Abigail UX Blog

(Part 2 of 2 for this topic!)

Not going to lie, these took me a while. I know they can be improved, so I’m really looking forward to any feedback I can gather here.

Research

From my survey, I knew that easy check out was the second most important aspect of online shopping for the users (following product categorization). After 31 responses, 41.9% product categorization while 38.7% selected easy check out, so it was a close second.

Another question in the survey asked users if they use PayPal in online shopping. With the average demographic of this survey being in the low 20s, I anticipated this question to be mostly yes, however, 35.5% of users said yes, and 6.5% of users said sometimes.

As I said in my prior post, I spent a lot of time evaluating the current way users complete the task at hand, which is Etsy. Looking at the check out process in Etsy heavily impacted my decisions for these pages.

Decision Making

Looking through Etsy’s process helped me discover what users have adapted to and used thus far. When speaking with customers and the owner, the check out for Etsy didn’t propose much concern, so the designs below are actually pretty similar to the Etsy model.

When I think “easy check out,” I think about it being quick and simple. So that’s what I tried to accomplish. The icons show users that there are only 1-3 steps left in the process, so it’s going to be quick. I also included an indicator (down carrot) to make it super clear what stage users are in.

In terms of payment, the owner was hoping that PayPal could be the only option for check out since that’s easy on the back end. However, users responded saying that many of them don’t use PayPal, so that helped me decide to add another form of payment, credit card.

The survey responses reassured me that this process should be as simple as possible. I hope I’ve created that below!

(Part 1 of 2 for this topic!)

Not going to lie, these took me a while. I know they can be improved, so I’m really looking forward to any feedback I can gather here.

Research

From my survey, I knew that easy check out was the second most important aspect of online shopping for the users (following product categorization). After 31 responses, 41.9% product categorization while 38.7% selected easy check out, so it was a close second.

Another question in the survey asked users if they use PayPal in online shopping. With the average demographic of this survey being in the low 20s, I anticipated this question to be mostly yes, however, 35.5% of users said yes, and 6.5% of users said sometimes. 

As I said in my prior post, I spent a lot of time evaluating the current way users complete the task at hand, which is Etsy. Looking at the check out process in Etsy heavily impacted my decisions for these pages.

Decision Making

Looking through Etsy’s process helped me discover what users have adapted to and used thus far. When speaking with customers and the owner, the check out for Etsy didn’t propose much concern, so the designs below are actually pretty similar to the Etsy model.

When I think “easy check out,” I think about it being quick and simple. So that’s what I tried to accomplish. The icons show users that there are only 1-3 steps left in the process, so it’s going to be quick. I also included an indicator (down carrot) to make it super clear what stage users are in.

In terms of payment, the owner was hoping that PayPal could be the only option for check out since that’s easy on the back end. However, users responded saying that many of them don’t use PayPal, so that helped me decide to add another form of payment, credit card.

The survey responses reassured me that this process should be as simple as possible. I hope I’ve created that below!

Below are the wireframes that coordinate with this company’s “custom” category and sample cards for any category. A large part of this business is the concept that any card can be customized and that you can create your own custom card from a clean slate. That aspect played a huge role in my decision making.

Research

Part of my research was evaluating how the users currently get the product. For this business, it’s through four separate listings on Etsy. After interviewing the owner and users, I discovered one of the key problems with the current set up in Etsy is that users found the customizable aspect confusing.

The four listings are set up to steer users and help inspire their custom card, however, the customer isn’t able to simply order one of the pictured samples. They always have to customize the card, which many people don’t feel like doing. To solve this problem, I’ve categorized sample cards by occasion. In each occasion, users can find sample cards that are for sale but can still be customized (add a name, change the color, etc.).

To confirm that users even cared about having the option to edit sample cards, I surveyed them and asked if they’d ever want to add a name or additional info to a card that’s already been designed. Out of 31 responses, 93.5% of users said yes!

Design Decisions

The research led me to include a text box on the wireframes for each sample card, however, it also helped shape this landing page!

One problem with the current design of this business’s Etsy listings is that users have to come up with a custom design from scratch! Unless the user is creative or already has a quote/design in mind, many users may find this to be intimidating, so they’ll move on to another Etsy listing.

To solve this, I’ve included four images in this landing page. After further research/feedback, I may find that even more examples could be useful, but I went with four for now. The goal here is to give users a starting point and inspire them to think of what they’d like to see on a card.

Another aspect of this category page that differs from the rest is that there’s longer copy. I felt that adding copy to clarify the process would help users feel more confident in choosing this method of ordering - another strategy to solving the problem stated above.

Feedback

Drop your feedback below please!! I’m really hoping to get a comment or two through this process to help with building the portfolio :)

Hi All!

Below are the home landing page and category landing page for “Custom Cards by Abigail,”a cards business that is currently using Etsy. 

Research

After initial user research through the company’s Instagram page (polls and a survey taken by 31 users), we know that the users would rather use a website vs Etsy. We also know that product categorization is the most important aspect to the users and they care less about the “about” section of a website. The second most valued feature is easy check out. 

Some other notable research is that 64.5% of users are 18 - 25 years old and 80.6% are female. The majority of users are located in the Northeast US, where the company’s owner is from. 

When asked what kind of cards users shop for the most, they selected birthday cards followed by thank you cards, congratulatory cards, greeting cards and then sympathy cards.

I’ll share more research as I post additional wireframes of other pages!

Design Decisions

Through my research, I’ve made design decisions to reflect users preferences. First of all, 11/11 users responded to a poll saying they would prefer a website to Etsy, which kicked off this whole process.

With product categorization being extremely important to users, I decided to include the product categories as a horizontal menu bar, leaving out an About category or a Contact Us category. With those areas being less important to the user, they are linked together in a “Letter from Abigail” page (link at bottom of every page). 

The categories (after the home page labeled as “New”) are in the order of most to least shopped, according to the user survey.

Feedback

This is where you guys come in! I’d greatly appreciate any feedback on these two pages. I’ll be posting more wireframes soon for this project! 

Thanks in advance for the help!

I’m an aspiring, self-trained UX designer. I’ll be posting any wireframes or more high fidelity prototypes I have for my UX/UI design portfolio. 

I’m really looking to gather some feedback, so drop some comments on how you feel about the designs and their usability!