Interior Define・2019
Refining Category Pages to Highlight the Value Proposition and Reduce Bounce Rates
KEY RESULTS
Significantly reduced bounce/exit rates and an estimated 25-35% conversion lift from category pages to details.
Read on for how I validated the need for a large redesign and shaped our product roadmap
The existing CDP with ~80+ products and broken filters
THE CONTEXT
Interior Define is a D2C furniture brand with a focus on customization.
While redesigning the nav, I suspected customers were leaving the site from the category pages (CDPs).
I proposed and initiated the project, leading the design strategy, research, testing, and visual design.
THE APPROACH
To kick off, I benchmarked page performance and looked for improvements.
Conducting blind, competitive user tests via Lookback
The research included:
Benchmarking conversion, click-through rates, bounce/exit rates, and sort & filter use.
Auditing the CDP’s adherence to the Baymard Institute’s UX benchmarks for e-commerce.
Conducting competitive usability tests where users shopped ID’s CDP and scored it against competitors.
KEY INSIGHTS
Bounce rates were high and there were several areas to improve:
Customers were overwhelmed by choice and too many products.
They were frustrated with broken filters and didn’t understand the different configurations (e.g. Apartment sofa vs Sofa vs Sectional).
On mobile, product images were too small to be helpful.
They needed larger, high-resolution renderings to compare collections and gauge quality.
Most importantly, they overlooked the customization options, Interior Define’s main value proposition.
Clarifying customization and highlighting the available fabric, leg, & length options became the focus.
DESIGN PROCESS
To gain buy-in, I involved other teams in the research.
Takeaways from competitive usability testing with participants actually shopping for sofas
Product, marketing, and brand experience sat in to observe customer sessions and reviewed the findings.
In addition to informing the designs, it validated the need for a redesign and provided useful insights for marketing and branding strategies overall.
Click to zoom — Ranking pain points with the Kano model
With the findings, I led an EPD workshop using the Kano Model to prioritize pain points.
We translated pain points into requirements and brainstormed potential fixes and new features.
Click to zoom — Organizing requirements into immediate fixes, items for the redesign (v1.5), and roadmap items (2.0)
I organized requirements into 3 buckets:
Immediate fixes that didn’t require design work (e.g., lazy loading) and 2x images).
Redesign items (e.g. promoted filters for configurations).
Roadmap items (e.g. supporting multiple images on product cards).
While designing, I incorporated the Baymard Institute and Nielsen Norman group’s CDP best practices, wireframing the new pages mobile-first.
FINAL DESIGNS
Improved filters and product images, a clearer value proposition
Promoted, visual filters to view configuration options, single and grid view options on mobile
Adding headers to reinforce customization, lifestyle images to inspire and show quality
Larger, 2x resolution images to help customers gauge style and compare collections
Inline content blocks to call out stores, Quick-ship pieces, and complimentary design advice via live chat
Sticky filters to refine after scrolling, prominent fabric and leather filters
After the redesign, I planned to create editable content blocks to be managed through a CMS
The previous CDP (left), redesigned version (right)
CUSTOMER IMPACT
During user testing, customers narrowed products more efficiently
They found it easier to compare between collections and used more filters overall.
They called out the helpful configuration filters for filtering 80+ products to a manageable number.
Inline content blocks throughout the page
Awareness of Interior Define’s value propositions improved as well.
Customers commented on the impressive number of fabric, leg, and length options.
They noticed and appreciated callouts for store locations, Quick-ship pieces, and complimentary design advice via live chat.
BUSINESS IMPACT
Reduced bounce rate and an estimated ~25-35% conversion lift.
I left before it launched, but heard the new CDP significantly reduced bounce/exit rates, led to deeper scrolling, and boosted clicks to PDPs.
Later iterations of the CDP by another designer, Ali Porter
Based on Baymard Institute benchmarks, I’d estimate conversion improved by as much as 25-35%:
“Sites with mediocre product list usability saw abandonment rates of ~78%. Sites with just a slightly optimized toolset saw only ~25% abandonments. This translates into as much as a 4-fold increase in leads”
