Customers on the Iron American website often encountered difficulty when attempting to purchase products due to a lack of clarity in what exactly they were ordering. In order to address this issue and boost conversion rates, the client sought to reduce confusion among users.
In order to determine the users' pain points, I created a usability test in maze. My goal was to discover the obstacles within the information architecture. I wanted to pinpoint the steps in which the user got stuck.
Mission
I asked the user to find the "2 and 4 Barbell Wall Storage Rack," determine its color, and add it to the cart. I wanted to see if the user was able to locate products, understand the product description, and purchase the product.
Research Findings
Users struggled to locate the product and only 50% of users labeled its color correctly but 100% of users added the product to the cart with ease. I decided to focus on improving information architecture as well as the product details.
“I don't know what an Iron American 2 & 4 Wall Storage Rack is so I had no idea what I was looking for, even when I found it I had to click everywhere imaginable to figure out how to find out more details, and even then I only got the details from looking at the picture.”
- Anonymous
Product Titles
Problem 1.
Given the title, the users did not understand which product to look for.
Use Simple, Descriptive Product Titles
Simplify titles; remove unnecessary and redundant words.
Variations make it easier for shoppers to discover exactly what they're looking for and discover alternate options that they may prefer instead (or in addition to) what they were originally searching for.
Item list
Barbell/ Gym Chain Wall Rack- single, double
Ping Pong Wall Rack
Phone Wallet (3 pack)
Dumbbell/ Spray Bottle Wall Rack
Gym Equipment Wall Brackets
Bat Rack (Holds up to 21 bats)
Yoga Mat Wall Rack
Liquid Sports Chalk- White, Pink
Yoga Equipment Wall Brackets
Gym Storage Hooks- Standard, Heavy Duty
Kettlebell/ Dumbbell Storage Shelf- Standard, Heavy Duty
Medicine Ball Storage Shelf
Kettlebell Wall Hook
Navigation
Problem 2.
User could not easily navigate through site.
Establish Intuitive Information Architecture
My test showed that the site's current information architecture is not intuitive and needs to be improved. Misclick rates are high, users are getting lost, and screen time is above average.
Follow Best Practices in Navigation Bar & Footer
Remove “Return Policy” and “Shipping.” These should only be in the footer
Use search bar form field rather than an icon. Only 17% of participants utilized the search bar. This is likely because they were unable to locate it.
Footer is redundant. Remove categories that are in navigation bar.
Problem 3.
Users could not navigate from product preview card to products details page
Follow Standards for E-commerce Usability Flow
Current buttons are not cohesive. The user doesn’t know what page they will be let to. Unify buttons. “Learn more” hyperlink is hard to see. Only use “shop now” button unless on product description page.
Too many tiny images. Choose 1 image to display product.
Problem 4.
Users Struggled to distinguish “Gym Storage” from “Sports Storage." This led me to believe that the information architecture was unclear.
Solution: Evaluate Information Architecture
Sports storage and gym storage are very similar categories. Choose categories that differentiate products. Create an open & closed card sort to determine categories.
Copy
Problem 5.
Fifty percent of users failed to determine that the product was black. Even when the users reached the product description page, they didn’t understand the product details description.
Write Clear and Persuasive Copy
Utilize accordions to organize and consolidate information.
Proofread
Photos
Display Photos That Portray the Product's Purpose
Remove duplicate photos. This will confuse the user.
Remove blurry images
Display 1 per image unless necessary. Description page photos should have horizontal scrolling on mobile. It’s easier to navigate than trying to click tiny images. Also don’t crop out parts of gym equipment such as gym mats
Next Steps
Learnings
Use descriptive and simple text and images.
Clients that are familiar with their product don't always realize how the user views it.
Usability tests demonstrate flaws in information architecture.
Next Steps
Work on Blog.
Retake some product photos which are blurry or unclear.
Preform another usability test after improvements are made.
Improve product descriptions.
Preform a card sorting test to determine the best categories to create for products.
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