"WHAT WAS IT?"
ABOUT
Duration: 2 Week sprint
Project: Independent Project
Tools: Permanent Sharpie, Stickie Notes, Sketch, Illustrator, Photoshop, Invision
“WHAT IS COLE HARDWARE?“
THE PROMPT
Cole Hardware is an independently owned family business dealing with an extensive cross-section of clients including builders, businesses, developers, and local customers. Their website hasn’t been updated in a couple of years, and they are looking at streamlining their current e-commerce platform to reflect more modern web best practices. We were given the task to create a prototype for the website based on a persona. Instead of being delivered a persona to design around, we were to choose one of three options.
“CHOOSING THE RIGHT PERSONA“
RESEARCH
Before choosing a persona, I made multiple visits to their site and inside their San Francisco location. From this I was able to develop an understanding of their current clients. Instead of focusing on those already purchasing, I decided to expand their business by choosing to focus on the persona that fit Cole Hardware’s best suited potential clients. I chose Lisa. So who is Lisa you ask?
“SO WHO DID I DESIGN FOR?“
PERSONA
Lisa is a 28 year old graphic designer. She is also a DIY enthusiast. She likes to work on all the renovations and repairs around her home. Since she works full time, she loves the convenience of online shopping. She has the products shipped to her office so that way she doesn’t have to waste time picking it up after work or on the weekend.
“ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT“
CARD SORTING
After understanding Lisa’s main objectives online, I looked to the current site of Cole Hardware.
My two largest observations where Cole Hardware was lacking:
1 Navigation
- Lisa is looking for a website that will speed up her path to a specific product and its purchase
- Not knowing what to click on and where
- In addition Lisa, on her down time, looks invest her time finding DIY projects.
2 Visual design
- Lisa, being a graphic designer, holds a large importance on aesthetics. Her favorite brands are Apple (as sleek as you can get) and Ikea (who have clean graphics and visual designs).
“WHO’S DOING WHAT RIGHT, AND HOW?“
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
In an attempt to resolve Lisa’s poor experience to her ideal website, I looked to both the competitors of Coles Hardware and Lisa’s favorite brands. Those being Ace Hardware, HomeDepot, Ikea, and Apple.
“LET’S GET SKETCHING“
PAPER PROTOTYPING
From the collection of noted observations and analysis of each siteI began prototyping. I focused on two ways of navigation, if Lisa had a specific item in mind or if she was trying to find new projects to work on around the house.
“RECEIVING FEEDBACK“
USER TESTING
I went through numerous iterations, a majority of which came from user testing. I found that while my navigation for purchasing a specific item was clear, the buildout of the “Do it Yourself” section wasn’t clear. There were different ways in which customers learned how to execute a project.
“MOVING UP IN FIDELITY“
WIREFRAMING
After grasping the fundamentals of what would be on each page, it was time to up the fidelity. From this I was able to identify how small changes can make a large difference.