Up-leveling the Mobile Shopping Experience

Industry | Retail, Fashion

Product | Mobile app, Mobile site

Methods | In-depth interviews, A/B testing, Task analysis, Quant ratings

Timeline | 6-weeks

Due to lower conversion rates, a major retail brand (RB) sought to improve its mobile shopping experiences for two of its key brands, Brand 1 and Brand 2.

Questions regarding item preferences and shopping habits surfaced during initial talks and were added to the scope of the study.

RB also expressed interest in understanding users' perceptions of products, product imagery, promotional/marketing materials, and model diversity.

Snapshot

Overview

Objectives

  • Understand how users navigate through the mobile platforms (mobile site and mobile app)

  • Uncover opportunities for RB to improve their mobile shopping experiences

  • Identify areas that may contribute to barriers to conversion

My Role

Solo Lead UX Researcher tasked with managing clients, recruiting, conducting research, and delivering findings.

I focused on:

  • Understanding current shopping experiences on both the mobile site and mobile app

  • Identifying pain points, missed opportunities, benefits, and desires related to the shopping experience

  • Understanding how users interact with site features when searching for particular items (e.g., jeans, tops, delicates)

  • Uncovering behaviors related to features of the mobile shopping experience (e.g., filters, sort, universal vs. contextual navigation)

Planning

Designed study into 4 separate logic-flows that ensured each participant was experiencing the appropriate tasks for their demographic

Discussion

Built dynamic discussion guides around the study flows, allowing the user to shop freely as they normally do.

Reporting

Synthesized the findings into a story to walk the reader through the interview process. I utilized site images, findings, and counts to create expert recommendations for the RB's team.

Nitty-Gritty

Methods

  • 60-min, 1:1 in-depth interviews

  • Task analysis, including pass/fail, errors, and confusion

  • Each participant completed tasks on the Mobile App and the Mobile Site

  • Free Explore vs. Targeted Search

  • Qualitative probing into the usage of specific site features

  • Quantitative scales (ranking, usefulness, ease of use, desirability)

  • Counterbalanced all tasks to account for order effects

Participants

  • 24 participants, split into 2 groups to target each brand’s key demographics

  • Brand 1's participant ages ranged from age 22 to 29

  • Brand 2's ranged from 14 to 19, with an even mix of gender within both brands.

Analysis

  • Quantitative data was calculated and synthesized in Excel to highlight users' responses

  • Raw notes files were analyzed using thematic analysis on mural

Deliverable

  • Utilized insights from quantitative data to create an overview of both the app and mobile site experiences. Overview served as an introduction to the qualitative themes found in the detailed findings of the report.

  • Synthesized the findings into a story to walk the reader through the interview process. Utilized site images, findings, and counts to create expert recommendations for the RB's team.

Impact

  • After presenting the report to RB at their headquarters, they utilized the findings and implemented my recommendations over the next quarter.

Follow-up

  • Given the success of this project, I was asked to continue my involvement with RB's research strategy. I remained in close contact with their team and provided further research direction over the course of three additional projects.