COLLABORATION CONTEXT & APPROACH:

I had already collaborated with Janji in a communications capacity and interviewed one of the founders. Though I was drawn to their apparel design inspiration (global indigenous or native patterns), strong storytelling focus, and mission driven approach, I hadn’t spent much time on their website.

My approach focused on recruiting the right users and generating deep qualitative research that could yield real insights and innovative solutions for Janji's website and business. My intention was to keep these users foremost in mind when making design and process decisions, but still balance user needs with business objectives I'd understood from the company.

BUSINESS ANALYSIS/COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS:

My first step was to dive into the website and document everything, performing an audit on the existing content. Initially, I identified a number of strengths, noting what seemed to be working well in terms of acquiring new customers and engaging existing ones . My one caveat is that the project’s tight timeframe meant the business analysis was done quickly and involved many assumptions. Ideally, I would’ve preferred more qualitative and quantitative data to support these initial assumptions (possibly correlative data between social media engagement/growth and sales, existing qualitative and quantitative research etc).  Additionally, I began a heuristic analysis of top apparel brands websites and e-commerce platforms, including: Nike, Adidas, New Balance, Patagonia, REI, and Satisfy.

USER RESEARCH:

To identify the right users, I developed a 6 question screener meant to identify frequent runners who’ve bought running apparel in the last year. Quick note, user recruitment is a real weak point of mine. I’ve been inspired by seeing other designers effectively use reddit, linkedin and other tools, but I’m still figuring out the best ways for me to identify and recruit strong users. I ended up conducting 4 in-depth interviews, and developed a set of conversation guideposts to stay focused on behavior and pain points. While recruitment has been challenging, I love interviews. Long ago I learned the value of practicing empathy and vulnerability to conduct effective and stimulating documentary interviews. While in UX the goals are a little different, the practice is just as deep and invigorating, and in this case yielded great insights into purchasing behavior and frustrations with running apparel and on-line shopping.

INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE RESEARCH:

In order to gauge how users categorize the Janji product line, I organized three open card sorts to learn how those users perceived and organized the different products. This exercise yielded a couple helpful insights that could improve existing categorization, but the relatively low 68 products for sale at the time of research, also set limits to refining the I.A.

SYNTHESIS AND REASSESSING THE PROBLEM:

After analyzing the user research and affinity map, a couple insights jumped out at me: consistent with Janji’s vision, users ran together and also for a sense of adventure. Here, the problem shifted from not just increasing visibility and access to product but to increasing visibility and access to a couple of their core strengths, adventure stories and run clubs, in order to increase engagement and buzz, with the aim of increased growth and customer acquisition.

THE SOLUTION AND DESIGN:

When I began sketching, I focused on making sure Janji’s run club was visible and schedule accessible on the front page (it wasn’t visible on the website’s front page at the time). Additionally, Janji has produced a number of high quality digital stories about their products and running experiences. Based on user insights that craved travel inspiration, I focused on a scrolling left sidebar that linked to these different stories. I also elected for a product menu interface that would maximize visibility and opportunity for seamless integration of new products as their line grows. Additionally, I wanted to make sure Janji’s social mission was clearly displayed on the front page, but consistent with user Michael’s approach to running: freestyle adventure, I felt Janji’s core image of exploration and connection needed to remain front and center.

USABILITY TESTING:

After pulling from other design inspirations and using best practices for the new payment interface, I developed a few user scenarios to test purchasing of a women’s sweatshirt, finding information for the run club, and other features I wanted to test. Some minor, and some bigger errors were exposed quickly that led to rapidly evolving the design.

CONCLUSIONS AND NEXT STEPS:

A mid-fi site re-design, this two week design sprint resulted in an iteration meant to build on the company’s existing business strengths and vision, plus integrate best practices across e-commerce and running apparel. Given the tight timeframe, I feel I aimed for the right user segment and gained valuable user insights. With more time, I would’ve liked to further segment users and execute additional research phases along multiple segments. At present, I’m in the process of passing the prototype and research along to the company leaders to evaluate for implementation and stimulate design debate.