Gift Giver
Course project – Udemy : Ultimate Guide to UX, David Travis
Project
Design a platform which allows users to get gift recommendations for their friends and family
Brief
A new start-up has developed an extremely accurate product recommendation system. By entering your past 5 purchases the system will be able to predict what you will buy next with 95% accuracy.
They have decided to create a system called Gift Giver which allows users to get gift recommendations for their friends and family.
By entering areas of interest or products that the user knows their gift recipient likes, the system will recommend suitable gifts. They would also like to explore the possibility of including alerts so that users can be reminded of upcoming events.
My Role
My role was to carry out user research to determine whether there is a need for this product. I identified a primary user group plus the key tasks and goals this group has when searching gifts, to form the main usability objectives that the system should have. Using this information, I created an interactive wireframe prototype and carried out user testing, modifying the platform accordingly based on user feedback to produce something that people actually want.
What I did
1
User research
Contextual inquiries - I observed 3 people search for gifts online, recording behaviours and key tasks.
User interviews - I spoke to 5 people to find out more information on how they shop for gifts.
2
Defined key user group
I created user groups based on the feedback from my user research. From this I was able to highlight a Primary user group.
3
Affinity diagrams
Key pieces of feedback were sorted into relevant groups and arranged into a user journey map.
4
Key tasks highlighted
Using the user journey map I was able to highlight the key tasks most common between users.
Google search
Users prefer to use google to shop online for gifts and don't want to download an app to search, therefore a web-based platform would be best for initial development.
Text search
Users used text search once they had thought a little about the person and occasion they were buying for.
Browse images
Users liked to browse images to get ideas and inspiration.
Filter Results
Users want to filter results to reduce the amount of options shown (Price important filter).
View more pictures of a product
Users want to see more pictures of a product before making a decision.
Read product reviews
Users want to see what other people thought of the product.
Delivery options
Users wants to know delivery cost, time and what the package will arrive looking like (gift option if sending direct to recipient).
Similar + related products
User wants to see other similar products to the one they are looking at.
Add gift message and packaging
Browse category
Search the same category of an item found.
5
Red Routes
I then determined which of the key tasks were most important and highlighted them as red routes. These red routes will make up the platform's key requirements and will guide the design of the platform to ensure it meets the user needs.
Red routes
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Search gifts
-
Browse gift recommendations
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See item price
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Filter Results
Secondary
-
View seller name
-
View more pictures of a product
-
View delivery info
Tertiary
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See customer reviews
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Add gift message/packaging
-
View related or similar products
6
Persona
I created a persona to bring the user to life.
Wireframe Prototype
1
Homepage
Here the user can begin their search by entering things the recipient likes, as well as the occasion, gender and age.
This is a text search function with a search suggest drop-down list.
The user does not have to fill in all of the categories, this is explained in the 'How it works' overlay page.
2
Results page
Users can browse gift recommendations with the most relevant products displayed at the top.
Filter by Price.
Find out Delivery info.
Amend original search.
Browse related categories to your search results
Each product shows the relevant info our users need to make a decision to purchase.
Hovering over products allows the user to view more pictures as well as see the product review rating and add products to favourites.
3
Product page
Here the user can view the product details along with larger product pictures, related products and products that other people also viewed which relate to this item.
There is a link that directs the user to the product page on the sellers page. Once clicked a message will appear to inform the user they are being taken to another site.
4
Favourites
Users can store their favourite products to view at a later date. This will require them creating an account.
5
Calendar and reminders
Users can create events in order to receive alerts to remind them to buy gifts. This would also require users to create an account.
User Testing
Moderated testing
I carried out moderated testing where I asked the participant to carry out a series of preplanned tasks whilst giving feedback as they navigated through the platform.
I was able to capture the following useful feedback in order to make further iterations.
1
Results count not large enough
The number that indicates how many products have been found as a result of your search is not big enough, the user was unsure of how many results they had. This count is what the user looks at to determine whether they need to filter results further.
2
Is postcode filter function needed?
If items are all being delivered to the UK does it matter where in the uk its being delivered to? The cost and time of delivery will be the same regardless of location.
3
Favourite groups confusing
User was unsure how to add items to a new group within favourites once created.
The button '+ Find Gift' was not obvious, user clicked Gift Giver logo to begin search again.
4
Calendar function confusing
Creating an event and setting a reminder was confusing. When the user was presented with 2 options 'Set reminder' + 'Create Event' they weren't sure which they should select.