Project Goal
A week UX/UI challenge to create a carpenter’s e-commerce website from home page to order confirmation.
Problem
Handcrafted furniture enthusiasts need more trust and transparency from small artisans’ websites due to a lack of detailed information about the products.
Solution
Martinez's e-commerce website establishes trust by showcasing testimonials and reviews, providing details about the artisan in the "About Me" section, offering comprehensive information about the products and presenting a straightforward path to checkout.
Meet Joel Martinez, a passionate spanish woodworker !
Our mission : "Creatie a user-friendly e-commerce platform for his range of affordable kit furniture products."
Items created using Midjourney for demonstration / prototyping purposes
In our research, we analyzed major furniture companies' websites like Ikea and Sklum, along with smaller carpenters' sites, to understand user behavior and trust-building strategies. Primary research involved a survey (25 responses) and 7 interviews with potential clients. Among obstacles to online furniture shopping were trust issues, preference for physical product inspection, and difficulty visualizing products in personal spaces. Detailed product descriptions, customer reviews, testimonials, and high-resolution images were deemed most useful by 55-65% of respondents.
Our primary persona, Martin Musterman, a 33-year-old university professor, exemplifies our target audience's challenges and expectations. Through Martin's hypothetical journey purchasing a handcrafted bedside table online, we highlighted common issues such as imprecise measurements, poor-quality photos, and lack of delivery information.
For our minimum viable product (MVP), we focused on creating a streamlined user flow from the home page to checkout within a week. Key features deemed essential included prominently displaying testimonials and customer reviews, as well as providing turnaround images and videos of the crafting process. Additionally, we aimed to implement a feature allowing users to obtain measurements by hovering over furniture parts, integrate a chatbot system for personalized assistance, and include a clear contact page for post-sales issues. Assembly instructions download was also considered important due to the products requiring customer assembly.
In crafting our moodboard, we aimed for the followong three brand attributes :
UNIQUE : a vibrant yellow color complemented by neutral tones to reinforce our blend of tradition and modernity. Red accents to highlight specific interactions or information.
RELIABLE : variations of Barlow Condensed to ensure a legible and impactful typography. A combination of square and circular shapes, leaning towards the latter while maintaining a degree of gentleness with some rounded corners and circles.
HANDCRAFTED
After the week project was over, I came back to add some personal touches, notably :
Darkening the primary color a bit and giving it a more ochre hue to create an earthy feel.
Toning down the intensity of our red accent color, making it less “alarming.”
Limiting the secondary color application to outlines rather than filling large areas for a cleaner aesthetic and an improved readibility.
Incorporating a wood texture into the primary color’s larger areas, using “soft light” layer mode.
Eliminating rounded corners and circles to fully embrace a bolder appearance, aligning with our ‘Reliable’ brand attribute.
Create a secondary user persona for custom orders
Conduct more tests, including desirability ones, to enhance user-friendliness ;
Create a clear contact page for support ;
Ensure full responsiveness of the website.