started!