RC WILLEY WEB APP REDESIGN
Overview
RC Willey (https://www.rcwilley.com/) is a home furnishings company that started as a small family business in Utah. The company’s responsive web app is designed for shoppers of all ages, specifically for those in the Utah, Idaho, Nevada, and Northern California areas.
Key features of the app include:
organized shopping categories
easy search function
virtual product lens
in store scanning
account personalizing
My Role
UI Researcher, Designer
Problem Statement
Users need a way to easily navigate through the app because they want to feel stress free and at ease when looking for new home goods. We will know this to be true when we find data showing an increased number of online sales
Objective
Redesign the RC Willey native mobile app and responsive web app for a smoother purchasing experience online and increased business revenue.
Tools
Balsamiq, Figma, and Zeplin
Visual Context
Before
After
A Simple 5 Step Design Process
Empathize
Define
Ideate
Prototype
Test
Phase 1- Empathize
The first step in the process is to empathize and understand our users needs. In order to do this, I conducted 4 remote interviews.
I’ve listed a quick summary of my findings focusing on interface insights:
-
“...usually have a vision prior to shopping” ”...needs to fit my vibe”
“...draw it out first- I like the see it in your home button”
“My go to stores are Passport Furniture, Pottery Barn, West Elm, and Downeast”
“Prefer to start by searching for a specific design style rather than by room” -
“I don’t like when there are sponsored ads that have nothing to do with my search/style”
“typically shop at Wayfair or Boulevard Home”
“RC Willey is big in Utah, where we live, but its too outdated”
“specs are important and it makes it easier to search” -
“I love facebook marketplace because of the prices”
“shopping online is easier, I can see all of the options instead of just the store inventory”
“love shipping options, especially being in NY”
“I like getting inspiration from influencers and bloggers”
“...top favorites section or LTK (link to know)” -
“shipping estimate should be immediately in the cart- not at the end”
“my favorite part about buying home goods is customizing my space and designing it”
”i prefer to see the items in person but then I’ll purchase it online for shipping”
“quality is hard to tell online”
“my favorite stores are West Elm and Ikea”
“typically online shop on desktop and not phone unless its decor”
“favorite features are bookmark and search-- also filters!!”
“I like measuring tools”
“I hate popups”
“easy check out is important to me- payment methods etc”
Phase 2- Define
As a homeowner, I want to furnish each of my rooms with a cohesive style, so I need to be able to find different furniture items within a style category
As an avid online shopper, I like to see what other bloggers and homeowners are doing with their interior design so that I can get inspiration when looking at a specific product
As a busy person who cannot make time to go into the store, I need the product images to be as clear as possible, in addition to features and specs, so that I can zoom in and get an idea of what the material looks like in real life
As a furniture shopper, I want to be able to “view” the item in my home with a 3Dproduct lens feature to know if the product will fit or look good in my space
As an online shopper, I like having a quick check out process and not having to typeout so much information
The insights I gathered from the interviews helped me to create user stories and a foundational user flow
I also built out a user persona to help me personify the user I’m objectively redesigning for
Phase 3- Ideate
Before mocking any screens, I did some more research. I wanted to see what existing patterns worked and didn’t work, particularly with the companies mentioned in my user research from phase 1.
Here are some findings:
The reason why I decided to do a competitive analysis was because the exercise allowed me to see which interfaces worked well and which ones did not.
Since I took on a redesign project of an existing brand, it was very insightful to see what existing competitors were doing well. Of course style and mood are unique to each company however noting where components and icons were consistently located helped me to better understand what would be familiar to shoppers and thus allow their experience to be more intuitive.
Sketches and Low Fidelity Mocks
Mood Board
After sketching some wireframes and getting an idea of how I wanted things laid out based on the user flow, I needed to decide on fonts and general style of the app.
Once I had a style, I started to pick out icons, implementing font, a grid system for cohesiveness and getting a better idea of how the components would look.
Although it was tempting to continue onto high fidelity screens, creating a style guide early on helped set some ground rules so that my UI was consistent visually. I chose to stick with simple icons that are rounded for a softer look rather than edgy- however I still wanted them to look familiar, on trend and easy to find.
High Fidelity + Responsive Design
Phase 5 - Test
Future steps
In order to iterate on my design choices, I would ideally be able to interview real people who use the RCW app or shoppers as they are browsing in an RCW store. This way I can get a better understanding of how they would navigate the app rather than predicting based on my few zoom interviews.
I would also dive deeper into fleshing out the screens regarding account management, financing and warranties- things that the brand offers but one I would require more details and resources to understand. In order to truly know if my design had specific failures and successes I would need feedback from relevant stakeholders at RC Willey.
My Takeaways
As a UX design student, it became really ingrained in me to focus on ease of use and structure based on research and data- however, this UI project taught me that there are general guidelines, trends, and times where creative freedom allows for the experience to be enhanced through visual tools alone. Putting together a style guide/UI kit was a fun learning experience for me!
My biggest takeaways from this process include:
Realizing the hard way that choosing a grid system and defining spacing rules early on would help me save time when designing screens down the road
Learning the importance of creating multiple mood boards; this felt unnecessary to me at first, but I now know its valuable because I am able to brainstorm and question possibilities before jumping to conclusions and limiting my options
Colors illicit emotions depending on how they are paired and there are different ways to play with color theory!
Icons make navigation easier for users- they barely have to read the text before they find where they need to go because imagery is powerful
Thanks for reading. Feel free to click through the prototype!