The Project: E-commerce website - Running Shoe Store "NO LIMIT"
Duration: February 2023 - March 2023
The Product
NO LIMIT is a running shoe store that offers specialized running shoes. Typical user is between 19-65 years old, most users are college students and professionals. NO LIMIT’s goal is to be the first resource people think of when it comes to running.
The Problem
Current websites have minimum design and is a cookie cutter layout, lack of design, and confusing checkout.
The Goal
Create a website where users are provided with great imagery, simple navigation, and a smooth checkout process
User Research Summary
I conducted interviews and created empathy maps to understand the users I’m designing for and their needs. A primary user group identified through research was working adults and students who don’t have time to cook meals. I discovered that many target users treat online shopping as a quick process. However, many shopping websites are overwhelming and confusing to navigate, which frustrated many target users. This caused a normally enjoyable experience to become challenging for them, defeating the purpose of a quick shopping experience.
RESEARCH
Users are so busy with their life and quickly need to make their purchase instead of shop and research for the best shoe.
DESCRIPTIONS
Users can’t identify what type of shoe is intended for ex (road, trail, lifestyle)
EXPERIENCE
Online shopping websites don’t provide an engaging browsing experience
LANGUAGE
English is secondary language to other people so they want to see less words more pictures
User Persona
Anthony
Age: 30
Education: Master's Degree in Education
Hometown: Orange, California
Family: Single
Occupation: Accountant
Anthony has a demanding schedule with work and is often working late hours. He loves to spend time with his team at work and sports team. Anthony has such a busy life that he doesn’t have enough time to research things. He would love an option to avoid all the research and just be provided a quick and easy option to get his product so he doesn’t have to be on the computer all day.
“I love sports and partaking in activities instead of staying at home.”
Mapping Anthony’s user journey revealed how helpful it would be for users to have a best sellers section on the homepage.
Sitemap
Difficulty with finding the best seller / popular items was a primary pain point for users, so I used that knowledge to create a sitemap. My goal here was to make strategic information architecture decisions that would improve overall website navigation. The structure I chose was designed to make things simple and easy.
Digital Wireframes
Prioritizing a carousel for popular products, news, and deals was my strategy.
Below the carousel I added a section for best sellers, I wanted to simplify the navigation for users to avoid their pain point and offer them their solution.
Low-Fidelity Prototype
Usability Findings
BUY IT NOW
Users want to be able to have a button that can take them straight to checkout.
FAVORITES
Users want to be able to save their favorite shoes and continue their shopping at a later time.
Mockups
Screen Variations
High-Fidelity Prototype
Accessibility Considerations
1.
Emphasized minimal background images to enhance comprehension of menu item for all users.
2.
Used icons throughout the app to simplify the navigation process and minimize the use of text
3.
Enable users with visual impairments to access content by including alt text in images for screen readers.
Takeaways
Our target users shared that the design was intuitive to navigate through, more engaging with the images, and demonstrated a clear visual hierarchy. I learned that even a small design change can have a huge impact on the user experience. The most important takeaway for me is to always focus on the real needs of the user when coming up with design ideas and solutions.