E-commerce
UI redesign concept
The Brief
Amazon is the world's largest online retailer, enjoyed by hundreds of millions of people. Their broad range of goods and services, and commitment to enhancing the customer experience, has allowed the company to amass its great success. Despite this, I’ve noticed through some research that customers have mixed feelings about Amazon’s user interface. Whilst many praise the interface and attest to the sentiment ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’, others insist that it is in need of a renovation.
I wanted to challenge myself by reimagining Amazon’s iPhone app, using the guidance of both the positive and negative experiences reported by its users. In the end, I hope to design a prototype which could bring satisfaction to all users.
The Design Process
Online data
Competitor analysis
Survey and interview
User persona
Customer journey map
User flow map
Wire frames
User testing
First hi-fi prototype
Second hi-fi prototype
Future designs
Reflection
1. Learn
2. Hypothesise
3. Prototype
4. Test
5. Finalise
1. Learn
In order to determine which changes should and shouldn’t be made, I collected user input from the review section of Amazon’s Australian app.
I then collected input from user reviews of other, competing retailers, including Alibaba, TradeMe and eBay. I then created an affinity diagram to identify existing trends.
Doing this allowed me to gain insight on the common wants and pains of people who shop with online retailers.
Online data and competitor analysis
*Affinity diagram of the general experiences of and observations made by users when shopping with popular retail apps*
Survey
Next, I conducted a survey where I could follow up on some specific questions I had about user interfaces for retail apps and Amazon.
Through this survey, I wanted to gain a deeper understanding of what online shoppers value, and which areas would be maintained or improved.
I found that many of the interviewees emphasised the importance of their shopping apps being simple and easy to navigate. Apps which were overcomplicated and unintuitive were harder to navigate and less likely to be trusted.
With the data gathered from this survey and the findings presented in the affinity diagram, I felt I had a strong basis to move forward with a user persona.
5 participants
5 questions
Q: What is your favourite app to shop on online? Why?
Jack: Mighty Ape
Q: What is your least favourite app that you have shopped on online? Why?
Ella: Gumtree because it is overcomplicated
Q: What do you value most when shopping online?
Annalise: That I can trust the place to give me what I want
Q: What helps build your trust when shopping from an app?
Kevin: If the company has a good reputation. Also a clean UI that is straightforward to navigate
Q: When navigating Amazon's app, what do you DISLIKE about the interface?
George: unintuitive and unattractive design makes it hard to navigate sometimes
2. Hypothesise
User persona:
Zoe is an avid shopper. She loves the ease of online shopping. She is slightly impulsive, and can be drawn in by things that are presented to her in an appealing way. She is young, so she is familiar with the world of online shopping; websites to trust and details to look out for. She can quickly lose interest and patience if something doesn’t give her a sense of security or immediately provide her with the information she is looking for.
Name: Zoe Marks
Age: 21
Location: New Zealand
Occupation: Student
Character traits:
- Impulsive
- Tech-savvy
- Careful
- Clever
Interests:
- Shopping
- Shoes
- Makeup
- Sales
Frustrations:
Goals:
- To discover cool, new things to buy.
- To enjoy the ease of online shopping.
- To follow/keep up to date with trends.
- To find many different products so she can compare and decide the best deal.
- Amazon’s website/services replicate older, outdated interfaces.
- The filtering and suggestions don’t always appeal to her interests (stock availability, categories, country)
- The interface can be difficult to navigate.
Zoe's Empathy Map:
Says
Thinks
Why are they showing me things I can't buy?
I love sales!
I need this!
What's in fashion right now?
Where should I shop?
Feels
Does
Nevermind, it's out of stock
What do I need to know about this product?
I'm not sure if I can trust that this product will be the standard I want.
What do the reviews say?
Oh, it doesn't ship to my country.
Searches for things to buy
Searches for sales
Browses regularly on lots of websites
Is quick to purchase when she really likes something
Gives up when a website is difficult to navigate.
Sceptical
Excited
Fearful
Impatient
Curious
Customer Journey Map:
Scenario:
Zoe wants to buy a new phone. She's a student, so she is eager to compare a wide range of models and websites in order to maximise the quality of her purchase whilst remaining within her budget.
Expectations:
- Simple and intuitive UI
- Insightful information on the online products, their availabilities and delivery.
- Ability to compare and sort through products.
- Reliable customer support.
- Trust in the website.
Awareness
Consideration
Purchase
Service
Needs to buy a new phone.
Browses a number of websites with a number of products.
Checks for sales and deals.
Looks at reviews.
Selects her preferred product.
Inputs information and makes purchase.
Receives delivery details and awaits arrival. Receives prompt and friendly customer service during this time, and can expect support if product doesn't meet her standards.
"I like the look of this one!"
"It's here! Hooray!"
"Where are the sales?
"I need a new phone!"
"What is happening with the delivery?"
"How much money do I have? I will need to set a budget."
User flow
3. Prototype
Requirements for the new design
With the data collected, I formulated a brief which determined what needed to be changed in order for the proposed Amazon design to be considered a success:
1. Simple and easy to navigate.
1. Ensure the design replicates the navigation process of most retail apps (Jakob’s law).
– Cart placed in upper right corner.
– Categories, deals and saved are shown on the home page.
– ‘Sort by’ located at top of search page, by the filter button.
2. Reduce the cognitive load.
– Increase amount of white space throughout design.
3. Consistency
– Appearance of buttons, items and features remain consistent throughout the design.
2. User can easily manage country and currency settings.
1. Reduce touches it takes to choose store.
– ‘Select store’ feature available on home page.
2. Reduce touches for country and currency settings.
– Country and currency settings found in profile.
3. Show relevant items to shopper.
1. Show items which are in stock as a default.
– User can change this in filter process.
2. Only show items which deliver to address as a default setting.
– User can update this in country settings.
