Glade - Webapp Redesign
This project was designed as a part of the Essentials of Interactive Design course at Thomas Jefferson University.
Duration: January 2022 - April 2022 (14 weeks)
Duration: January 2022 - April 2022 (14 weeks)
My Role
UX Research | Wireframing | UI Design | Presentation Design | Visual Design | Usability Testing
Tools
Dovetail | Confluence | Figma | Adobe Illustrator | MS PowerPoint
Deliverables
Research Documentation & Analysis | Low Fidelity Wire-frames | High Fidelity Prototype
Project Partner: Anush Hedge
Long Story Short...
Project Goal:
The goal of this project was to assess and analyze the existing website, identify problem areas, and integrate eCommerce features that enable users to make a product purchase. In addition to this, a novel feature focused on driving better product sales was introduced to retain customer loyalty.
The goal of this project was to assess and analyze the existing website, identify problem areas, and integrate eCommerce features that enable users to make a product purchase. In addition to this, a novel feature focused on driving better product sales was introduced to retain customer loyalty.
Problem:
The challenge at hand is that 95.9% of participants have indicated a strong preference for an offline purchasing option, emphasizing their desire to sample products before making a buying decision. How might we increase user engagement and retention by bringing some of the offline shopping experience to our online platform through a website redesign and ecommerce integration.
The challenge at hand is that 95.9% of participants have indicated a strong preference for an offline purchasing option, emphasizing their desire to sample products before making a buying decision. How might we increase user engagement and retention by bringing some of the offline shopping experience to our online platform through a website redesign and ecommerce integration.
Solution:
We will offer users the option to choose two fragrance samples of their preference on the cart page. These samples, in the form of small pouches or ampoules, will be included with their order to eliminate extra shipping costs, thus giving them an opportunity to try out new fragrances before making a purchase decision.
We will offer users the option to choose two fragrance samples of their preference on the cart page. These samples, in the form of small pouches or ampoules, will be included with their order to eliminate extra shipping costs, thus giving them an opportunity to try out new fragrances before making a purchase decision.
Expected Outcome:
The implementation of this solution is expected to result in an improved online shopping experience for users through enhanced user engagement, reduced return rates, increased sales and competitive advantage. Overall, this solution promises a holistic improvement in the online shopping journey, resulting in greater user satisfaction, sales growth, and a stronger market position.
The implementation of this solution is expected to result in an improved online shopping experience for users through enhanced user engagement, reduced return rates, increased sales and competitive advantage. Overall, this solution promises a holistic improvement in the online shopping journey, resulting in greater user satisfaction, sales growth, and a stronger market position.
Impact:
By conducting a heuristic evaluation, we significantly enhanced the website's e-commerce score, elevating it from -5 to an impressive 76. Additionally, our redesign incorporates the option to include complimentary product samples with each purchase, a feature anticipated to drive sales growth.
By conducting a heuristic evaluation, we significantly enhanced the website's e-commerce score, elevating it from -5 to an impressive 76. Additionally, our redesign incorporates the option to include complimentary product samples with each purchase, a feature anticipated to drive sales growth.
Project Highlights
a. Ecommerce Integration
Baymard Analysis
To effectively integrate eCommerce, Baymard Iinstitute was used to analyze the current website and identify areas that needed improvement from a sales standpoint. It also helped to determine features the website could use to improve the customer’s buying experience.
Baymard Score of the current website
-5
Based on the Baymard score, a list of improvements was generated to facilitate the effective integration of eCommerce to the current Glade website. We also developed low-fidelity wireframes incorporating improvements and design changes suggested by the tool.
Baymard Score of the redesigned website
76
Overview of Improvements Based on Baymard Analysis
Homepage & Category
- Showcasing products on the navigation bar and the home page
- Creating courtesy navigation and a prominent search bar
- Creating a semantically categorized footer
Product Lists & Filtering
- Introduced filtering and sorting
- Tagging products with labels like“Clearance”, “Out of Stock”, “New” etc
- Introducing price, delivery, and cart details
- Showcasing products on the navigation bar and the home page
- Creating courtesy navigation and a prominent search bar
- Creating a semantically categorized footer
Product Lists & Filtering
- Introduced filtering and sorting
- Tagging products with labels like“Clearance”, “Out of Stock”, “New” etc
- Introducing price, delivery, and cart details
Product Page
- Added a TOC
- Introduced common e-commerce details like the “buy now” button, product price & quantity, user reviews, product specs, etc
- Added cross-sells
- Added “recently viewed products”
Cart & Checkout
- Shows order summary, billing & shipping options, cross-sells, etc
- Added a progress bar showing the stage of the checkout process
- Added a TOC
- Introduced common e-commerce details like the “buy now” button, product price & quantity, user reviews, product specs, etc
- Added cross-sells
- Added “recently viewed products”
Cart & Checkout
- Shows order summary, billing & shipping options, cross-sells, etc
- Added a progress bar showing the stage of the checkout process
Customer Accounts
- Added login through social media
- Account dashboard shows order history
- Added a contained accordion with necessary user account options
- Added login through social media
- Account dashboard shows order history
- Added a contained accordion with necessary user account options
Purchase Prototype
Below is a prototype demonstrating eCommerce integration in the proposed redesigned Glade website. It showcases the steps involved in making a product purchase through the website and the user dashboard that highlights previously made purchases.
b. Novel Innovation
I. Secondary Research
Overview
Glade, by SC Johnson, is an American multinational, privately held manufacturer of household cleaning supplies and other consumer chemicals since 1886. Glade’s primary target market is aimed at middle-class consumers looking for “affordable luxury” air freshening solutions. With an affordable price range between $1-$15, Glade’s products are accessible to said consumers.
Febreeze and Airwick are its two main competitors, both having competitive market prices and each having its competitive advantage. Overall, Glade has settled in its own space within the air fresheners market among its competitors. Their product development emphasizes simple and efficient mass-scale production.
These insights formed the basis of our primary research.
Glade, by SC Johnson, is an American multinational, privately held manufacturer of household cleaning supplies and other consumer chemicals since 1886. Glade’s primary target market is aimed at middle-class consumers looking for “affordable luxury” air freshening solutions. With an affordable price range between $1-$15, Glade’s products are accessible to said consumers.
Febreeze and Airwick are its two main competitors, both having competitive market prices and each having its competitive advantage. Overall, Glade has settled in its own space within the air fresheners market among its competitors. Their product development emphasizes simple and efficient mass-scale production.
These insights formed the basis of our primary research.
II. Primary Research
a. Research Goal: To understand the thought process and purchase decisions involved in buying a fragrance
b. Research Objectives:
- To understand the need and frequency of product purchase
- To understand users’ buying preferences and prioritize them for a better customer experience
- To create a simple, user-friendly and intuitive e-commerce platform that motivates visitors to make a purchase
- To identify areas of innovation that could enhance the eCommerce experience
c. Recruiting Participants: Products like air fresheners and scented candles are common in every household. Considering this, 1:1 interviews were facilitated with a diverse group of 6 students and staff at Thomas Jefferson University. We also created a google survey that recorded responses from 43 participants.
Identified Target Group: Mostly women; 25-65 yrs; Working professionals, students, homemakers
b. Research Objectives:
- To understand the need and frequency of product purchase
- To understand users’ buying preferences and prioritize them for a better customer experience
- To create a simple, user-friendly and intuitive e-commerce platform that motivates visitors to make a purchase
- To identify areas of innovation that could enhance the eCommerce experience
c. Recruiting Participants: Products like air fresheners and scented candles are common in every household. Considering this, 1:1 interviews were facilitated with a diverse group of 6 students and staff at Thomas Jefferson University. We also created a google survey that recorded responses from 43 participants.
Identified Target Group: Mostly women; 25-65 yrs; Working professionals, students, homemakers
d. Research Findings: All research findings have been recorded and documented in Dovetail. Every user interview has been transcribed and assigned relevant tags. Data from the google survey was also integrated into the app and all insights drawn from the research have been summarized.
Some key insights are as follows:
Some key insights are as follows:
e. Identifying Problem Areas: The research findings were mapped on a 2x2 matrix to recognize features that would enhance the eCommerce experience. The features that would result in high user value while deploying low organizational effort were identified as key focus areas to drive the project forward.
f. Affinity Mapping of Customer Journey: A customer journey map was created based on factors that influence purchase decisions iAll activities involved in customer acquisition and retention were listed out based on customer needs, awareness, consideration, and decision driving factors. Affinity mapping of the complete customer journey was performed to understand the end-to-end activities that we need to focus on to drive better sales.
“Scents have the ability to alter our emotions and moods more than any other sensory experience,” says Dr Rachel Herz, neuroscientist and author of The Scent of Desire.
Fragrances have the ability to alter a persons mood. Hence, product sampling to try the fragrance before making a purchase was the unanimous answer we got from all participants, as they would not want to buy something they wouldn’t use or like.
Fragrances have the ability to alter a persons mood. Hence, product sampling to try the fragrance before making a purchase was the unanimous answer we got from all participants, as they would not want to buy something they wouldn’t use or like.
This insight formed the basis of our problem statement - How might we create an eCommerce experience that is not only user-friendly but also attempts to partly bring the offline experience to the users' doorstep?
The Solution
Initial Ideation
After analysis the data collected from primary and secondary research, we created feature cards to solve the various problem spaces associated with the purchase of air fresheners. We also followed the MoSCoW method of card sorting, to prioritize features the website should use to propel online purchase of fragrant products.
After analysis the data collected from primary and secondary research, we created feature cards to solve the various problem spaces associated with the purchase of air fresheners. We also followed the MoSCoW method of card sorting, to prioritize features the website should use to propel online purchase of fragrant products.
Product Samples
According to our primary research, 95.9% of participants said they would prefer an offline mode of buying so they can sample the product before making a purchase. 80.6% of the research participants said that they would like to receive free product samples to facilitate faster and well-informed purchase decisions. These data points formed the basis of my innovation feature of sending two product samples with every purchase made on the Glade website.
According to our primary research, 95.9% of participants said they would prefer an offline mode of buying so they can sample the product before making a purchase. 80.6% of the research participants said that they would like to receive free product samples to facilitate faster and well-informed purchase decisions. These data points formed the basis of my innovation feature of sending two product samples with every purchase made on the Glade website.
Inspiration
Most perfume brands give out testers to offline stores that helps users in trying the fragrance before they buy. Body shop, a skin care brand, also gives out free samples of new products with every order placed on their website. Since the consumer’s purchase behavior in buying an air freshener is very similar to that of buying a perfume, I chose to add a feature that enables users to pick any two free product samples with every purchase they make on the Glade website.
Most perfume brands give out testers to offline stores that helps users in trying the fragrance before they buy. Body shop, a skin care brand, also gives out free samples of new products with every order placed on their website. Since the consumer’s purchase behavior in buying an air freshener is very similar to that of buying a perfume, I chose to add a feature that enables users to pick any two free product samples with every purchase they make on the Glade website.
Concept
On the cart page, every user will be given an option to pick any two fragrance samples that they would like to try. The samples will be tiny pouches or ampoules with liquid fragrance and will be delivered along with the customer order to avoid additional shipping costs.
On the cart page, every user will be given an option to pick any two fragrance samples that they would like to try. The samples will be tiny pouches or ampoules with liquid fragrance and will be delivered along with the customer order to avoid additional shipping costs.
Product Samples High-Fidelity Screen
Benefits
For the Business:
- Drives sales through the website
- Better online buying experience and customer satisfaction
- Economical and viable
- Assists in product evaluation and determining consumer preferences
- Drives sales through the website
- Better online buying experience and customer satisfaction
- Economical and viable
- Assists in product evaluation and determining consumer preferences
For the Consumer:
- They can try new fragrances with every purchase
- Delivery at their doorstep
- Facilitates faster purchase decisions
- They can try new fragrances with every purchase
- Delivery at their doorstep
- Facilitates faster purchase decisions
Usability Testing
The high fidelity prototypes were tested with 3 students and 2 staff members who had participated in our user interviews.
They were asked to complete 2 simple tasks:
a. Purchase the first air freshener listed on the website
b. Identify where the product samples are in the buying journey
The results were as follows
They were asked to complete 2 simple tasks:
a. Purchase the first air freshener listed on the website
b. Identify where the product samples are in the buying journey
The results were as follows
c. SaaS Integration
To learn about the SaaS applications used by other eCommerce website we used the tool, buildwith.com. This tool provides a listing of websites from their database showing which sites use shopping carts, analytics, hosting and many more. As my novel innovation was inspired from BodyShop, I used their website to scan through their analytics tools and the SaaS solutions they used. Certain other competitor websites like Yankee candles was also analyzed to validate the tools most commonly adopted by the air care industry.
The novel feature lives in the cart page of the redesigned website so as to compel the user in making a purchase. Since the innovation is sales driven, I wanted to use a SaaS product that heavily focused on providing features that help me evaluate cart abandonment and propel higher conversion rates. An intuitive eCommerce experience is further known to generate better product sales, and Sales Cycle’s personalized upsell and cross-sell solutions would assist in increased customer loyalty. Moreover, email marketing is known to be one of the most effective drivers of sales, and Sales Cycle offers solutions that aid consumer data collection. They also offer re-targeting solutions to send timely and relevant emails across multiple locations and languages ensuring a streamlined experience.
Features:
- Countdown timers
- Upsell and Cross Sell
- Email Sign-Up
- Feedback Surveys
- Marketing Consent Management
- Product trends
- Callback request
- Countdown timers
- Upsell and Cross Sell
- Email Sign-Up
- Feedback Surveys
- Marketing Consent Management
- Product trends
- Callback request
eCommerce + Novel Feature + SaaS Integration - Working Prototype
d. Retention Strategy
As a sequel to the cart abandonment and personalized cross-selling features offered by Sales Cycle, the retention strategy of creating google ads was devised to target audiences based on their interests, and buying preferences.
The strategy focused on two types of audiences:
The strategy focused on two types of audiences:
a. Cart abandoners: Potential leads are targeted by displaying ads in contextually relevant webpages to influence them to make a product purchase. The ads would be shown based on the products the users added in the cart. The communication in these set of ads is very direct and aims at promoting home delivery and product samples.
b. Product samplers: Customers who bought a product from the website, but did not make a repeat purchase will be shown ads based on the samples they received along with their order. The communication in these set of ads aims to push product sales based on the fragrances sampled by the target audience.
Measuring Success
