Timeless Island Visions
E-commerce Redesign
THE PROJECT
The Company
Timeless Island Visions is actually two local gift and souvenir shops owned by Ft. Meyers metal artist Steve, and his wife. Together, they create quality handcrafted steampunk decorations and jewelry. The couple has also supported their community by sell art and photography from central Florida based artists.
The Objective
Like most small owned businesses, Steve and his wife were hit hard by the lockdown during COVID. To stay open, Steve had started creating a site, but found he lacked the time and knowledge of how to set up a site for both shops.​
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I was all to happy to come aboard this project; eager to help a couple of small town heroes who have done so much for the town of Ft. Meyers.
TIMELINE
July 2023
(2 weeks)
THE TEAM
Shannon Austin
PROJECT TYPE
Solo
Speculative
THE PROBLEM
Lockdown limited in person traffic and prevented company growth.
While perusing the existing site for both stores, I noticed a vast difference between each page. Both spoke to the aesthetics of their corresponding shop, but the lack of cohesive designs were very harsh on the eyes. Along with this, the site was unfinished and did a disservice to the beautiful handcrafted items I found in their inventory. Together with the owners, we wanted to find a way to give these items the spotlight they truly deserved.
Confusing layouts for the product categories made it difficult to navigate. If we wanted to draw new traffic and retain our current customer base, I was going to have re-imagine the layout through user friendly categories without forcing customers to go down the rabbit hole.
THE SOLUTION
E-Commerce saved the small Mom and Pop industries
1. forbes.com 2. axios.com3. forbes.com
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To succeed, I developed these key features into their site:
Highlight the Process
Customers wanted to know the quality they were purchasing. We developed an about me section so customers could see Steve and other artists process when creating the products
Categorize
The hardest part for customers, is finding the right product. Through card sorting, we organized the items into labels customers would be familiar with
Return of the Lamp
Customers preferred to shop in person because it was easier to return items. We simplified the return process by placing call to action buttons for returns in the order history and multiple option for the return process
Service Please!
Majority of the users we interviewed, preferred to shop in person so they could speak to someone directly. We added a contact area and the company number to each order for any questions
ANALYZING THE COMPETITION
Small Town Owners, means less hands your product has to pass through to get to you
Analysis of some of our main competitors showed us areas where we could leverage our small town owned business over larger companies like Amazon who shipped from multiple manufacturers.​
Takeaways
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Large sites allowed for accounts, most required a monthly fee
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Product Warranties were dependent upon original manufacturer
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Exchanges were allowed on limited items or based on seller
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Shipping times varied by seller
UNDERSTANDING THE USER
Most people didn't care about the price tag when searching for the right gift. They just wanted quality
After seeing the beneficial impact e-commerce had on other small businesses, I interviewed 5 local shoppers to determine their habits when shopping for a gift. I focused on areas such as:
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How often they were purchasing gifts?
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What were there frustrations with the online shopping process?
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What were some of the key factors they looked for when purchasing for someone else in mind?
I also sent an open card sort to over 10 shoppers with a list of products sold in Steve's stores. I took the 11 most common categories chosen by the shoppers to divide and organize our sites products.
Winry - "The Doting Grandma"
User Story
"Hi, I'm Winry, I'm 70 years old, a grandmother to four and a great grandmother of six. I love to spoil my family when I can, I believe that a good gift is not about the price, but the memories it can invoke in your loved ones."
Frustrations
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Customer service is so confusing, no one wants to talk to each other anymore.
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Large sites have too many items and too many categories, I just use the search bar when I'm on Amazon.
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It's either pouring cats and dogs or boiling hot in Florida, I wish companies would give you a better way to track packages so my gifts won't get ruined.
Edward - "The Introverted Bargain Hunter"
User Story
"Hey, I'm Edward, I'm 40 years old, a programmer and single. I'm a connoisseur of talking piece decorations for my home and a gamer in my spare time. I'd rather spend time with my family and friends instead of wasting time running from store to store to find the perfect gift. I'm always down for a good deal, especially on quality items. I prefer to look at prices and reviews before purchasing something. I have been known to drive over an hour to pick up something I really love."
Frustrations
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Hard to tell on large sites if the reviews are legit.
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Wants to support business that are active in the community
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Prefers sites that show they have expert knowledge in their products. Large e-commerce sites that sell everything make him question the items quality
BREAKING DOWM THE PROCESS
Highlighting how the products are made, increased confidence in our gift givers' choice of quality gifts
To get into our Persona's mindset, I researched what motivates buyers to purchase art and niche products.(i.e.. Steampunk décor and souvenirs)
In an article on LinkedIn, Dirk Zadra discussed the effects of Psychologist Maslow's Universal needs pyramid and how it influences what we feel compelled to buy.
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Zadra, and indirectly, Maslow, explained that three main needs drive a buyers motivations when making purchase choices.
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Love/Belonging: Buyers want to feel connected to a community through their purchases.
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Esteem: Buyers want to feel respected by their peers. This can be achieved by having access to highly sought-after limited items. It also comes through gaining expert knowledge and building networks with like-minded individuals.
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Self-actualization: This was especially important for our gift givers as I discovered in my User Interviews. This need is more spiritually or empathy driven. It speaks to the customers desire to connect on a deeper level with others by purchasing items for others that will invoke fond memories.
Article on LinkedIn,
MAJOR LEARNINGS AND CALL OUT POINTS
Theme: Love/Belonging
Gift givers were more likely to purchase potential gifts all year round if they find something they believe a loved one will enjoy.
Them: Esteem
3 out of 5 of our Interviewees expressed their willingness to travel long distances to purchase a desired item especially if it was an exclusive deal.
Theme: Esteem
Gift givers expected to have access to exclusive items if they signed up for an account with a company.
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Bargain hunters loved the idea of exclusive items especially if they were able to purchase it at a good price.
Theme: Self Actualization
4 out of 5 of our interviewees expressed that money should not be a factor when considering a gift for someone else. They felt the focus should be on expressing their understanding of the recipient needs and interests.
DESIGN
Grinding my gears to create a brand and MVP that will speak to both stores' unique aesthetics
For the purpose of building out my Most Viable Product, I chose to focus primarily on my grandmotherly persona, Winry.
Now that I had a new crew in place, I developed three workflows that would focus on ease of navigation for our users by giving multiple options to find items and contact information should they need help.
Testing
and Iterations
Based on usability testing and feedback from 3 local shoppers, I made iterations over the a span of three days and focused on three major areas to improve the design:
Step 1: Add an Artist Blurb
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Based on usability feedback, shoppers felt it was beneficial to add an artist blurb to the product page as well as a possible link to their own sites.
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Adding an about the artist section helps the customer to feel connected and give them expert knowledge on products creation process.
Step 2: Add Tracking Number and Return policy to Receipts​​
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Feedback from my users expressed that while they appreciated the quick links to returns and tracking, adding the info directly to the order confirmation would make them feel more confident in their purchase.
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By clarifying the return policy and tracking information, I was directly addressing some of the reasons why my interviewees preferred to shop in person
Step 3: Reduce the Rabbit Hole​
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Shoppers appreciated the thoroughness of the navigation, but felt the extra dropdowns on the local navigation was redundant with all the options they had to connect to their desired product.
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As we learned from our interviews, too many navigation options can be just as confusing as not enough, causing potential buyers to drop off before completing their purchases.
Style Guide
LESSONS LEARNED
What this Project Taught me and the way forward for Timeless Island Visions
With these iteration changes, our prototype sails were now catching a strong breeze. This project confirmed my decision to become a UX Designer. Being able to advocate and support local business owners and artists is why I began this journey.
But before we pull up anchor, I want to go over some key insights I took away from this project and next steps I recommended to the Timeless Island Visions crew.
Takeaways
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The proof is in the metrics Per the research we discussed earlier about the significant increase in e-commerce businesses, we've managed to bring Steve's shops stern to stern with is competitors. This will allow Steve and his wife to reach more customers and provide more access to existing ones.
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We are Creatures of Comfort Understanding the psychology behind why people make purchases really allowed my to create a functional design that would attract the clientele that Timeless Island Visions were looking for.
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Diving into Figma This is the project that taught me the most about Figma's capabilities, I've been excited to explore this programs capabilities more, and look forward to developing more in depth designs on future projects.
Opportunities
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Improve Accessibility We live in a world populated with people from all walks of life. Someone's differences should not mean that their access to quality healthcare for their pets should suffer.
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Blogging Brings the Community Together Another way we can go further with our connection to the community and clientele, would be to add a vlog page to the site, or an interview section with some of the local artists being sold at Timeless Island Visions.
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Testing and Iterations I always recommend to retest any changes made to the site as well as implementing new iterations. Design is an ongoing process, always evolving to implement new features and remain competitive with competitors.
Thank you for reading!
For inquiries or questions,
Email me at: shannon@austinintuitivedesign.com or call me at 254-319-4794
If you'd like to check out my illustration or storyboard work, Please checkout my other site at: