Room Service Vintage is an Austin landmark. The store has been present in the same location since 1981. Like many Mom n Pop stores, its website could use an update. For this concept project, I worked to create an e-commerce feature for the store's website.
For this one week sprint, I worked alone to update a brick and mortar store's website.
The existing website offers few of the conventions of contemporary conventions of online stores and none of the tools available on e-commerce sites.
(left) For this very quick sprint, I researched demographics to get a clear picture of the type of user for whom I was designing. I used this information to create a proto-persona.
(Above) Online retail has been expanding at a dizzying rate yet there is still plenty of room for stores to get into the market. Many do not even recognize the growth potential.
Is a social media manager living in Austin, TX. She recently bought her first home and is decorating it in Mid-Century modern furniture.
"I want my home to reflect my personality."
Frustration
Phoning store to check stock
Goal
Unique home decor
I researched leading providers of vintage or midcentury furnishings to identify the aspects of their sites that were most effective. I identified key characteristics to implement in my own re-design.
Multiple search options: search bars, navigation bars and filter menus
Personal Account options: saved user contact information, billing and payment information, and favorites
Thorough descriptions: multiple angles of all products, detailed descriptions of items based on numerous parameters.
Attractive layout: balanced composition and generous photo sizes
Information architecture: complex indexes of a multitude of products
Delivery: the option to have the item delivered.
To make sure that the wide array of uncommon objects sold by the store were categorized in a way that made sense to vistors, I asked four people to complete a card sort of inventory items.
This user flow chart describes two sets of decision paths users can take.
I created a sitemap on the basis of the categories from the card sort.
Based on my initial research and sitemap, I made some quick sketches that served as a starting point for design.
I recruited three users to test my initial prototypes. I discovered:
Some users gravitated to one navigation system while others preferred the filters, confirming the usefulness of both
All users clicked on the words rather than nearby carrots to use dropdown so I linked them both to the dropdown action
The icons on the footer led some users to expect action and others not but they were less likely to expect an action with full text beside the icons so I added text.
None of the users scrolled down
