NaturaLEE by DMD • Website Redesign
Timeline: March - June 2020 (16 weeks) My Role: Solo User Experience & Website Designer
NaturaLEE by DMD, LLC is a natural body care company that concentrates in hand whipped shea butters, whipped black soaps, sugar scrubs and body oils. In March 2020 I was contracted by NaturaLEE to help create their new e-commerce website that would enhance the buyer-experience of existing and potential customers, whilst providing a modern and elevated look to their platform that was user-friendly for both employees and their users. The clients wanted to launch the new website as they were registering for their LLC.
PROBLEM: The client seeks to elevate and simplify both their users’ and employees’ online experience through a redesign of the company’s website.
CURRENT PAIN POINTS:
customers were less likely to order online due to the complexity of order on the website.
current website design did not reflect where the brand was heading
unable to do coupon codes
limited website templates available
unable to link to social media to website
limited menu options
CLIENT & USERS NEEDS:
a platform that is easier to navigate for both users and staff members.
more versatility within the website’s design to achieve a more updated interface.
accurate pricing for products based off of their weight at checkout.
allowed the company to link their social media accounts to the site.
ability for customers to use coupon codes.
“First time customers often complained about not being able to navigate the site while returning customers often forgot where things were located. If customers are always texting us to place an order than means someone has to always be near the phone.”
The client expressed, that although they had a website and text-only contact number for their customers, they noticed more customers would text in their orders than then going through the old NaturaLEE By DMD website.
SOLUTION: Finding a versatile e-commerce platform to create the new NaturaLEE by DMD website on that is long-term solution to support the client’s current needs and is an overall more user-friendly experience for both the users and current staff.
SECONDARY RESEARCH: I began to research topics on the psychological effects users may experience while shopping online.
“How likely would a customer be to make a purchase if they found a website to be poorly designed? 42% would be not very likely, and 21% would be not likely at all.” - Vistaprint
As a part of Vistaprint’s Digital Small Business Consumer Expectations Report 1,800 U.S. Adults who have visited a small business website in the past were surveyed to find out what they’re looking for on a website, how often they expect sites to be updated, what’s most likely to make a bad impression, and more. Learn more here.
When it comes to consumer psychology habits Volusion reports:
92.6% of people say visuals and imagery are the #1 factor that influences their purchasing decisions.
41% of ecommerce cart abandonment is caused by unexpected charges during checkout, 29% by having to register before buying, 11% by unclear delivery information, and 10% by lengthy checkout processes. Learn more here.
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS: When keeping in mind the statics stated above, the client provided me with three competitors for our review.
The Honey Pot Company
Breadbrand
Becca & Mars
While each brand had a different design layout, all three brands were minimal, easy to navigate and categorized their products in a manner that provided a clear user flow for their users.
Current Demographic: The average customer who shops at NaturaLEE by DMD is an African American woman between the ages of 20-70 years old and live within the D.C., Maryland and Northern Virginia areas. Given such a range within their customers, I created three personas throughout this project to help streamline the client’s needs.
Cameron is a junior engineering major at Bowie States University who needs an easy way to understand the variety of products because they want to purchase a gift for their mother’s birthday.
Melody is a full-time senior-level marketing executive and parent of three who needs a quick way to reorder products because they currently have limited free-time during the day.
Serita is a retired tailor who needs an easy way to order shea-butters on their own because they are not technologically savvy.
GOAL STATEMENT:
Our website redesign will let users find, order and be educated on NaturaLEE products quickly and easily which will affect users who have to make online orders by allowing them to choose their desired product virtually.
We will measure success by analyzing the number of weekly orders submitted via the new website and the decrease in text messages order requests to the company phone.
USABILITY TESTING: I connected with a total of 10 users between the ages of 24-42 to conduct usability testing. Being mindful that the client serviced African American women, I also made an attempt to connect with users outside of this demographic who were aware of the types of products the client was selling.
Simplify the Shop Section:
The client initially wanted to separate each item in the Shop section by it’s scent category. (EX: Warm & Earthy Oils, Warm & Earthy Shea Butters, Warm & Earthy Body Scrubs.)
Users mentioned they felt overwhelmed when trying to navigate the Shop section because there was too many offerings. Additionally, users mentioned they would forget which scents belonged to which groups.
To improve this, I removed each scent category and only listed the types of products the client sold. Users who were interested to know what scent category which scent belonged to could scroll down to the see the scent list within the item description or click on the Scent List within the navigation.
Anticipate the New User’s Flow:
When designing the website, I was keeping in mind the client’s existing repeat customers who know specifically what they wanted. When contacting with users who were unfamiliar with the brand, many mentioned they were confused on how a scent was suppose to smell.
The original user flow was designed with the idea that users would check out the “Scent List” prior to clicking “Shop”. However, our user research showed us that the majority of new users would click on “Shop” first —> select their desired product and then drop when having to choose a scent.
To improve this, we created the Scent Chart and the client provided a description of each scent that we could add to the Scents list.
Add to Cart = Immediate Checkout
We found out that whenever a user added a item to their cart, the website would immediately ask them for their payment information to begin their checkout process rather than continuing to let them shop.
“When I saw that I was nervous because I thought I made an actual purchase. That has happened to me before when shopping with a business once and it took me months to get a refund.”
Other users expressed that it was more of a burden for them to complete their task and made them want to exit the platform.
“I wish I didn’t have to back out of the cart every time I added something but it was easy to get back and fourth from the scent lists, product and cart.”
To improve this, I researched which feature to turn off through Squarespace’s forms.
when asked “would you shop with this client again in the future if their website remained the same?”
50% of the users said yes
30% of the users said maybe
and 20% of the users said no
100% of the users said they would prefer to shop in person with the client if their website remained the same. Additionally, 100% of users said yes they would shop with the client again in the future if the necessary website corrections were made.
DESIGN:
The client already had a logo and various colors that they were utilizing. Based off of the company’s logo, I created a color palette for the website design to be built around for a more cohesive look across all platforms.
I decided creating a graphic that used the brands colors and categorized the scents from lightest to heaviest to be placed within the item description would be helpful for the users who shopped without reviewing the Scent List prior. Below you will see my variations prior to the final design.
Final Design Choice:
CONCLUSION + TAKEAWAYS: This project was a lot of fun to be apart as it was my first solo website creation for an e-commerce platform. Additionally, we started working on the project the week before the Global COVID-19 Pandemic shut down the United States. Below you will see how I would approach this project differently for my next client:
Document Your Process Immediately: I have no images of the client’s previous website!!!! I really wish I could show you in comparison to how drastically different their new website hosted on Squarespace looks compared to their first website on BigCartel.
Allow A Larger Margin For Error: Originally, the client and I were working towards a 12 week turnaround for their website redesign. I can say that is definitely an ambitious goal and does not actually allot for many outside circumstances that would cause delays like a global pandemic!! I think I would definitely shoot for a creating a more adjustable timeline with benchmarks that will help all parties know how long to anticipate the timeline can take.
Begin User Research Sooner: Looking back, it would’ve been amazing to connect with more of the client’s customers who were in the age groups of 55-70 years old. Given the events going on, the majority of their clients who had more availability to connect remotely were their 20s - 40s demographic. However to ensure that we still had the 55-70 demographic represented I reached out into my personal network to ask family members to participate within the research.
Educate The Client Along The Way: While the client had access to the website throughout the entire process we didn’t move forward with me teaching the client how to utilize the platform until after the site had launched. Moving forward I think it would be beneficial to educate the client on how to manage their website once we begin to move into usability testing.