Roles and Tools
Team: Olena Khomchenko ( UX Researcher), Sarah McMurchie (UX Researcher), Zara Anderson ( UI Designer), Alexander Yamato (UI Designer)
My Role: as a UX Researcher I conducted several user interviews, analyzed the data as well as and create clickable prototypes.The whole team contributed to core decisions making.
Tools: Sketch, InVision, Zoom, UsabilityHub
Launched: Proposed “Feed” feature was implemented partially, and it is currently live (link).
Let’s Talk about Style!
Armoire is a young startup, that helps members spend less time shopping by offering designer clothes for rent. One from their goals is to give professional women a way to access fashion that is easy, fast, and fun.
Research - driven Process
Design Issues We Faced
The client set us certain tasks:
Giving users the opportunity to make purchases
Leave and edit reviews
View their previously rented things
Other opportunities to enhance the customers’ experience
All these tasks belonged to one part of the website, Re-wear page and Review section
Re-wear Page
RE-WEAR page displays what member has rented earlier. 75% of the items are not displayed on this page as they are not available in the inventory at this moment.
Review Section
As 80% of members don’t have time to leave review or photo during the return process and Review Screen is only available at this moment members do not tend to leave reviews.
With data from the analyzed current page, competitive analysis, and industry research, we received a problem statement :
“How might we create design solutions that help save time and make renting clothes easier?”
Problem Solving Process
In sketches, we decided to show all clients' wishes and also our findings in the research process:
After some sketching, we started to create wireframes.
Iteration 1
In the first example we have tried to include 4 calls to action buttons. But the page looks very overloaded and there is no information for users, so we decided to prioritize what is more important for us.
Iteration 2
Next example, we decided to add more visible information to the user, also left 3 calls to action button, but this page still a little bit messy.
Iteration 3
In last example we reorganized our information, selected the most important, and as you can see it is easier for the user to see the most important information, like overall fit and reviews.
Who Runs the World? Women!
Using wireframes, we went to our users to ask for their opinion. We wanted to understand their interest and priorities.
Armoire users are strong and independent women, who are from every state, from 30 to 60 years old, who are trendy and busy. They want to be social and stylish and dressed professionally wherever they go.
Our user testers were from all across the country and ranged in ages 30 - 37. They were all professionals from a plethora of fields - from project managers to registered dietitians. They were all members of Armoire for less than 6 months which gave us a particularly interesting insight in what new users pain points were.
Unexpected Results from User Testing
After user testing, we got unexpected conclusion, which changed the bigger picture of our strategic goals.
6 out of 6 members did not want to have the ability to buy previously rented items!
“I would like to know the quality of the item before I buy it!”
“I love fancy stuff, but I do not like “fancy” prices!”
For Armoire, selling items is a great way to increase revenue. But these quotes led us to the fact that users are completely not interested in buying things, they are sure that they can rent things again.
What Do We Do Now?
After examining our findings, the client came to the conclusion that at this stage our team should focus on such details as the review and the history page, and postponing the possibility of “buy now”.
We reviewed the data that was specifically related to the review and the history page.
And here's what happened:
Some users do not want to leave their reviews, but they want to read reviews from other users
Some users want a platform for communication without leaving the site
What does re-wear page mean?
Users want to manage their past orders
What We Created?
“Community” section.
Reason: Because communication it is an important part of Armoire
“I would like to receive advice from other ladies on what to wear for an event
”
1: The Feed shows updates on the members that you’re following;
2: What Members are adding to their case, what they’re favoriting, and who they’re following
3: The Power Chat link products to posts.
4: Members can post a poll.
5: The Discover page is how Members can find new closets to follow
6: Members can search by criteria like body type, age range, and size.
Renamed the Re-wear Page to History
Reason: Because users need more clarity about what this page is
4 out of 6 members do not know what a Re-Wear page is
Added Filters
Reason: Because users want to more easily manage their previously rented items
5 out of 6 members said they thought the item would still be available to rent later
3 out of 6 members need filter options in the Re-wear section
Added the Ability to Add Their Reviews Later
Reason: all polled users talked about this. In the current flow it’s only possible to live reviews when returning items, which is inconvenient
6 out of 6 members found photos and reviews helpful for determining fit
4 out of 6 members don’t upload photos or leave comments