Target.Com Responsive Web Redesign
UXing the existing Target.com website
By Christine Chin
Project Overview
I worked on a team with two other UX designers to deeply analyze Target.com’s strengths, weaknesses, and competitive/comparative features in order to redesign the existing website. My team and I spent one week researching together then the next week we went our separate ways to create our own redesigns for the Target.com desktop website.
My role
UX Designer
Timeframe
2 Weeks
Reference to Research
This article will mainly comprise of the steps I took into developing the redesign on my own in the second week of this project. For the details on the research my team and I conducted in the first week, please see this report.
Our research comprised of contextual inquiries, a screener survey, usability testing on the existing Target.com, heuristic analysis, competitive and comparative features analysis, creating task flows, user flows, and site map of the existing site, an as-is user journey, and information architecture analysis using card sorting.
Problem Statement
How might we help the Gregory family feel connected to Target by increasing their customer satisfaction and helping them quickly navigate and purchase items at a good value online?
Personas
The personas we were presented with were The Gregory Family, a new family from Long Island, and Jane, a college student from NYC. Since the personas were 5 years old, we had to update them according to the screener survey results we found as well as remarks from usability testing the existing website.
We found that the current Target audience want to clearly see discounts, an easier way to reach a live Target representative, and a guest checkout option.
RESEARCH
Closed Card Sort Methodology
In the first week of research, my team and I did the following:
- Created a representative inventory list of 100 items from Target.com, distributed evenly across its current category labels
- Conducted a Closed Card Sort (round 1) to determine if users will correctly place the items in the categories Target had them in
- Conducted an Open Card Sort to allow users to create their own category labels for the items
Then, in the second week, I took our findings from the Closed and Open Card Sort to determine which categories needed relabeling. I created the new labels and conducted another Closed Card Sort (round 2) to see if these new labels would be successful.
Closed Card Analysis & Results
From the original 26 categories, I reduced them down to 13 categories. I merged categories together that people in the card sorting often mixed items together and renamed categories to new labels that a majority of users expressed in the open card sort.
Then, I conducted the second Closed Card Sort and found increases in the average % of items correctly placed in each category, showing that my new labels are more clear to users.
Updated Task Flow
The updated task flow represents the “happy path” that our primary persona, Sarah from the Gregory family, takes in order to purchase a discounted car seat on the redesigned Target.com.
Updated User Flow
The updated user flow shows 3 paths different users can take to get to the same discounted car seats on the redesigned Target.com.
Findings from two rounds of usability testing on the redesign showed that 60% of users followed the “User 1” path along with our persona because they were more concerned about looking for a car seat first. 40% of users followed the “User 2” path because they were more concerned about looking for a deal first.
To-Be User Journey
In the As-Is User Journey, our persona Sarah Gregory is frustrated with navigating the Target site and the difficulty in contacting a live representative online. In this updated To-Be User Journey, Sarah is able to quickly find a good deal, live chat customer service, and check out quickly as a guest because of the new redesign.
DESIGN
From Research to Design
From the various research conducted in the first week, I deduced the most important features that should be integrated into the new design wireframes.
Mid-Fidelity Wireframes Iteration 1
I integrated the features into the first iteration of the mid-fidelity wireframe.
Usability Testing Round 1
Then, I created a prototype using the mid-fidelity wireframe and tested the effectiveness of the new design.
Design Recommendations
From Usability Testing Round 1, I found that 2/5 participants were trying to navigate to the car seat via Deals, which was not yet created on my prototype. I also needed to emphasize discounts on products and update the live chat feature.
Mid-Fidelity Wireframes Iteration 2
With my recommendations in mind, I added them to my second prototype iteration.
Usability Testing Round 2
Overall, I found that users were completing the tasks much quicker with the new updates.
Usability Testing Results Overall
After completing my two rounds of usability testing with my mid-fidelity prototype, I compared my results with the findings from the usability testing of the existing Target site. Overall, the average task difficulty rating went down to easy and the average task completion time (in seconds) dropped dramatically, thus proving the effectiveness of the new design.
Next Steps
Prototype
Link to prototype: https://invis.io/FWL0FITB5Q8#/302742484_Homepage
Reflection
In my two weeks on this project, I was able to truly push myself to the limits. I conducted so much research and created and iterated upon a prototype to present and report upon within such a short time frame.
I learned that when faced with huge amounts of data, I am able to narrow in and focus on the bigger picture by synthesizing it in a practical way. I was even able to create my own Excel spreadsheet from scratch to better analyze my Card Sorting data. I definitely felt like I grew in my research and analytical capabilities which were not my strengths before.
Even with the many long nights worked, I still ensured that my visuals (charts, flows, journeys), presentation and reports did not suffer on their quality. I enjoy making content aesthetically appealing and stuck true to my values while working hard to gain great insights and data.
