Objectives
UX process of improving the performance of overall click rate of Shopee App Home tab.
User Research
I interviewed 5 users of the Shopee app to find out about their experiences while using the app. Here are the key findings:
1. All users prefer to purchase online mainly because of its convenience and the great deals or discounts available to them as compared to purchasing in physical stores.
2. 2 out of 5 users mentioned that they would normally click on “Flash Deals” as that is where they can find many affordable deals and discounted products.
3. 2 out of 5 users mentioned that they would normally search for the items they want or tap on the category of the product that they are looking at.
4. “I usually explore the banners because they give me an overview of the ongoing deals and highlight exclusive promotions and discounts, so I can find the best deals from there”
5. When asked what is one thing they dislike about the home page showed to them, many users stated that there are too many products and sections in one page and that they would have to scroll more in order to find the products they want according to their categories.
In addition to the user interviews I conducted, I read up on the user reviews on App Store to know what other users have to say.
The app reviews are mainly praises for Shopee while there are also users who mentioned the negative experiences they had with the app. Similar to the user research conducted, many users are very satisfied with the “Flash Deals” section.
Main Competitors
Lazada, EzBuy & Carousell
Secondary Research
The research team of GoodFirms conducted a shoppers’ survey which found informative answers with reference to consumers’ preferred way of online buying, factors influencing their purchasing decision and more from shopping apps.
It was found that the major reasons for shoppers to shop on eCommerce app are the flexibility in surfing (72.7%), time saving (63.6%), special deals and discounts (54.5%) as well as the ease of comparing products (36.4%).
User-centred Research
In addition, it is better to make elements such as text, buttons and other controls to be bigger on mobiles due to users’ visions and finger sizes. Smaller targets would make it harder for users to hit as they require higher accuracy and more work/ effort from the users.
According to Dan Brown’s 8 Principles of Information Architecture, Principle of Choices states that pages should be created to offer meaningful choices to users, keeping the range of choices available focused on a particular task. Some ways to apply this principle would be to spread things out and make shorter lists of choices, at least at the upper levels of hierarchy. This is because too many choices can overwhelm a user and negatively affect their experience using a product.
According to Don Norman’s Principles of Design, the first principle, Visibility, states that users need to know what all the options are, and know straight away how to access them
Frustrations/ Pain Points:
1. Users are provided with too much information and products (Visual Clutter) – Meaning to say that they would have to scroll past more sections in order to locate the categories to search in detail.
2. Interface can be more user-centred – More of what users would want to see instead of what the business would want to promote.
In addition, I analysed the given Home tab screen to identify key issues and areas for improvement.
Design Analysis
Low-fi Wireframe/Sketch
High-fi Wireframe
Redesigned
Overall
Based on the performance of the different sections on the home page, I have changed the order of the sections. They are as below:
1. Search
2. Trending Search
3. Banner
4. Flash Deals + See More
5. Categories
6. Official Shop + See More
7. Popular Products + See More
8. Daily Discover
Towards the end of Daily Discover, I have replaced the “see more” button which a load more function, a micro interaction feature which will enhance user experience, making it smoother and much more natural. I have also standardised all header font weights as well as button styles.
Search Bar + Trending Searches:
For the search bar, I have added “Search” so that the text actually matches the function. In addition, I have added a camera icon to represent the camera function in search. This is done to enhance the search function.
I combined the search bar and Trending Searches section which will be a sticky header at the top of the Home tab so that users will be able to access it no matter how far they have scrolled. This is done so that users can associate the trending searches with the search function at any point in time. This is according to the Gestalt’s Principles which states that items that are related should be close to each other while negative space should be used to separate unrelated items.
Flash Deal
One of the possible frustrations/pain points which I have identified is that users might not know if the price indicated is the discounted price or not. Thus, I have included the before and after price to ease users’ cognitive load, making the experience smoother.
In addition, for products that are sold out, I’ve included a translucent box and a bigger “Sold Out” sign on the image. This is done as according to Don Norman’s Principles of Design, Visibility, it states that users need to know what all the options are, and know straight away how to access them.
Thus, having the translucent grey box, users can quickly identify that this product is sold out without having to scan and look for smaller details.
Categories
I have made this section a lot smaller without compromising the exemplars for each category. According to Dan Brown’s 8 Principles of Information Architecture, the Exemplar Principle states that we can best explain what is in a category by showing good examples of its content.
Daily Discover
I have added categories for this section which is in the current Shopee app. This is extremely useful as users can narrow down the scope of the products that they want to explore in this section instead of random products like before.
Official Shop
Instead of just the logos, there will be photos of products sold by these brands to give users an idea of what products they can find upon clicking.
Popular Products
I have added star ratings for each product in this category to provide social proof. Social proof is an important principle in user psychology as users look to the behaviour of others to guide their actions when they are not sure what to do.
As this section is to show that these are the popular products that many users enjoy, having ratings and a large number of reviews shows users exactly that.