Jerry’s Artarama
Preferred choice for art supplies & framing at the best value!
Project Overview
Role
UX & UI Designer
Project Type
Responsive Web Design
Jerry’s Artarama has locations all across the United States, and sells art supplies and framing services at the best prices. Finding a user-friendly website that offers a seamless purchasing experience for art supplies is crucial for artists, whether they're professionals or hobbyists. It is important that Jerry’s Artarama continues their business as a successful art retail store in addition to their online website.
Timeline
2 Months
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Problem
While Jerry's Artarama offers an extensive range of art supplies at a great value, a cluttered or overwhelming website interface can detract from the user experience. Creating a website that allows users to shop from home with ease requires a user-centric approach. Simplifying and creating more inviting pages can significantly enhance user engagement and satisfaction.
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Solution
Creating a positive user experience where customers feel confident and satisfied with their purchasing process is paramount for any successful online business, especially for art supply websites. In addition, simplifying the purchasing process by eliminating unnecessary steps is crucial for ensuring a smooth and hassle-free experience for users on an art supply website.
User Goals
A pleasurable experience when ordering from Jerry’s Artarama.
Painless and straightforward when locating items.
Find items quickly for an efficient ordering process.
Business Goals
Increase product usage and encourage them to utilize the product more frequently.
Increase sales with the new and improved website.
Expand into a new geographic market by forming partnerships and hiring consultants.
My Process
Research
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Define
*
Ideate
*
Design
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Prototype
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Test
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Iterate
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Research * Define * Ideate * Design * Prototype * Test * Iterate *
Research Goals
My research goal is to find out what users need when visiting an art website and their experiences when purchasing items. In addition, I need to understand what users would like to see visually, as well as, what's important when choosing and checking out items.
Research
Competitive Analysis
During competitive analysis I was able to look at 3 different companies and compare their advantages and disadvantages. Enhancing Jerry's website to make it stand out among other art websites involves a unique visual design, non-confusing content, clear branding, and the ability to purchase products easily.
Key Findings
All companies specialize in art materials, and some are known for offering professional-grade quality products.
All sell frames or have framing services.
They connect with customers with additional features.
The websites were clean, organized, and visually appealing.
I created a design audit on Jerry’s Artarama website to find out what changes were needed to reduce confusion and streamline the user experience. I focused on 4 key areas for improvement.
Design Audit
User Interviews
Identifying user pain points in the ordering process and website functionality is a critical step in improving the overall user experience.
“The website is too busy and not clear.”
“Jerry’s Artarama has a variety of products at a good price.”
“I am often confused on the website and not sure where to go first.”
“I mostly purchase brushes and paints and wish the site wasn’t so crowded.”
Interview Data
Understanding the user preferences and pain points is crucial for improving Jerry's website. To address the issue of the site feeling overwhelming, we need to simplify the navigation, have a clear layout, and a add a user friendly checkout process.
Key Findings
Users love the sales and discounts that they provide on their art materials, but it is confusing on the website.
The buyers, both professional artists and hobbyists, are needing a straightforward checkout process.
The website is too busy and hard to follow.
Key Takeaways
Creating a user-friendly website that facilitates easy product/material discovery and saves users time is crucial.
Understanding that users value the accessibility and usability of Jerry's Artarama's website, especially due to its offerings of good deals and sales on art materials.
Creating an engaging and uncluttered interface for users shopping for their favorite products on a website is crucial for an enjoyable browsing and shopping experience.
Define
Who is my Persona?
Creating a persona based on the common traits and needs of the individuals from my user interviews, helped me understand my target audience better.
“Professional Artist”
Given Bill's passion for art and his busy schedule with daily commission work, it's understandable that he values convenience and efficiency when shopping for art supplies. Bill would like to save time and avoid frustration while shopping for art supplies on Jerry's Artarama website, as well as spend more quality time with his family.
Site Map
While creating my site map, I had my user in mind, when deciding where the new feature should be placed and how easily he could find it.
You can see the color-coded topics I choose, in addition to fewer categories in the menu, and a seamless ordering process.
Ideate
User Flows
Creating an efficient task flow to guide users through the brushes category in the menu ensures a smooth and streamlined shopping experience.
User Flow: As a 40 year old professional artist, I want to be productive with my painting while minimizing stress when purchasing art materials. This would help me achieve both my artistic and family goals.
Sketches
Below are my initial sketches for my wireframes. I received feedback and I am honing in on specific aspects of my wireframes, particularly the ordering process and confirmation page. Consistency in design is indeed crucial for a seamless user experience.
Design
Wireframes
Designing with the user in mind can greatly enhance the user experience and make your product more intuitive and user-friendly. I created a consistent design across different screen sizes while considering the specific needs and user interactions of each device (desktop and iPad).
Desktop
Ipad
Component Library
When redesigning a website it’s importance to maintain brand consistency while also introducing new design elements to refresh and modernize the website. Using the same color palette and logo ensures brand recognition, while new components, buttons, and icons contribute to a more contemporary and engaging user experience.
Using Figma, I translated my desktop and ipad sketches into high fidelity wireframes. I created these designs using both UI kits and my own designs. I wanted to make sure that the user would have a smooth and streamlined user experience while shopping for their favorite art materials.
Prototype
Test
Total Participants: 5
Goal: To evaluate whether participants can navigate through the wireframes effectively and successfully purchase brushes during the ordering process.
Usability Testing
User testing is a crucial step in the design process to ensure that your platform is user-friendly and meets the needs of your target audience.
I tested the brushes category in the menu, and the participants needed to purchase acrylic brushes during the ordering process. It's important to ensure a seamless and intuitive experience for users.
Task 1: Select brushes in the menu, add acrylic brushes to the cart, and confirm order.
There was a 100% success rate when conducting the usability testing. All participants completed the test from start to finish.
Analysis of Test Results
Feedback:
Changes were suggested to highlight the # 0 size brush rather than the #4 size brush. Another user suggested only having one item in the cart rather than two.
Iterate
Usability Testing
Based on the feedback I received, the arrows show the before and after of the iterations. Instead of highlighting the #4 brush I should have highlighted the #0 brush.
Final Thoughts
Catering to users' specific requirements is essential for creating a successful product or service. Identifying that users in this project were looking for an efficient way to purchase products from Jerry’s Artarama reveals that I conducted thorough research and took the time to understand their needs.
Improving user experience during the checkout process and maintaining customer satisfaction was the most important part of this project. Making changes to the visual design, eliminating clutter, and adding buttons that stand out, dramatically changed this website for the better.
Making these improvements to the website can significantly enhance the overall customer experience and increase the likelihood of attracting and retaining happy customers for art material purchases.
Next Steps:
Adding additional brush sizes with images, since I added only the first 3 sizes.
Call to action buttons need flows and pages created.
Research conducted on artist and teacher resources would bring about more information on their pain points and what they need from Jerry’s Artarama website.
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