UX Design/Project #3/REI re-design
Yes, I enjoy being out doors and an occasional hike. I am definitely not the one who knows how to assemble tents, rub sticks together to make a fire or kill bears. So when my assignment was to re-design REI’s website, my first thought was…”what is REI”. REI stands of Recreational Equipment Incorporated. Starting as a group of 23 mountain climbing buddies is now the nation’s largest consumer cooperative. Their passion for outdoor adventure is clear, whether you visit any of their stores across the country, call , or interact with them online. However using their website can be an overwhelming task as there are a lot products and navigational options. You can look for a pair of hiking boots in several different ways and there are loads of options for filtering. This might be a bit daunting for a user so my job was to re-design the website making it more user-friendly.
The Research
In the research phase we applied several different types of research that we learned in class. Such as Competitive and Comparative Analysis, card-sorting, Contextual Inquiry, usability testing and Heuristic Evaluation. But we first started with Screener Surveys. We asked questions like, Have you purchased any sporting or outdoor gear in the past 6 months? and Which, if any of the following sites, have you visited to purchase something in the past 6 months? We had 25 responses of those 68% were women. We also conducted Contextual Inquiries the main takeaways from these were that 1)buying habits seem to be purpose driven in terms of activity: ski-wear, camping gear or hiking gear. 2)Most shoppers were actually feeling the materials of the products, felt engaged and wanted to spend time in the store. 3)Sections are organized by activity:
- Rocks by shoe section to test mountain/rock climbing
- Chair lift style bench by skis and snowboards
- Activity center downstairs (for classes)
- Backpack/camping section: where you can get your backpack fitted.
We also did Usability Testing on the Website and Mobile site giving our Users the task of buying a pair of boots. The key findings from this was that When provided the same task, each user used a different search/navigation technique. Some went directly to the search bar, others tried landing on the product page via the navigation tabs. Users noted that things they didn’t expect to see were often found on pages, and vice versa (i.e. socks on boots page; no “add to calendar” on activities/classes page). Lastly users felt overwhelmed by the amount of filter options.
The next step in our research was the Competitive Matrix
We found that REI and EMS are closest: both retailers sell many brands, and seem to emphasize activity/adventure over products.
We also conducted a Competitive and Comparative Features Analysis where we analyzed the features across competitors and comparators to understand what REI is doing (or not doing) differently. The key findings from this were from a navigation perspective, REI offers the same features that are most common among their competition. However, they also offer additional, potentially unnecessary features: they’re the only site among competitors to have 14 different categories within just their home navigation.
We also conducted a Heuristic Evaluation which is a usability inspection method that helps to identify usability problems in the user interface design.
The main takeaway from this was that Experience across mobile and desktop is inconsistent (i.e. the “women’s” section on desktop includes an entire drop-down menu that does not show exist on mobile).
The navigation bar on the homepage is cluttered, redundant and overwhelming to users.
We also did some Card Sorting Three rounds: closed, open, closed, with 7 users per round.
A closed card sort is when the participants are given the categories to group the cards in, and an open card sort is when the participants are only given the cards and must choose the categories themselves.
When beginning the process of card sorting, the team based the cards on the sitemap we created for the existing REI website. We used the first navigation path as the categories and the second navigation path as the main content.
Participants were able to categorize content within each activity, such as “Cycle,” “Snow,” and “Camp and Hike,” at almost 100%. However, they struggled with smaller items like electronics and clothing, as well as items that were not for a specific activity, like vests and swimwear.Our key finding from the Card sorting uncovered that REI’s main navigation path is understandable, but users have too many specific options to choose from.
So with all the research done were able to come up with a
Problem Statement.
Danielle enjoys shopping at REI, but gets frustrated because she doesn’t like the disorganization and clutter on the website.
How might we ensure Danielle has an easy and enjoyable experience shopping the website.
The Persona
Danielle is a design student at Parsons. With a small living space and two roommates, she cares about organization and doesn’t like a lot of clutter. She frequently takes trains from Grand Central Station to go hiking with friends on the weekends, and likes to share photos from her trips on social media. She considers herself a conscious consumer, and prefers to spend more money on higher-quality products from well-curated sources.
The Solution
I tried to combine all of the categories into one shop category and highlight some of the other awesome things the website has, like the expert advice, classes & event, and trips & adventures. I also combined the number of steps it takes to find a specific hiking boot.
Usability Testing Round 1
I gave my user 2 in some cases 3 tasks. I interviewed 6 people 3 men and 3 women. 4 of the 6 participants were familiar with REI.
1.SCENARIO
You want to go hiking with your girlfriends but need a new pair of hiking boots. Choose a pair of boots based off the expert advice you get from the article.
TASK
Choose a pair of boots based off the expert advice you get from the article?
2.SCENARIO
You’re new to the REI website and want to take advantage of the classes and events near you
TASK
Find a free class near you and register for that class
Usability Testing Results.
For the most part the tasks were easy to complete people did not have a problem completing the tasks. Initially no on knew what #optoutside was or they did not know what Co-op journal was. One user thought my tasks were to easy and needed an extra step. Another user did not see the point of having expert advice on hiking boots if he is already the expert. Most people found my new checkout process confusing. Users wanted to see more options for shoes and classes. When it came to the finding a class section, users wanted to see more options for classes and the checkout process for this was a bit confusing as well.
Usability Testing Results Round 2
In my second round of Usability Testing I interviewed 5 people. 4 women and 1 man. Most of the users commented that they liked the images. It made them want to get out doors. They liked the navigation, it was easy to use. They understood or at least had a good idea of what the co-op and #optoutside was. They were able to easily find hiking shoes and classes. On a scale of 1–5. 1 being easy and 5 being difficult. Everyone gave my tasks a 1 or 2.
Link to clickable prototype:
Takeaways and Next Steps
REI’s main objective is to get people outside and enjoying the outdoors. The website has so many amazing tools that people don’t know about. If our main objective is to bring the experience to the user through the website then they need to know about the activities and classes that REI provides. People also want an easy and seamless shopping experience. Through card sorting we found that people shop by activity and therefore we were able to condense a lot of the categories down and make it easier for the user to find what they were looking for. The next steps would be to do another round of usability testing and go from there.