Infinite Goods
Project Overview
Infinite Goods epitomizes a cutting-edge online platform, seamlessly intertwining sustainability with style by ingeniously repurposing waste into contemporary clothing through dynamic collaborations with indie designers. Offering a curated selection of fashion and accessories, Infinite Goods stands out for its commitment to eco-friendly practices and ethical production, ensuring every garment comes with a Sustainability Score outlining our eight key environmental and social values.
Role
As a UX/UI Designer, collaborating with another two UX Designers Marites Algones and Teya Kroeker on a design team, our shared objective was to elevate usability and optimize user interactions and conversions on the revamped platform.
Business Problems
Low Conversion Rate. The website experienced a low conversion rate during the month, recording only one purchase despite attracting 3000 visitors.
Ineffective E-commerce Strategy. The current approach lacks personalized experiences, recommendations, and essential information required to encourage users to make a purchase, hindering the ability to cater to individual customer preferences.
legacy product page
Business Solutions
Enhance user experience by optimizing website navigation in an intuitive and user-friendly way.
Utilize retargeting strategies by implementing campaigns to remind visitors about products they viewed but didn't purchase and offering incentives for returning customers.
Implement personalization by utilizing data analytics to tailor user experiences based on past behavior and preferences, and integrating a recommendation engine to suggest relevant products.
Bolster trust by enriching the platform with detailed product information and user-generated content.
updated home and product pages
Business Goal:
UX Design Process
The team of three designers launched the UX design process by strategically assigning responsibilities according to our strengths and kickstarting a design sprint. Our focused efforts encompassed the four crucial stages – Discover, Define, Design, and Deliver. Given my interest in in-depth research, I focused on defining problems through various research strategies and analyses. Following this, I actively engaged in addressing identified issues by seamlessly integrating solutions.
Understanding Problems
We initiated our process by conducting a comprehensive assessment of the website's functionality, delving deeper to discern the factors contributing to the low conversion rate. Taking charge of this endeavor, I opted for Jakob Nielsen's heuristic evaluation. The findings revealed that the current website contravened 4 key principles, potentially causing users to feel overwhelmed and hesitant in making purchase decisions.
Recognition rather than recall
The homepage is overwhelming with excessive sustainability information, prioritizing guidance and tutorials over essential product details and recommendations.
Consistency and standards
The unclear top navigation prompts users to repeatedly access the "shop" due to the absence of main categories at the top; the breadcrumb navigation is missing on other pages.
Help and documentation
The sustainability score lacks clarity for users. The tutorial guide only covers measures A and B. Indicators for each score are absent, and the definitions of "mixed" sources remain unclear.
Flexibility and efficiency of use
The product page currently lacks essential information, care instructions, shipping details, a size guide link for accurate measurements, and valuable customer reviews.
Gathering Insights
To pinpoint specific user experience issues, we conducted interviews with 14 participants, seeking deeper insights into their awareness of sustainable fashion and its specific measurements. I and my team aimed to identify obstacles in the user journey by thoroughly testing the current website, with a focus on functionality, navigation, aesthetics, and sustainability guidance. Drawing upon users' responses, we distilled the findings into robust key takeaways.
Quality & Fit
“
I am interested in assessing the product's quality and trying on the clothes to see how they fit me.
Filters & Customer reviews
“
I want to filter to narrow down my choices and rely on customer reviews.
Transparency
“
I seek transparency about the company's sustainability practices in the fashion industry.
Checkout
“
I am looking for an enhanced checkout experience with an autofill feature.
Returns
“
I seek easy returns and post-purchase confirmation for a seamless shopping experience.
Sustainability Comprehension
“
Sometimes, I face challenges in understanding sustainable scores due to unclear explanations.
Competitive Analysis
Identifying the main problems through heuristics and interviews moved me towards market analysis. I compared Infinite Goods with its direct competitors using Feature Inventory. Considering the features our company lacked and user preferences, I conducted an analysis of sustainable companies, including Reformation, Madewell, Everlane, and Patagonia. The focus was on examining the crucial elements each company offers.
Visible shop categories
Wishlist
Expanded filters
Sale key indicators
Sustainability Report
Social sharing
Shipping & Returns information
Care instructions
Breadcrumb
Reviews
Global size link
Building Empathy
Prior to embarking on the design, it is crucial to have a precise understanding of the audience you intend to cater to. Our team has meticulously crafted Corrine, a user persona, representing the quintessential Infinite Goods customer. Corrine is a style-forward, ethically-focused, progressive woman with a high income.
Problem Statement
By understanding Corrine's needs and identifying her pain points, we formulated a robust problem statement through the use of 'how might we' questions. This deliberate strategy enables us to empathize with Corrine's experiences and devise innovative solutions specifically tailored to address her unique challenges.
Corinne, an environmentally conscious shopper, needs detailed and sufficient product information so that she can buy clothing aligned with her sustainability values.
How might we improve website navigation to make it more intuitive for users?
How might we provide detailed product information on quality and fit?
How might we implement comprehensive educational initiatives on sustainability?
How might we provide detailed sustainability information about the product?
Site Maps & Tree Tests
Based on user research and heuristic evaluation, a low conversion rating may be attributed to the unclear top navigation bar. To investigate this issue, I and my team conducted two tree tests, involving 20 participants – one for the current navigation and another for the updated version. Users were assigned tasks to assess how easily they could find specific items and navigate the website.
The current navigation:
The tree test result:
The success rate of how easy it was to find certain products categories.
Users faced difficulty finding the Sustainability Score of the products.
Users couldn't find the brand's mission in the current navigation.
Users struggled to locate a cashmere scarf within the categories.
Updated navigation:
The tree test result:
Users felt more confident locating the same items within categories.
Users were still unsure whether to learn about stance on sustainability.
Users found the navigation intuitive when searching through the shop.
Users easily located the brand's mission in the current navigation.
Key Findings:
During the initial tree testing, the first group of 10 participants faced challenges with the current navigation. In contrast, a second set of 10 users, navigating with the updated interface featuring visible shop categories and organized subcategories, reported tasks as easier to complete, resulting in a notable 27% increase. Based on these valuable insights, our team has opted to retain the enhanced navigation in the subsequent stages of the design process.
Wireframing the Solutions
As we transitioned to the phase of creating sketches and mid-fidelity prototypes, I recommended to our team to prioritize enhancing the user experience on home and product pages. This strategic focus aimed to address challenges in implementing personalization, recommendations, providing essential product information, clarifying the sustainability score, and improving our overall e-commerce strategy.
Style Guide
To discuss brand ideology, our team met with Aileen Lee, the CEO of Infinite Goods, who expressed the desire to maintain the existing colors and typography. While working on the redesign, I observed that product photos exhibited diverse styles, posing a challenge to brand consistency. As a team, we discussed the issue and decided to add some new neutral colors to the branding, aiming to uphold brand cohesion, professionalism, and visual appeal.
Developing the Design
While working on the high-fidelity prototype, it was crucial for me and my team to implement the necessary features that were lacking and design a user-friendly website that would encourage users to purchase sustainable and ethically-produced clothes.
Home Screen Details:
The hero carousel showcases relevant new arrivals, collections, and sales within the viewport.
The newly implemented 'Shop by Category' feature, with eye-catching imagery, enhances user navigation throughout website.
Another new recommendation for users - 'Shop by Designer' provides brief information about specific designers and encourages users to explore more about their collections.
As the website lacked an integrated recommendation engine, this carousel suggests the most popular products.
As the branding wasn't pronounced very well, we enhanced it through the sustainability score and brand label. We introduced a carousel explaining the rating standards across fashion and added an article to help users learn more about the company's sustainability initiatives.
The key values of the company that differentiate it from others.
A new social feature enables users to share their looks when wearing Infinite Goods clothing, tagging it through Instagram.
Product Screen Details:
Newly implemented breadcrumb navigation, product rating at the top, and global size link to help customers find the right fit.
As the company utilizes the Shopify platform, we have implemented a new feature allowing users to swiftly purchase clothing through a 'buy it now', along with the provision of multiple payment options.
We implemented an accordion menu featuring crucial information, including product details, shipping and return policies, sustainability scores of the product, and information about the designer. This ensures that users have multiple choices to gain more information about the product.
To encourage users to shop more, which is beneficial for business, we incorporated a feature that suggests completing the look by offering users matched clothes with their already selected items.
We also added new feature to utilize retargeting strategies by implementing campaigns to remind visitors about products they viewed.
Added reviews and ratings to enhance the decision-making process .
Validating the Design
To gain deeper insights into how our team improved the user experience and understood the impact of implemented changes on user purchase decisions, we conducted a usability test with 6 participants. We focused on key factors, including the new website’s aesthetics, ease of navigation, and comprehension of the sustainability score. The participants' ratings of the tasks provided quantitative data, and to obtain qualitative insights, we conducted interviews with them.
The average rating for assessing the website's aesthetics.
The average rating of the ease of use and navigation of the website.
The average rating of comprehending the sustainability score.
Mobile Iteration
As the user interviews revealed that most users prefer shopping online using smartphones rather than laptops, we created a mobile prototype to showcase to our client how the redesigned platform would appear on mobile devices.
Client Feedback
During the final presentation, we showcased all our deliverables to the client, Aileen Lee, and she was impressed by our collaborative work.
Exceptional work! The high-fidelity design is gorgeous, and I think you went above and beyond, in the number of things that you added to the project that weren't even in the scope. It's evident that your efforts have not only been recognized but are already capturing the enthusiasm of our team. Your attention to detail has uncovered the power of imagery throughout our products, which is truly remarkable. We are eager to see these enhancements implemented and confident they will elevate our project to new heights.
“
”
— Aileen Lee, the CEO of Infinite Goods
Reflections
The best designs emerge from collaboration. It was truly inspiring to work within a team of talented individuals and witness how each person brought a unique perspective to the table. With a commitment of more than 10 hours every day, we discussed each step, fostering both our personal and professional growth.
Focus on the problem. In our collaboration with a real client, we recognized the importance of gaining profound insights, which is why we conducted numerous interviews and tests. We held weekly meetings with Aileen, systematically showcasing identified problems and user pain points discovered during design sprints.
Building an MVP and keeping business goals in mind were central to our strategy. As Infinite Goods is a nascent player in the market, our team concentrated on features that would deliver the highest value for users while concurrently enhancing business conversion rates.
Next Steps
Reimagine the sustainability score explanation. The usability test of the high-fidelity prototype revealed that users are still unaware of the sustainability score, indicating a need for simplified measurements. Despite improved definitions and user prompts, the test highlighted the user preference for a more straightforward score presentation.
Monitor the conversion rates. We aim to understand how the implemented changes impact the business.
User testing doesn't end after development. Design is a constant iteration of improving the experience for the end user. Always find ways to collect and listen to your user's feedback.