Her Velvet Vase
A Singapore based e-commerce platform for women's fashion
team
Emma, Joycelyn, Rakeeza, Stephanie,
Sylvia, Wardah
role
User research,
wireframing & prototyping,
usability testing
timeline
background
Her Velvet Vase has been around for ten years, starting as an online-only retail shop targeting women in their mid-20s to 30s. Pre-covid, they focused on extending their online business into physical stores. As for now, they are focusing more on improving their online store experience to make it more seamless for their customers. Besides enhancing their SEO to increase website traffic, they implemented some changes based on feedback they received through surveys on Instagram and best practices found online.
4 weeks
problem
How might we improve the user experience for the customers to reduce cart abandonment?
empathize
What to find out
To discover how we could improve the site, we defined the focus of what we wanted to understand from the users, which are :
Drop off
Where they decide to drop off
What made them abandon their purchase
Motivation
What they like about Her Velvet Vase
What made them purchase
How to find out
Competitive Analysis
The client gave us the list of online blog shops they consider a competitor based on the demography. So we decided to review and see where Her Velvet Vase stands between them.
Commonality
All of them have the same minimalist aesthetic and neutral colours. They all provide restock and backorder features.
Opportunity
Her Velvet Vase could build brand loyalty by focusing on differentiators, e.g. moodboxes and exclusive prints.
Google Analytics
From the data that the client provided from their Google Analytics report, we gathered these insights :
Mobile web
More than 80% of users access the website through their mobile phones.
Product pages
The highest drop-off rate and bounce rate mainly occurred on product pages.
User Interview
We asked nine users to guide us through their previous journey browsing and purchasing from Her Velvet Vase or any other online store and also asked open-ended questions about their motivation and reason to purchase and not purchase.
Good Quality
Promotions
Rewards
Motivation
Pretty Design
Floral Prints
Referral
Behaviour
1. Visit sale and new in section the most
2. Compare the products from the same brand or other brands
3. ​Check on the material, size and fit at the offline store before purchase
"I'll try to make sure I'm not making an impulsive decision. I'll visit the store 2 - 3 times before shopping online and picking it up at the store."
Usability Testing
We asked users to go through the website and express their thoughts about the site, the features, and how they completed the task.
At the end of the interview and usability testing, we asked users to rate 10 SUS statements from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). We calculated the final score by averaging nine users' SUS scores.
"I am a simple person; this website is too difficult on the phone. Too many filters."
conceptualise
What are the main issues
To help us identify the most prominent theme, we put all the information gathered into an affinity map. Then we further analyse the users' behaviours and attitudes with an empathy map and user journey map.
"If there are too many texts, I would not read them unless it's something important, such as: Made from recycled materials or You make donations with every purchase."
design
How to solve the problem
Considering the high percentage of mobile users based on Google Analytics data, we suggested designing the wireframe for the mobile view to the client.
Homepage
The lengthy homepage discouraged people from scrolling to the bottom of the page. Hence we suggested having homepage length reduced and improve the copywriting.
Top Picks instead of Your Favourite Designs to prevent misunderstanding
Our Philosophy is removed. Users didn't find it important on the homepage
Shop Category is removed from the homepage. Users would access it directly from the menu instead
Search & Filter
Regarding filtering after search, most users were overwhelmed by the uncategorised size filter, so we suggested that it should show the related sizing system depending on the category users picked instead of showing all.
Filter and sort on top instead of at the bottom for a better hierarchy
Pick the category first
Then related sizing is shown
Added the "apply" button, which previously is missing
Shopping bag
The users found it frustrating to search through the product list repeatedly whenever they changed their minds and eventually stopped purchasing. Users can save a lot of time and hassle by allowing users to edit their bags before buying.
Easily change the size, color, and quantity in the shopping bag
.png)
The final chance to edit shopping bag before payment is made
Check out
As we were testing the site's usability, we found that most new users misclicked when checking out as a guest. Hence we suggested changing to a button.
Users mistook the header as the clickable link
A button instead of a link will make it easier to distinguish
result
We conducted an online usability testing on ten users via maze and 10 SUS statements were rated.
Website's score
Prototype's score
63.3
vs
95.2
50%
SUS Score increase
"The team highlighted several areas we had missed out on but were important to our objectives and gave suggestions that were both very relevant and easy to implement."
- Clare Chan, co-founder of Her Velvet Vase
Where we can improve
We didn't evaluate which features to prioritize for the client to implement, which may leave the client feeling overwhelmed. It would have been better if we had narrowed it down to those features that were easy to implement and would provide the client with the most value.
What next
Our team suggested that the client review the shipping and return policy. Unfortunately, because of its inconvenience, some users consider the purchase non-returnable. This might be a contributing factor to dropoffs.