SMALL BLACK DOTS
By Marina Pico
LEARNING HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE E-COMMERCE “SMALL BLACK DOTS”
Our task was to analyze and identify user problems with Small Black Dots, an e-commerce vinyl record store. We aimed to empathize with both customers and the business, identifying needs and proposing improvements or solutions to enhance user navigation and stakeholder sales.
Initially, we faced challenges in understanding the importance of crafting a problem statement. The team decided to conduct competitor analysis followed by a Heuristics assessment.
Personally, I felt a bit frustrated because my team members were more focused on improvements without a clear problem statement. Towards the end of the project, during a discussion with Mica (our teacher from Ironhack), he emphasized the need for this crucial element to guide us towards improvements.
We eventually formulated a Problem Statement: Users encounter frustration on the Small Black Dots website while purchasing from the eclectic vinyl selection. Sales process errors cause delays, hindering efficient navigation, disrupting the user’s experience, and impacting their ability to explore and purchase vinyl records seamlessly.
We learned that Small Black Dots caters to DJs, according to the stakeholder Nick. The e-commerce audience consists of collectors of underground electronic music, mainly playing in clubs globally. The emphasis on shipping in advertisements addresses customers’ concerns about the condition of vinyl records upon delivery.
Our team, consisting of Conor, Haifa, Eiffie, and myself (Marina), established daily tasks. Initially challenging to understand, we delved into Small Black Dots and its competitors, later exploring different e-commerce models, such as La Casa del Libro. Despite initial difficulties in alignment, we successfully tackled the project.
We felt pressure to complete tasks due to differing approaches within the team. Stakeholder interview instructions were not clear, leading to time wastage in decision-making. Despite occasional frustration and time constraints, we decided to relax, acknowledging that failure is acceptable.
Sometimes there was a constant feeling of frustration and time was running out. And the teacher tried to be open and friendly about our decision, but at some point I talked to him and expressed that I needed time to be alone and rethink everything and then I talked to align myself with the team.
It was difficult to trust in the process and the way we created a door away from obstacles. At the end we said “ we need to relax and just to it and if we failed it´s okey.” Fail it until you make it hahaha ;)…
Despite occasional frustration and time constraints, we decided to relax, acknowledging that failure is acceptable. Small Black Dots, with its minimalist approach, intrigued us.
We analyzed the website’s flow, comparing it with other e-commerce sites using the Nielsen Heuristic Evaluation.
User Control and Freedom
The website provides a basic level of control, but does not provide additional functionality and information for features like Undo, Redo.
Error Prevention
The website has Error Prevention prompts in place, but they are not present throughout each page (at Login page but not Payment).
Recognition rather than Recall
Breadcrumbs are present on Payment pages, but not throughout the website.
Help users Recognise, Diagnose, and Recover from Errors
Present in minor instances but it doesn’t give you solutions. Help popups display in red for certain actions, but not for every required field (for example: payment page).
Help and Documentation
Lacking Help page or Tool Tip indicators
In the digital landscape, users often encounter challenges when interacting with websites, grappling with issues that range from vague error messages to a lack of guidance on how to navigate and recover from errors. And that why we decide to improve some stuff in the website, like the pop ups and the error messages to help the user to navigate easly.
And then I made a list of competitors by items, price, etc…
Its very important to understand e- commerce market and try to apply come improve with good practices we saw on the competitors. And obviously respect the values of our e- commerce.
We made some purpose of moodboard, I created this:
While my initial proposal was not entirely adopted, I learned to accept team decisions. This project taught me valuable lessons about embracing failure and working effectively in a team.
My experience and knowledge
In this project with an e-commerce was very hard in different ways, one: I was not used to being this kind of student that does’t know anything or have that kind of insecure of myself. Now I can accept that sometimes you only need to try and failed very quickly and wake up and keep going.
Two: I always choose my team and this team or school I couldn’t and was stressful to trust in the process when we didn’t know each others but I learned a lot of my behavior under deadline stress. And I appologized when I felt that I need it.
Three: I could talked with my team about how to improve our process at the school and how to express that we need more guidance with some technical tools. Because we know that the sentence in Ironhack is Learning by doing, but at some point we need certainty with the studies about UX /UI.
Thank you so much for reading me and trust in my work, I’m doing my best :)!
