The Gilded Swallow
Jewelry & Accessories E-commerce Website
PROJECT
Design an e-commerce website for a company that makes and sells handmade jewelry and accessories.
PROJECT DURATION
6 weeks
MY ROLE
Lead UX Designer, UX Researcher, UI Designer
RESPONSIBILITIES
User Research, Competitor Analysis, Design Research, Wireframes, Page Designs, Prototyping & Testing.
The Story
The Gilded Swallow is a team of Designers that make handmade jewelry and accessories. They are passionate about their creations that they feel are works of art. The swallow used in their logo represents freedom, grace, and the ability to soar above challenges. The Gilded Swallow uses sustainable materials and donates 5% of their proceeds to the Autism Society.
Challenge
Design an e-commerce website that sells jewelry and accessories that offers a multitude of category sorting options, an account registration that enables users to save their favorite products, and provide detailed information about the materials used.
Solution
The Gilded Swallow's website allows users to create an account to save their favorite products while enabling comprehensive search and sorting functions. Detailed information about materials used are included to help users select items they will not be allergic to.
.01
Understanding the User
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User research
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Personas & Problem statements
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Empathy maps
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User journey maps
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Competitor Analysis
UX Research
My user research entailed interviewing users who have purchased handmade jewelry that included:
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Conducting interviews
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Creating personas
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User stories
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Empathy maps
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User journeys
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Competitor analysis
From my research it was clear that users wanted to be able to:
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Create an account to save their favorites and payment information
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Favorite jewelry they liked so that they could purchase it later
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View the jewelry by categories, such as metal type and style
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Find out more about the materials
PERSONAS
I interviewed a small group of people to understand the kind of people that frequently buy jewelry and accessories. I wanted to have an initial understanding of the personas to focus on.
PROBLEM STATEMENTS
Identifying the problems that users face is indeed crucial for creating a user-centered experience. Starting with clear problem statements for the primary personas and using the "who, what, when, where, why, and how" framework enabled me to have a solid understanding of the challenges users were encountering.
KATE
Kate is a Designer who needs to see metal types when she’s buying jewelry online because she has a skin allergy to certain metals.
LAURA
Laura is a busy mom who needs to be able to create and account and save her favorite items so she can purchase them at another time.
PAIN POINTS
Reviewing the pain points provided me insight into what needed to be included in the new website.
1. Account & Favorites
Some users were unable to create an account. This hindered the user from viewing their selected favorites to make future purchases.
2. Product Information
Many users found there was not enough detailed information about the items, such as materials and images of the products being used.
3. Sorting & Filters
Many users found the navigation, filters, and product sorting to be inconsistent which made it hard for them to find an item they wanted.
EMPATHY MAPS
I created empathy maps to better understand the users' pain points.
USER JOURNEY MAPS
I also a created user journey maps to dig deeper into each stage that the users go through when buying jewelry.
COMPETITOR ANALYSIS