Move
Designing a local, independent and community-orientated sports goods retailer’s e-Store
Solo // Nov 2021 // 1 week // Concept Project // Retail (Sports)
Role: UX/UI Designer & Researcher
Tools & Methods: Double-Diamond Method, Figma, Zoom, Slack, Pitch, Pen & Paper!
— Client
Move is a local community-centered sports shop in the heart of Walthamstow, with a vibrant atmosphere. They have a wide, yet curated range of products in stock, sold at reasonable and competitive prices.
Move likes to ‘Keep it Local’ by employing local staff and supporting the Walthamstow community. The owners like their staff to give priority to face-to-face in-store service.
— Brief
Problem: Move have an existing website with a considerable number of visits, but very little conversions to sales!
Goal: The goal of the website re-design is to translate the vibrancy of the shop experience online and to showcase their highly curated inventory, whilst maintaining their brand image i.e. highlight the Community “Small Shop Appeal” with great customer service which Move offers.
— Process
01/ Understand the user
Carried out a competitive and comparative analysis of 6 other online retailers (sports, garment and general).
Conducted interviews with users to understand their needs, behaviours and attitudes around:
The importance of supporting local & independent businesses (+ Major Retailers vs Indy Local Businesses).
Site features such as recommended products, product reviews & descriptions.
Customer care and advice.
Synthesised the insights and learned that:
When it comes to sports goods, users shop with a purpose.
Users do not generally like shopping in IRL sports shops (they are too intimidating). If they do, they find chains most convenient.
Independent, local sports goods retailers are perceived as more expensive and are less visible online.
02/ Identify the problem
Created a persona (Eric B.), based on the user research to help empathise with the user:
Eric wants to avoid giving his custom to major sports brands/retailers (for ethical reasons) although he values their efficiency and affordability.
Eric wants to feel like he is supporting local & independent businesses, whilst still keeping up with the latest sports goods trends.
Eric does not trust retailer advice (he dislikes being upsold to and prefers doing his own research), but needs to make informed purchases in a relaxed environment.
Eric has limited time & budget to spend on sports goods.
Problem: “Eric needs access to an approachable and knowledgeable independent online sports retailer with a wide array of curated brands and products so that they can swiftly and conveniently purchase shoes, apparel and equipment that will fulfil their sporting and leisurely needs.”
➡️ How might we provide users with a sporting goods e-commerce, where they feel: comfortable, informed and that they are supporting an independent local business, without sacrificing the efficiency that they usually experience when purchasing from major sports brands/chains?
01/ Ideate Solutions & Test
I used the ‘1000 True Fans’ model by Kevin Kelly as a basis for ideation. This allowed me to approach the ideation phase by coming up with ideas that would help Move target quality users/customers (Eric), rather than focussing on a large number of users.
To do this, I would need to focus on providing Eric with a sports e-commerce platform that values its customers as individuals with varying needs and levels of experience when it comes to sports.
The platform would need to demonstrate Move’s community focus and showcase the fact that they’re not just a shop, but also somewhere where customers can feel supported in their steps to foster a healthy lifestyle.
— Outcome
I designed the website in 2 parts:
Part 1 - ‘Community’: this part would express Move’s approachable, inclusive and community focussed nature. It would include articles on getting back into sports, local hiking routes, how to choose the best gear for the customer needs, how to properly take care of products so that they last longer, etc.
Part 2 - The Shop: designed to include features that users demand the most (a clear check-out, ample amounts of product information, customer/social media reviews, etc). These features would be complimented with information sourced and linked to the Community part of the website in order to maintain a coherent tone and approach.
— View the Demo
