Case study · Eden Garden
Introduction
Eden Garden is a fictional garden supplies store located in East London. They want to have online presence without losing the ‘small shop’ appeal and the great customer service.
The company doesn’t offer online services, actually, this need is not covered in the area. This is causing the loss of some clients and reduces the probability of getting new ones, because those who need an online service buy from big companies even though they would rather buy local.
The solution is the creation of a new e-commerce site that respects the brand image will mantain current customers and attract new.
Competitive analysis
Two local business in the area and three big companies were included in the competitive analysis. The first revelation was that none of the small companies offer an online service. This study also showed two fundamental qualities that the new Eden Garden website should include: the image and proximity of small companies and the reliability and good service of the big companies.
The key is to preserve the image of the small companies whilst offering the same services and reliability big companies offer.
In order to build trust and confidence, the website would provide information about the shop and the professionals who work there, as well as the possibility of contact them for advice or help. It also needs an easy checkout process and options like ‘Click and collect’ to satisfy the demandings of customers who like the contact with people at the shop but want to have a control over time and resources.
User research
The personas provided by the client were Yoshi, Max and Robert. All of them with different backgrounds but similar requirements. They don’t trust the customer service, they like to buy local and they are impatient and demanding.
One potential user with the same characteristics was interviewed. He stated he doesn’t buy local as much as he would like because he doesn’t have the opportunity of doing it online.
“I prefer to buy online but I don’t have the option of buying online from small shops and I don’t trust the service of big companies.”
Scenario:
Robert loves plants, so his boyfriend gave him a beautiful plant for his birthday. A few weeks later, Robert sees the plant looks sick, so he checkes the leaves and he observes small black dots on them. Worried, he calls the shop here he knows the plant come from, but he doesn’t get any useful information for them. Robert feels disappointed and won’t buy there anymore, he wishes he could find a shop where the professionals were reliable and help him take care of his beloved plants.
Prototype
The prototype should show the whole process of purchasing a product, with a clear and easy to follow path. Useful information about the product should be displayed at any time, as well as contact information.
The first sketches were made to solve three main problems:
Navigation: The users think it’s difficult to find the products they are looking for without wasting time. A card sorting has been done with different users in order to determine the best structure and navigation system for the site.
Build trust: The users become loyal when they see the shop as a group of accessible professionals and not as a company that doesn’t care about their needs. Help and advice buttons and information will be available from every page.
Schedule a shipment: The users want to know when their orders are going to arrive, and they also would like to pick the order in store occasionally.
Test
The user testing revealed the prototype should reduce the amount of clicks to reach the different products and include new features, like store checker, social sharing buttons, ratings and reviews and sections like ‘recently viewed’ and ‘related products’.
The changes were applied and the users expressed satisfaction after the last iteration.
Prototype
Find the clickable prototype here and follow the path to buy a wheelbarrow:
Next steps
The next steps would be the implementation of the payment methods, the development of new prototypes for more scenarios and tasks and new rounds of user testing.
Also the development of new pages, like ‘About’ and ‘Advice’, where tips and frequent questions would be available. In addition, the option of ordering products that are not on the website should be available.
