Client Name
Mirror
Role
Brand Identity
Research
Interface Design
Usability Testing
Timeline
4 weeks
Shopping in store is so 2019
Mirror has a very strong brick-and-mortar presence, but has not established a strong digital presence. Their current web site is informational only, and they recognize the need to venture into online sales to respond to customer demand and assist in clearing excess inventory. Mirror would also like to update their logo to a more modern, clean and fresh new look.
With over 400 locations in 32 countries, Mirror caters to all ages, sizes and occasions, and offers good quality and low prices, allowing consumers to change their personal style easily as trends come and go.
Mirror is a fictional company for a DesignLab UX Academy project
Who, what, why?
I performed an in-depth competitive analysis as well as user research via 21 survey respondents and 3 in-person interviews to address the following questions:
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How are close competitors navigating the online space?
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What drives a shopper to purchase online as opposed to in-store, or, conversely, in-store as opposed to online?
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How do consumers use their current go-to shopping site?
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What are their pain points or positive experiences?
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How do users navigate a site to best find desired items?
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How do consumers best respond to sale messaging?
What did we learn?
In-Store Shopping
Benefits
Try things on
Instant gratification
Easy returns
Online Shopping
Benefits
Convenience + time saving
Ease of finding specific items
Sale + clearance
57%
shop on
mobile
Must Haves for
Online Shopping
Mobile friendly
Sales + rewards programs
Easy to navigate
Introducing...our VIP
Lindsay Jones, a busy working mom, informed many of the decisions made regarding the Mirror web site, including simple navigation and filters, easy access to customer service functions, and the bright, family-friendly UI design.
What's the end goal?
Keeping in mind results of competitive and user research, as well as the wants and needs of the client, I outlined overall project goals.
What goes where
Remember our VIP, Lindsay? She doesn’t want to hunt for information. She wants what she’s looking for to be sorted in an organized manner. I talked to our users to learn what makes the most sense to them.
Limited Card Sort
4 participants, all female, from age 16 - 75
Goal: would participants keep simple categories, such as “tops”, “bottoms” or into groupings such as “work wear” or “active wear”?
Results
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One participant sorted strictly by item type
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Three participants sorted by occasion-based categories
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Both groupings are important!
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Mid fidelity wireframes
Before I could focus on the fun part of making the site look pretty, I had to focus on making it functional.
What's it going to look like?
The mood board reflected a fun, playful style that could appeal to kids and their parents but wouldn’t isolate adult shoppers.
Branding + Style Tile
Mirror branding is fun and family-friendly. Bright, bold colors are offset by a modern san-serif font and casual “everyday people” photo styling.
Desktop - UI Design
By applying my branding and styles to the mid fidelity wireframes, I created an interface that is fresh, fun, and easy to navigate. Visit the live prototype here.
Mobile usability, please
Research clearly indicated that mobile is king, across all age ranges, with 57% of survey respondents stating they primarily shop on mobile. A mobile site that is simple to use is a necessity for Mirror users.
What did everyone think?
Usability testing was conducted via Maze with 6 participants. Overall, feedback from users was positive. Some concerns came up regarding the shopping bag confirmation screen and mobile filters. I made several changes to the UI design based on user feedback.
Revision
Revision
Revision
Revision
How did we do?
After user and competitve research, developing a persona and user flows, structured information architecture, brand development...did we accomplish the company and customer goals?
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User-friendly site design
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Easy to search filters
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Clear excess inventory / Bargain hunting for sale and clearance items
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Modernize logo and customer experience
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One-stop-shop for all members of the family
Mirror has a strong starting point to enter the retail ecommerce space - they’ve created a positive experience for their existing shoppers and can better compete to gain new ones.