My Role
UX Researcher
UX/UI Designer
Team
Solo Project
Duration
2 months
Tasks
- Interviews
- Competitive audits
- Defining the scope of the project
- Brainstorming ideas
- Sketching
- Designing use cases
- Prototyping
Tools
- Figma
- Miro
- Google Sheets
E-Commerce Mobile App
KL Jewels
A mobile app for a small family run pearl jewelry business in Hyderabad, India; to cater to the tourists, who travel to the city and want to quickly buy pearls.
Project Goal
The jewelry store app will let users buy customized pearl jewelry which will affect non-English speaking tourists by helping them shop in native language and save time by skipping traffic.
the challenge
Native speakers from across the country visit Hyderabad, the city of pearls, and want to buy customized pearl jewelry quickly and easily before they leave the city.
user research
User research played an important role in empathising with the users and identifying their pain points. Interviews were conducted with four shoppers who buy jewelry and also buy goods online. Before the interviews, I had an unconscious bias that people would be hesitant to buy jewelry online. The interviews revealed that was not true. People were willing to buy jewelry online, given they could trust the quality.
Our key research goal is to figure out if users can complete the core tasks within the app, and if they find it convenient to place the order this way.
The key questions that helped us navigate this challenge were:
How long does it take for a user to find, customize and order pearl jewelry in the app?
Were the users able to easily navigate through the app?
Do the users find the app useful? If not, why?
Did the users have enough information to make the purchase?
Do the users have any concerns while using the app?
Users' pain points
Time
People visiting Hyderabad like to buy pearls, but often they have very little time to dedicate to this activity.
Language
Native language speakers find it hard to communicate in English or Hindi.
Customization
People usually want a necklace or bracelet that fits them, or have some specific color choices.
Quality
People want to be sure they are buying genuine good quality products.
user persona
Zayed
"100% genuineness is a must."
Zayed is a hard working sales professional and frequently travels for work. He likes to take presents for his family from his trips. Hyderabad being famous for pearls, he buys pearls when he is in the city. He will buy products that are of a good quality and reasonable price. As he has very little time to shop, he wishes there was a faster way to do this.
About
Name : Zayed
Age : 40
Education : Commerce
Hometown : Vijayawada
Family : Wife and a kid
Occupation : Sales Associate
Problem statement
Zayed is a busy sales associate and a native language speaker who needs a quicker way to buy customized pearls on the go because he has very little time before he leaves the city.
Goals
- To buy genuine pearl jewelry
- Choose pearls based on quality, shine, origin and product details
Frustrations
- “I like to take something home but have very little time left before I return.”
- “I have to come all the way to the market in the heavy traffic and it takes up half of my day.”
crafting the user journey
Next, I constructed a user flow of what a basic start to finish journey looks like while purchasing an item. This helps us in understanding ways users can interact with the product, as well as allowing us to see navigation through user goals.
starting the design
Translating the user research into actionable wireframes, and turning the pain points into some functionalities in the app, provided a great step towards developing the first designs.
usability studies
I conducted two rounds of remote, unmoderated usability studies in India. Findings from the first study helped guide the design from wireframes to mockups. The second study was conducted with the high fidelity prototypes and it revealed what aspects of the mockup needed refining.
Round 1 findings
Interaction
The delivery and customization options should have a smoother interaction
Multiple products
Make it easier for users to add more products and continue shopping
Back functionality
Make going ‘Home’ and ‘Back’ easier
Round 2 findings
Add to Cart
Make it faster and easier to add multiple products to the cart
Favorites
Users should be able to save their favorite products to revisit and compare
refining the design
mockups
When creating mockups from wireframes, I incorporated the feedback received from the usability study, like making the “Continue Shopping” feature more prominent, and making the navigation smoother.
I also incorporated visual design elements like typography, color and iconography.
The second usability study, revealed a desire for users to save their favorite items and add multiple items to the cart from a single screen. This was addressed by adding the cart and heart icons on each product listing.
Accessibility considerations
The top app bar provides easy access to the language assist icon for language translation services to native language speakers, and a screen reader icon for users with limited visual abilities.
Color contrasts for texts, backgrounds, and buttons, satisfy the WCAG - Accessibility guidelines.
Icons along with text descriptions appear at the bottom app bar on all screens for ease in navigation.
impact
The KL Jewels app helps its customers to shop their favorite items from the trusted jeweler, from the comfort of their homes.
One quote from a user states:
“This is great! I can order my favorite pearls from my home. I trust KL Jewels and their quality. Pictures are also good. I think I will buy this way.”
What i learned
It has been a rewarding experience to see an idea translate into something tangible. The pandemic fuelled the need for the business to go online and for the users to shop remotely. Capturing the nuances of the business like customization, product details, and good quality product images, makes this app user-friendly.
next steps
I would include multiple images of a product in product detail page, as it would be an important addition for users to assess quality, usability and desirability of a product.
I would conduct further usability testing to uncover added insights on improving the app.
I would make the app more accessible by providing alternate text for images, and checking for color blindness.