Maynooth Furniture
This was my first web design prototype.
The project was a part of the Udemy course User Experience Design Essentials – Adobe Xd UI/UX Design by Daniel Walter Scott that I took in 2020.
The course includes a persona and a sample project brief. The goal is to apply what I learned by creating a website mockup. At that time, I did not have any background about the UX process so this project is more about tool familiarity (Adobe Xd) and User Interface design
Persona
Project Brief
Design Process
As mentioned, I did not have any UX background by then so I did not know about User Research. I focused mainly on the layout, look and feel, and the micro-interactions of the prototype. I did, however did the following in order to come up with the final design:
- Checked other furniture and e-commerce websites to learn how they normally group and present the categories and how they did the information architecture and the flow of their websites
www.ikea.com, www.dfs.co.uk, www.habitat.co.uk, www.amazon.com, www.ebay.com, www.etsy.com - Consulted with long-time web developers and designers in my network to get their feedback on the design and iterated it as needed
The Output
Aside from the course requirements, I added the following sections/features:
Delivery Tracking
Providing the status of an order gives a sense of safety and trust between the customer and the company.
Inspiration and Favorites
Based on the persona who uses Pinterest, I designed it so that the Inspiration/Ideas section can be saved on her “favorites”. This can help collect her ideas and her visualize how it may look like on her own home. She can also go back to favorites her list whenever she is ready to purchase.
Style Guide
I have also added a Style Guide section since the persona likes to browse for them online. This makes the website a go-to place for home styling inspiration and advice aside from being an online store.
Shop by Room
I found that this is one of the most common and practical ways to group and organize information/products amongst the other websites I looked into. This makes it easier to navigate and browse for products when a user doesn’t know where to start.
Product Page - Variations/Options
Presenting the product’s different variations (colors, material, size, etc.) in a single page will help the users see all available options without having to open different pages/tabs.
Product Page - Reviews
Product reviews have been proven to improve customer loyalty and trust. It provides social proof to potential customers and encourage interaction with existing ones. It will also help the business understand customer satisfaction and identify things for improvement.
Recommendations & Takeaways
Sharing Photos - Inspiration Ideas
Allow members to share their personal photos of the products they purchased and how they styled their own homes to the Inspiration section. This can promote a sense of community and boost the repeat website visitors by making it a go-to place to check out home styling trends and ideas.
Live Chat Support
Having Live Chat improves the experience of users. It gives regular and potential customers an easy way to get in touch if they have issues or questions they can’t address on their own.
Product Comparison
This will allow customers to compare different products based on their needs and requirements and help them make better purchasing decisions
Multiple Payment Options
Users appreciate it when you meet their preferred payment method. It makes transactions convenient which improves overall user experience and can increase customer conversions.
User Testing
Later on, when I took a UX Bootcamp, I realized the importance of doing user testing. I would have tested it with users matching the persona and got insights that could improve the experience.
Accessibility
When I chose the colors, layout, effects and font I did not consider users with visual disability. With accessible and inclusive design, Maynooth can expand their products and services to more potential customers