User Research & Wireframes for Tinycotton’s website
Problem Statement
Tinycottons is a Barcelona brand that offers mum and kids apparel. The brand believes in comfortable clothes that have good design and quality. We were presented with the task to research the possibility of a new line of dog apparel for Tinycottons. We had to present 5 products that would sell on the site.
We adopted the design thinking approach heavily focusing on empathising phase as we were reaching for a totally new product. After that, we progressed into defining and connecting the findings and presented some wireframes.
Duration
May 2019 - 3 weeks
Role
UX Designer
Worked together with UX/UI Designer Georgia Tsoupra
Project for Allwomen in Tech
Started with Assumptions
We decided to research competitors online first to have some idea about what was in the market for dogs.
This was a start point that served as a direction to begin with our assumptions.
One of the assumptions we wanted to check was about having matching outfits. Tinycottons already had matching items for mums and kids, so this could be an opportunity to introduce it for dogs too. We wanted to see if there was some connection with sharing pictures on social media with dog outfits.
Competitors & Field Study
We visited Tinycottons shop in Barcelona and other dog clothing shops.
At Tinycottons we found beautiful designs with excellent fabric quality. We observed other clients who went into the shop. They were mostly women alone or accompanied by other women or children, pregnant couples and families.
After we did that we went to visit the shops that offered dog clothing. We were lucky enough to do a bit of contextual inquiry on two occasions. One of the most interesting places we went to was a tailored service shop for dogs, where we learnt how important sizing was and the designs.
Survey
After we did the Competitors & Field Study we rethought our assumptions.
We understood in a better way what products were out there. We observed dog owners buying, what questions they asked, what was important to them. We talked to some dog owners. Having all that in mind, we started building our Survey Canvas.
We wanted to know the reason why the bought clothes and accessories for their dogs, what problems they had when buying, how much did they spend, was design important to them, did they buy online, how often they shared pictures on social media …
We shared the survey mostly in Facebook groups about dogs and meetups.
Survey Results
74% of people value the fitting size in dog clothing
55% value the quality of the fabric
19% spend 20-40€ every 3 months on dog clothing and 47% spend less than 20€
48% buy dog clothes at Pet Stores and 37% buy online
38% of people like the idea of matching outfits
59% shares pictures of their dog on social media once a week
The most bought items are collars and toys
The main reasons to buy dog clothes are Weather, Walking the dog and Fashion
Also, the survey showed that people who shared more on Social Media were more positive about fashionable clothes and the idea of matching clothes with their dogs.
Interviews
We did 10 interviews in total.
We prepared our interview guide and we went to look for dog owners in the parks and the areas near dog shops. We approached dog owners that had clothes on their dog or very fashionable accessories.
Results
We found out that raincoats and sweaters were an important piece of clothing for the dogs to protect them in from rain and cold.
Good quality of the fabric was key for many because dogs can have allergies and get sick or they can swallow the material.
It’s very important to know the exact measurement and/or size of the dog. It’s better to go to a physical store and try clothes there or go to a custom dog store.
Those who share on social media try to buy fashionable accessories or clothes for their dogs.
Empathy map and Personas
We created an empathy map from our interviews and after that we created a focal persona.
Card Sorting
After the whole research was being done, we had to decide on 5 products for Tinycottons. We also had to propose in which order they would appear on the web page.
I conducted a very small Card Sorting session with 2 dog owners that had to decide the most relevant products, and the result was:
Collars/Leashes
Harnesses
Toys
Sweaters/T-shirts
Raincoats
User Journey
The most critical step for many dog owners is the size issue.
The pet has to feel comfortable and it’s important to know the exact measurements. Tinycottons site must have a descriptive size chart with dog measurements which we depicted in our wireframes.
User Test
We conducted 5 user tests on the current Tinycotton’s page.
These were the main problems the users faced
Cannot come back to the main section, has to use the menu navigation all the time.
Dropdowns are very tiny, you have to click on the icon, not the whole cell.
Checkout’s background is red, which is not a very good contrast.
These findings were put to the parking lot, we had to fit the new content into the current page as it is. These findings are to consider for the future.
Wireframes and Conclusions
Size is one of the main concerns for dog owners, when 74% of respondents said that they valued the fitting size.
In the survey, we found that 74% of people value the fitting size in dog clothing and in the interviews it was stated too as an important factor. That’s why it’s important that Tinycottons includes a very clear descriptive guide for dog sizing.
Also, we found those dog owners who are more active on social media are more eager to match their clothes with their dogs.
Tinycottons already has a matching line of mum and daughters, so adding a dog matching line would be natural. In the physical shop, they put the matching clothes together but on the web, they don’t show nor suggest it, that is why we added a section under the details of the item where you can combine dog clothes with mum clothes.
