Jessalyn Westphall
City Grows: Designing an eCommerce Experience Catering to the Conscious Researcher
Role: UX Designer Timeline: Two Weeks
Problem
Sometimes you just want the option to order online...
City Grows is a local business in Pittsburgh, PA, that boasts two unique locations in the city. It offers a fantastic variety of house plants, pots, soils, and even promotes other local businesses within their walls. However, it lacks the option to purchase from their website. So the challenge was to create an eCommerce site for City Grows that caters to their most common customer archetype: the Conscious Researcher.
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A Conscious Researcher is someone who places high importance on the mission of the company and needs to know how the product will directly benefit them. They need to believe in what they are buying.
"Conscious Researchers need to know how the product will benefit them in order to trust the company and its products so that they can feel confident that the product is right for them."
Solution
Utilizing reviews, pictures, and informative content I was able to successfully design a site that conscious researchers trust.
Reviews & Pictures
On the homepage, pictures and reviews are easily accessible and aid in creating trust in the company.
Mission Statement
Front and center is all about City Grows. Having who they are and what they stand for on the homepage will increase confidence in the brand and answer broad questions that the user may have.
Simple Process
100% of users reported that they felt the process would take less than 2 minutes to complete. Simplicity is key when most checkout pages are the main point of drop-off in users.
User Interviews
Who did I interview?
I interviewed six people who fit the conscious researcher archetype and asked them questions about their online shopping habits.
Interview Questions:
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What websites do you commonly use for online shopping and why?
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What was something that frustrated you about ordering online, especially if it was a plant?
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What features do you find to be the most helpful when ordering online?
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Does the ethos of a company play a role in what you order? If so, explain how you connect with a brand.
Main Insights
Compiling interview data, I discovered that people want to leverage the information that is already out there to help with their confidence in a product and the company as a whole.
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1. Reviews, Reviews, Reviews: Reviews were the number one most leveraged feature on a site. Conscious Researchers even go to outside sources for reviews to be better informed about a product.
“Why not put an honest review?”
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2. Pictures Worth a Thousand Words: Pictures are greatly desired for an online plant shop. They want to know that the plant they get looks like the picture they ordered it from.
“I expect to see a lot of visuals”
3. Mission Statements: Mission Statements can help persuade a customer even if the product isn’t one they absolutely need. The product’s “story” can be enough motivation.
“I might buy something I don’t need for a worthy cause.”
“The Why and the Way is just as important as the product itself”
4. “Keep It Simple”: Users want a simple site. More often than not, they are bombarded with information and can get overwhelmed easily.
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"There is a thing as too much information"
Additional Research Methods
Competitive Analysis
Finding what works and what doesn't for competitors.
Affinity Mapping
Taking notes and creating groupings to find themes from research.
Personas
Help create empathy and keep designs focused on the target audience.
Card Sorting
Discovering the natural organization of information & how it should be displayed.
Design Choices + Testing
The idea was to create an eCommerce site that utilizes certain features to its advantage. That way the Conscious Researcher is made aware of the company's mission, whether or not they can trust the company, and how simple it is to order a product.
100% of users mentioned utilizing reviews in one form or another. 50% of those users said it was inconvenient to hunt those reviews down.
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Based upon the collected data, I proposed to add:
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Mission Statements & Store History on the homepage.
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Reviews on homepage so users can see them easily
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Easy to see navigation bar, no hamburger menu.
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80% of competitors used a navigation bar, those who used hamburger menus displayed difficulties with maneuverability.
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Checkout Page that takes ~2 minutes to complete.
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Based off of six users completing a Usability Test, I discovered that a few changes had to be made before the product could be released.
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Added a search bar for convenience
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Moved the "Leave a Review" button higher up on the page. 70% of users found it hard to locate.
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Users suggested adding names to the recommended products on the product pages.
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Added a ? icon in the footer next to the socials to access an FAQ page.
Final Pages
The Final Product
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By implementing this product, City Grows will be able to increase their sales, customer reach, as well as appeal to the Conscious Researcher.
You Can Find the Full Figma File Here
Next Steps
What I Want to Build Upon...
1. Personalization: In continuing to grow the site for City Grows, I would start by adding more personalization to the site. Expanding upon the profile to have more than a saved card and shipping information by possibly creating a feature to save favorite plants as well as badges, certificates, and a virtual plant library.
2. Curated Plant Guides: I would also begin to implement automatic attachments with orders. Customers could have the option to include PDFs of care guides for the plants that they purchased.
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3. Returnability: Utilizing a service design flow, I would work with the owners of City Grow to curate a return feature for the products sold on the website. 90% of users mentioned that being able to return items made them more confident in purchasing from a company.