In this conceptual case study, the objective was to find a small local business that needed help with their online presence; in terms of organization, navigation, or usability. Next, redesign the site's desktop website to improve the search and check-out functions for online shoppers.
Re-working a local business's e-commerce website that can will help users shopping experience, by paying close attention to how users can interact with the business for easy-to-use, quick and hassle-free purchases.
By proposing updating current information and refiguring navigational pathways Northwest Sports will be able to offer users a simple navigable site that allows for more potential business. The proposed prototype will display easy usability.
After combing through, oh, so many websites and features offered by competitive and comparative sites, this list was crafted as possible helpful features from other sites that could help Northwest Sport’s site:
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To get a better feel of what users really wanted out of their e-commerce websites and why they choose to shop online, a survey was passed around. Which led to interviews with three different people who occasionally shop for activewear online.
100% of users agreed to shopping online for convenience and easy access.
When asked why convenience and easy access was important to their shopping experience their answers started to vary. From items not found or offered locally, to easily being able to determine if a product was good based on other user reviews or getting a new previously purchased item shipped quicker. The kicker, most were willing to sacrifice their time and money to get a well-made and liked product.
From here, we asked our persona to get ready for an adventurous hiking trip by purchasing a few new products from Northwest Sports current website.
Scenario: The Hobbyist Homebody is shopping for: one medium shirt, one pair of pants size medium or 34/32, one pair of boots size 12 and a set of trekking poles.
End Results: Northwest Sports might not have had the first choice in every product our persona wanted but they did offer better prices and name brands.
After dissecting Northwest Sports old user flow, it is clear to see that their e-commerce portion of the site is working well and is not the issue for the users. The new proposed user flow is just a shortened version to help with the inputting information process for users making online purchases who might be shipping items.
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From this point in the research, it is easy to determine users are struggling the most with the navigation of Northwest Sports site. Below you can see a new proposed site map with many new paths to help break up the products offered:
Users were asked to perform one over all task on the mid-fidelity prototype; purchase a red knit woman’s top. 100% of users were able to complete this task in under a minute.
Notable changes that need addressing:
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