The reinvention of Dell.com
Dell.com’s website is a behemoth of information — a labyrinth with no real end in sight. In our second project at General Assembly, we were tasked with improving the path to e-commerce in a way that we thought would increase conversion rates.
Dell.com has many issues, including jargon that hones in on tech-savvy people more than the average consumer, a lack of consistency when identifying differences between its products, and product overload—leaving consumers with an overwhelming and daunting task of trying to decide what’s best for their needs.
Using a combination of Lean UX principles, heuristics and proto-personas, I narrowed in on a “happy path” that takes the think work out of the consumers’ hands and puts it back on Dell through a series of questions that eliminate the necessity to search Dell.com for a product that works well.
I found the “happy path” by working backward. I whittled down Dell.com in what I thought would be an ideal path for users, asking myself questions from the perspective of the proto-personas I was still developing. How can I (the proto-personas) get from Point A to Point B with very little headaches?
The birth of Cliff McGovern and Susan Meyers
In developing the path, two personas stood out the most:
• Cliff McGovern, a stay-at-home dad who had a desktop that failed more than it succeeded, three children (one off to college and two still in secondary school) and his wife, who is the primary provider of the household.
• Susan Meyers, a human resources representatives for a large company that has unloaded the responsibility of purchasing equipment onto Susan—a task that was familiar, but now, she must learn a new process because the company has decided to go with Dell for its computer needs.
Cliff and Susan’s needs are different, but the end result is the same. I simplified the paths into one flow that caters to the needs at hand in a few simple steps:
• Tell me who you’re shopping for: family, my business, a corporate environment
• Narrow your results by telling Dell how you plan to use your computer: gaming, production, design, kid games, etc.
• Dell.com identifies three workstations that fit the needs of the user, but it allows users to maintain control through filters. Example: These computers are beyond my budget, but I need a lot of space. Adjusting the filters narrows your options down further, and provides a new set of recommendations.
Once a user selects a computer, add-ons like peripherals and software are available in single-click popups that continue to show the user what would be recommended. Below, a carousel of “other customers bought” circulates to provide the user with other opportunities that customize their buying experience—hopefully increasing the chance to secure a conversion.
Continuing to ease the path, the e-commerce portion of the website is reduced to four simple steps that allow the user to click between: shipping, payment and cart overview, all of which eventually lead to a confirmation drop-down. And, one last opportunity to reel the customer back in: a limited-time offer, exclusive to their purchase.
All in all, this project seemed daunting. There was a lot of information and ideas to process, but in the end, I realized I was close to being completed than I realized. While Lean UX can help in a pinch, I think talking to users and testing in a large group would better serve the end goal of creating a path that is easy and painless to ensure an increase in conversion rates.
Jose D. Enriquez III is a student enrolled in General Assembly’s User Experience Design Immersive in Austin, Texas.
