Aritzia
Roles: UX, UI, Prototyping
Type: Case study
Year: 2018
Overview
This is a one week design challenge where I had the opportunity to work on Aritzia’a platform and redefine how customers can navigate through product images with the intention of making a purchase.
Establishing Context
Aritzia is an innovative design house and fashion boutique that is tailored towards women’s wardrobe. It is all about individual style, quality, and fun. To achieve this, Aritzia entered the e-commerce marketplace around 2012 to help shoppers find the right products. Though the launch is late, it has become one of their most successful ways of generating revenue and for women to shop on Aritzia.
According to The Business of Fashion and Mckinsey & Company, two-thirds of millennials say they are willing to switch brands for a discount of 30 percent or more. But while they are very price sensitive, they also base more of their purchasing decisions on whether a company’s practices and mission align with their values. This is a generation that has higher expectations on what a company should be able to deliver: convenience, quality, values orientation, newness — and price.
According to data presented by Nosto at a recent Growing Your Online Funnel Webinar, personalization is a leading factor in e-commerce at large.
Framing
How can Aritzia's e-commerce website allow customers to discover and purchase with less friction?
Opportunity for change: Better support customers in discovering and purchasing the right item by showcasing relevant product images that meet consumer’s interests
Prototype
Web Flow and Final Prototype
Design Process
Identifying the Primary Audience
I set out to understand the current relationship customers have with Aritzia’s e-commerce platform and boutique stores. I conducted a small sample size of users and observed their shopping experience, goals when shopping, checkout process and frustrations they’ve come across.
With this data, I was able to find three target audiences.
SUBSCRIBERS
Those who have enrolled in Aritzia’s newsletter. They will receive emails about upcoming sales or new items which would lead them to Aritzia.com.
Most customers are “regulars” who own Aritzia products, and they are usually browsing through sales or has a product that they are looking for specifically.
REGULARS
VISITORS
A smaller portion of the customers who came across Aritzia through social media or was recommended by someone.
User Testing
I tested users through multiple e-commerce experiences (ASOS, SSENSE, Instagram, Aritzia), I asked them to complete typical shopping experience. and I observed their thoughts and behaviours.
This also led to three Key Insights:
Heard about a sale that is going on or because they received an email about it.
Do not find paying full price to be worth it.
Rarely scroll all the way to the bottom of a product page.
Brand Analysis: Aligning with company's goals
I analyzed Aritzia’s vision and mission to best align design decisions to their business goals. I also identified their users and design patterns used.
Mission: To offer beautiful clothes in aspirational spaces with exceptional service.
Values:
We are about individual style.
We think shopping should be fun.
We are obsessed with quality.
My Goal: To build an online experience that effectively matches Aritzia’s aspirational values and to create a relationship with customers which can add value to them.
Reflection
Wrapping Up
With some research that I was able to conduct and statistics that I gathered about e-commerce trends, I redesigned how users would interact and navigate through product images. Given more time and with a bit a bigger sample size of data, I would love to test the new design and observe the advantages and disadvantages of the different entry points I added. I tried to remain objective and critical throughout the process.
I really enjoyed the challenge of this project, exploring the Aritzia product and the e-commerce domain, learning about its users and ultimately improving myself.