Icarus - Fashion Made EZ
Project Overview
The Icarus luxury fashion website is designed to provide a premium, user-centric desktop experience, emphasizing elegance, ease of navigation, and visual appeal. This UX design research study aims to understand user interactions with the desktop homepage, identify pain points, and gather insights to refine the design for optimal usability and aesthetic alignment with the luxury fashion market.
The Product: A website homepage for a luxury fashion company (Icarus)
Project Duration: Estimated time is One Month.
My Role: Lead UI/UX Designer and Researcher
Responsibilities: I am responsible for the user research, empathy maps, user journey, paper and digital wire framing, mockups, Lo-Fi and Hi-Fi Prototypes.
Client: Icarus LLC
Date: August 2024
Research Problem
The current luxury fashion website homepage may not effectively meet the needs of users seeking a streamlined and intuitive shopping experience. While the site aims to deliver a high-end aesthetic, users have reported difficulties with navigation, unclear filters, and visual clutter, which can lead to frustration and hinder product discovery. The challenge is to balance an elegant design with functional usability, ensuring that users can easily find, filter, and engage with luxury products without feeling overwhelmed.
Understand how users interact with the homepage on a desktop, focusing on navigation, product discovery, and key interface elements.
Identify potential usability issues that hinder a seamless shopping experience.
Evaluate the visual design's effectiveness, including typography, negative space, and animations.
Assess whether the homepage communicates the luxury branding effectively to the target audience.
Provide recommendations to optimize user flow and align the desktop experience with the premium fashion industry’s standards.
Research Goals
Personas
Olivia Richardson
BIO:
Age: 35
Occupation: Marketing Executive
Location: Toronto, ON
Tech Proficiency: Advanced
Shopping Behaviour: Olivia is a frequent online shopper, particularly for luxury fashion. She appreciates a visually stunning and easy-to-navigate website, with quick access to new collections and personalized recommendations
Problem Statement:
Olivia, a busy marketing executive, needs an elegant, easy-to-navigate luxury fashion website to quickly find designer items. Current websites often have cluttered layouts and complex navigation, causing frustration and slowing her shopping process.
Goals:
Easily discover trending collections and exclusive items.
Browse through the website’s offerings without distractions
Olivia’s Background:
A 35-year-old marketing executive from Toronto, Olivia is a frequent luxury fashion shopper with a keen eye for aesthetics and efficiency. She values websites that offer a polished, easy-to-navigate experience, allowing her to browse new arrivals quickly and filter products by her favorite designers. Her pain points include cluttered layouts and overly complex navigation, which detract from the high-end shopping experience she expects.
Pain Points:
Cluttered pages or menus that make navigation tedious.
Ineffective filtering options and difficulty in locating specific designer brands.
Michael Lawson
BIO:
Age: 28
Occupation: Entrepreneur
Location: Toronto, ON
Tech Proficiency: Intermediate
Shopping Behavior: Michael occasionally shops for luxury fashion, valuing quality over quantity. He prefers straightforward websites, with an emphasis on clean design and easy product comparison.
Problem Statement:
Michael, a time-conscious entrepreneur, seeks a straightforward, distraction-free shopping experience for luxury items. He often finds websites visually overwhelming or cluttered with promotions, which detracts from the premium experience he desires..
Goals:
Browse luxury items quickly and efficiently.
Get an immediate sense of the site’s product quality and brand exclusivity.
Pain Points:
Overwhelming or distracting elements on the homepage.
Difficulty accessing essential product details or relevant sections easily.
Michael’s Background:
A 28-year-old entrepreneur from Toronto, Michael shops for luxury fashion occasionally, focusing on timeless, high-quality pieces. He seeks a clean, straightforward website that allows him to browse and make decisions quickly. Michael prioritizes efficiency and dislikes sites that are visually overwhelming or filled with excessive promotional elements, as they compromise the premium shopping experience.
User Journey Map
Both Olivia and Michael seek a seamless and efficient homepage and navigation experience. Olivia wants quick access to new arrivals and designer filters, while Michael prioritizes a straightforward path to the men's section. Pain points include cluttered navigation, unclear labels, and overwhelming visuals, all of which can disrupt their ability to browse the site effectively. Both personas value clarity and ease of use when interacting with homepage elements.
As I moved to digital wireframes, I continuously made significant adjustments and refined the models throughout the process.
For this initial wireframe, my aim was to create a straightforward layout that prioritized efficiency and time-saving for our users.
The final wireframe combined the key features from the previous five iterations. These features were designed to save time, enhance usability, provide a sense of value for money, and offer users flexibility right from the start.
Ideation Process
I created a user storyboard to get an idea of how users may most likely start and finish a task using the simplified homepage
User Storyboard
The paper wireframe was an integral part of the ideation process as I was able to pin down ideas quickly before taking it digital. These wireframes were the pioneers for the esthetically pleasing Icarus Homepage
Paper Wireframes
This storyboard tells a short story of our potential users and how they interact with our design on a daily basis, from start till finish.
Digital Wireframes
A mockup was created to mimic how our homepage would look like. This was very useful for our usability study.
Mockups
I created a high-fidelity prototype that included component elements. This has enabled the entire user experience to be felt on our luxury website.
Prototyping
First Usability Study - Parameters
Study Type: Unmoderated Usability Study
Participants:
Five (4)
Ages: 30-45
Two male and two females
One participant with visual impairment
One works remotely from home.
Three works from the office
Location: Toronto, Canada.
Objective: Evaluate how easily users can navigate the Icarus homepage and find specific products or information on a desktop
Findings
The initial usability study for the Icarus luxury fashion website provided valuable insights into how users interacted with the homepage and navigation. Here are the key findings.
Unclear Navigation Labels
Users found some navigation labels too vague, making it difficult to locate specific sections like "New Arrivals" or "Designer Collections."
Filter Visibility Issues
Filters were not easily visible or intuitively placed, causing frustration when narrowing options.Overwhelming Visuals
Large banners and promotional elements cluttered the homepage, making it harder to focus on product discovery.Positive Feedback on Quick View
The quick view feature was well-liked, allowing users to preview products efficiently without leaving the homepage.Need for Streamlined Navigation
Users wanted a more streamlined navigation experience with fewer steps to find relevant products.
Clarify Navigation Labels
Simplify labels for easier access to key sections like "New Arrivals."
Boost Filter Visibility
Make filters more prominent and accessible.Reduce Visual Clutter
Minimize promotional banners to focus on product discovery.Expand Quick View
Enhance quick view features for efficient product previews.Streamline User Flows
Simplify navigation and filtering for faster browsing.
Actionable Insights
Final Design
The final design of the Icarus luxury fashion website successfully addressed the key insights from our usability study, leading to a more refined and user-friendly experience
Clear Navigation: Simplified labels for quick access to key sections.
Improved Filters: Filters were made more prominent and accessible.
Cleaner Visuals: Reduced banners for a focused, streamlined homepage.
Optimized Quick View: Enhanced quick view feature for seamless product previews.
Faster Navigation: Streamlined user flows for quicker, more intuitive browsing.
These changes created an elegant, efficient, and user-centered luxury shopping experience.
Performance Metrics
Bounce Rate
Pre-redesign: 45%
Post-redesign: 28%
A reduction in the bounce rate indicates that fewer users are leaving the homepage without exploring the site. The redesigned layout, clearer navigation, and streamlined visuals have encouraged users to stay and browse further.
Average Session Duration
Pre-redesign: 2.5 minutes
Post-redesign: 4.2 minutes
With improved usability and easy access to product filters, users are spending more time on the site, exploring collections and engaging with content, leading to a better overall shopping experience.
Click-through Rate (CTR) on Product Categories
Pre-redesign: 12%
Post-redesign: 26%
The post-redesign has made product categories more visible and accessible, increasing the likelihood that users will click through and explore different sections of the site, such as "New Arrivals" or "Designer Collections."
Conversion Rate (from homepage to purchase)
Pre-redesign: 1.8%
Post-redesign: 4.5%
With a more user-friendly homepage and simplified checkout process, more users are converting into buyers. The clarity of navigation and improved filtering options have reduced friction in the shopping process, leading to increased sales.
In summary, the redesign has not only improved user experience but has also directly increased sales, reduced cart abandonment, and enhanced customer loyalty, all contributing to better financial outcomes for Icarus.