A User Experience Research Case Study on Simply Be and Jacamo
My Role - Lead User researcher, UX/UI design support
Methodologies - In-depth qualitative interviews, personas, customer journey mapping, diary studies
Skills - Interviewing, synthesising, thematic analysis, interview moderator, discussion guide generation, MoSCow frameworks.
Deliverables - Journey Maps, Personas, Research Plans, Research reports, Debriefs [suitable for various stakeholder involvement] Roadmap Generation,
Tools - Usertesting.com, InVision, Zoom/ Microsoft Teams, Google Suite, Adobe Suite, Sketch, Miro, Confluence, Sharepoint.
Introduction to NBrown, Simply Be, and Jacamo
NBrown, originally a catalogue company, has transitioned into a leading digital fashion retailer, embracing technology to further its customer-centric approach. The company features a diverse brand portfolio, including Simply Be and Jacamo. Simply Be caters predominantly to women, offering a wide range of sizes and styles to promote body positivity. Jacamo focuses on men's fashion, providing a broad selection of sizes. Both brands share a common aim: to make fashion accessible and enjoyable for everyone, irrespective of size. The focal point of this case study is the development and optimisation of the 'Saved Item' feature across these two platforms, aiming to increase conversion rates and basket sizes. At present the two platforms do not have saved items functionality.
Objectives
The primary goals were to fully understand the fundamental shopping behaviours, needs, and desires of our target users for Simply Be and Jacamo. Building out user journey maps. We aimed to develop a 'Saved Item' feature that would significantly enhance the user experience, supporting users’ needs, wants, and existing behaviours to contribute to increased conversion rates and larger basket sizes, especially in the run-up to the peak trading season—Christmas.
Success Criteria
The following business objective
Identify key functionality in line with user’s expectations and behavours.
Understanding user needs, pain points, and user goals in line with the feature
Understand user behavior to identify future opportunities and strategic recommendations
Create a proactive movement in business KPIs
Increase conversion rate
Reduced abandoned card
Research Goals
As the first discovery phase, we wanted to understand fully how users were shopping, browsing, comparing items, and returning back to items they were considering buying. How can we build a feature that aligns with their needs and mental models
What factors impacted their decision making and what were they looking for when comparing items. How they compare items and what factors influence the final decision. If the decision is to be made at a later date how do they return back to the same items?
What were the methods or work around users employed when wishlists or saved items are not a present feature, what do they do and what is the through process?
Here we wanted to identify users existing pain points, needs and wants - as well as their expectations with regards to how this feature add the most value to them. What are any external tools they use.
Methodology
Initially, the research phase was Discover, where user interviews helped us delve deep into how users shop and browse. These interviews focused on understanding users' motivations, constraints, internal and external influences, and fundamental shopping behaviours. We then transitioned into Solution Generation, where thematic analysis of the discovery interviews helped prioritise features. Prototypes were developed and iteratively fine-tuned through usability testing to ensure that all aspects of the UX journey were optimised.
A cross-functional approach was essential. Collaborating with stakeholders in technology, business strategy, and design was routine. The use of usertesting.com streamlined user recruitment, speeding up the entire process. This framework and mixed methodology approach allowed for a holistic view of user behavior outside of the product and allowed for a view into browsing, shopping and decision-making cycles.
Stakeholder Interview
User Interviews 1X1
User Journey Mapping
Usability Testing
Thematic Analysis
Prototyping
Iterative Testing
Recruitment
WE used Usertsting.com to recruit our participants - we used a mix of all brand personas looking for users or and non-users of the brand to get a wide view of users who were familiar with our product.
We conducted screener surveys to ensure we were speaking to the right people.
How frequently do you shop online?
How frequently do you browse online?
Which of these retailers have you shopped within the last 3 months?
Which of these types of products and services have you shopped in the last 3 months?
Which of these platforms do you use to shop these retailers
Are you open to sharing your screen during the interview to demonstrate your online shopping habits?
Sample Questions
An example Discussion Guide - Not the one used, but an example upon reflection of questions that could be asked during discovery.
Sample Discussion Guide for User Interviews - this sample aims to give a little flavour of examples of the types of questions asked during discovery - this is not the full guide, but a snippet of my approach to leading open and honest discussion - with a clear focus on understanding why! and the impact of features on the use
Introduction:
Briefly introduce yourself and the purpose of the interview
"How do you generally spend your time during the day?"
Online Shopping Behavior:
"Can you tell me about the last time you went shopping online?"
"What were you looking to buy, and did you end up purchasing it?"
Item Saving and Returning:
"Have you ever saved items to a wishlist or cart to buy later? If so, why?"
"What usually prompts you to return to an item you've saved?"
Decision-Making:
"What factors influence your decision to buy or not to buy an item?"
"How do promotions or discounts affect your willingness to make a purchase?"
Wrap-Up:
Thank the participant for their time and insights
Analysis and Synthesis
Embarking of the following steps when analysing the results from the interviews. Working on the key themes, findings, and insights through thematic analysis and affinity mapping, to help flesh out the User Journey map and empathy map.
During each interview the UX team was invited to join the session to help with note-taking - Each stakeholder generated as many stickies as possible for each of the interview questions, along with any questions they had.
Post-session these initial stakeholders post it were clustered into an affinity diagram
Highlight the most common of these
Using tools such as Miro to group.
Findings were debriefed after each stage of research with key stakeholders and also those generally interested in UXR across the company to promote knowledge share.
Outputs and deliverables
Firstly, a debrief of findings for the discovery phase.
User journeys
Recommendations and areas of opportunities.
Impact
Organisational impact - we were really able to speed up our decision-making and de-risk design decisions during the solution generation phases. Here designs felt more comfortable and confident with their choices armed with research and insights as to the challenges our users are facing.
WProdcut managers were able to more effectively and efficiently prioritise feature roadmaps, and scope out the best technical solution.
Overall this offered the business more clarity on our users, their behavior, and the behavours of prospective users and how their needs can be better met to convert them into users.
Business impact
[Currently under NDA]
Challenges
Stakeholder management was a constant undertaking. Our technical backdrop, a legacy mainframe, and constrained resources necessitated innovative solutions. Developers were initially unable to build the feature as defined, leading to last-minute changes. However, we managed to pivot effectively, ensuring that the altered UI and UX journey still met user needs and technological capabilities. Another challenge was 'scope creep,' often tempting us to go beyond the project's initial goals, especially as more stakeholders came on board..
Personal Development and Strategic Approach
My skills in stakeholder management matured notably throughout this project. I learned to tailor communication to suit the knowledge levels and interests of different stakeholders. Operating in a remote setting, the project allowed me to enhance my cross-functional and collaborative skills, particularly in working as part of a research team and with multiple designers. A significant area of learning was in the realm of accessibility, in line with NBrown's focus and compliance with WAC guidelines.
Key Deliverables
The project culminated in various key deliverables including discovery debriefs, in-depth research documentation, executive summaries, highlight videos and reels. We also produced a feature prioritisation list grounded in the research findings, which identified strategic opportunities for the brand.
Discovery debriefs and research documentation
Executive summaries
Highlight videos and reels
Feature prioritisation based on recommendations and strategic opportunities
Lessons Learned
Always ensure concise, tailored communication for stakeholders.
Establish a flexible roadmap to accommodate unexpected changes, especially technical considerations.
Maintain a strong focus on accessibility guidelines and principles.
Proactively manage team dynamics and well-being, especially in remote settings.
Utilise digital tools for effective collaboration and user recruitment.
Conclusion
The 'Saved Item' feature for Simply Be and Jacamo was a multi-faceted project that presented a unique set of challenges and opportunities. Despite constraints related to time, resources, and technology, our agile methodology and focused approach yielded positive results. We achieved our objectives, significantly contributing to the increased conversion rates and basket sizes for both brands.
Not possible to offer more details due to NDA
