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Sportswear Brand
CATEGORY
Feature Implementation
TIMELINE
180 Days
METHOD
The Double diamond Technique
TOOLS USED
Figma, Content Management System, Microsoft Teams
RESULT
During the course of half a year, I worked with a Sportswear Cycling Brand and a development team to implement three features that took into consideration the business life cycle, goals and customer base.
BACKGROUND
During the past year, North America has slowly entered into a recession, leaving many retail businesses fighting to survive. Luckily, the sportswear industry has grown and has been able to "outperform the total apparel market, as the versatility... of athleisure items remained highly desirable... and consumers continued to prioritize their heath and fitness and try out new sports.[1]."
The Sportswear Brand had reached the stage in its development where the primary objectives were:
Growth
Customer Acquisition
Enhancement of Customer Experience
In addition to strategic considerations and goal-setting, due consideration was given to the economic landscape.
***this project is protected by an NDA, all images and assets used are fictional and for presentation only
PROBLEM
During a heuristic evaluation and exploration of strategies to support the company in achieving its goals, it became apparent that the current content management system lacked tools for enhancing the website's content. After understanding the customer base through analytics and keeping the company goals in mind, three areas of focus were identified.
No ability to categorize new and old variants within the same product category
"How can we make the process of showcasing distinction between newer and older products seamless and user-friendly within the customer journey, ensuring smooth expansion of our brand inventory for the future?
In order to refresh product per season there needs to be a way to categorize past inventory
There is a need to strategically offer past products at a reduce rate to maintain dynamic edge over competitors
No effective way in CMS to show a final sale item
An increase of returns on price reduced products through the return portal
In turn, leading to an increase of confusion and distrust between customers and more time spent gaining back trust
"How can we develop a user friendly solution for final sale items that not only minimizes returns processed but also builds
stronger trust with our customers?There is currently no way to separate custom and regular products
With an increase growth of customer orders, a streamlined user journey needs to be established
The existing CMS lacks options in providing separate purchasing pathways for custom and regular orders
"How can we boost our custom orders by introducing a fresh
customer pathway for purchasing products, while taking into
consideration the limited ability of the CMS?
SOLUTION
FEATURE 1: Product Separation
Duration: 3 months
Affected pages: Product Description Page, Collection Page, Product Carousels
Results: An increase in sales and engagement on the product pages. The business was able to get rid of stock while creating an efficient way to inventory new variants from current products.
Takeaways: Understanding how code affected the state of pages at all viewports. It was necessary to iterate the design based on the viewport.
before
after
1. Turning Colour Variation buttons into
Clickable thumbnails
- Recognition over recall
- Some variants were not named by colour so choosing to use thumbnails allowed for quick access to product details
2. Separating Colour
Based on Price
- Retailers will change/add colours from season to season
- Separating prices help retailers separate old stock from new and price down items that are on sale
before
after
3. Using Thumbnails for
Collection Pages
- Used for consistency
- Thumbnails increase user visibility and provide more accurate representations of variants
FEATURE 2: Final Sale Messaging
Duration: 2 month
Affected pages: Product Description Page, Cart Checkout, Order Summary, Confirmation Email
Results: A decrease in customer returns and in customer care messages about final sale items
Takeaways: Iterations were made after noticing that the final sale messaging would disappear when currency was changed
before
after
Final Sale
No Returns or Exchanges*
4. Adding Final
Sale Messages
- This design helps with error prevention
- Establishing final sale messages during every step of the customer purchasing journey
Cart Pop-up
Check out Summary - Default
Check out Summary - Active
FEATURE 3: Custom Product Pathway
Duration: 1 month
New pages: Custom Services Page, Custom Collection Page, Landing Page
Results: A proposed increase in sales through an additional revenue stream of custom products
Takeaways: This feature was never tested, additional testing would have to take place to measure the validity of the proposed solution.
Why: Custom products are different from regular products in that they have to be accounted for before production to the retailer.
Extras: Additionally, a customer could be given a link that would direct them to a page to enter into a collection without having to go through the website to find the Custom Services page. This would be beneficial for high volume custom orders so that clientele could easily access their collection. When the correct password is used, a customers information is saved for easy access later on.
While working with the Sportswear Brand I have learned a lot of valuable skills, including:
Iteration. I learned that through testing and iterations, designs become more functionable and usable in every aspect.
Communication. I learned how to communicate effectively with my supervisor and the development team to produce solutions that were able to solve user pain points
Organization. By keeping track of communications and daily tasks, completing these features became much more manageable.
***Disclaimer: This project is protected by an NDA, all content added is fictional and used for presentation purposes only. If you would like more information about this project please contact me at meagan.mallough@gmail.com
Takeaways
WHAT’S NEXT STARTS HERE.
Get in touch at meagan.mallough@gmail.com