Chat Your Way to a Better Shopping Experience
TYPE
iOS App
Client Work
TEAM
2 Researchers
3 Designers
TIMELINE
9 Weeks
Feb. - May 2024
TOOLS
Figma
Useberry
Airtable
Slack
Zoom
OVERVIEW
TeamCarts is a new iOS app streamlining the collaborative online shopping experience, enabling users to compile and share their desired purchases with their inner circle for instant feedback. As the app grows, the current experience faces challenges with user engagement and retention.
For York University's UX Design capstone project, our team of five set out to support the emerging Toronto-based startup's business goals of enhancing customer loyalty and uncovering key insights to drive growth and success.
This led us to ask:
How can we improve the current experience and encourage users to actively engage more within the app?
To address this, we followed an end-to-end UX process to design a new in-cart chat feature successfully.
MY ROLE
As the client liaison, I worked to effectively communicate design recommendations and translate client needs into actionable insights.
My responsibilities also included prototyping, visual design, UXR, and business analysis to help deliver design solutions.
WHAT WE ACCOMPLISHED
+ Identified key pain points in the app experience, discovered target users' needs, and leveraged data insights to ensure TeamCarts' long-term success.
+ Designed and delivered a new product feature that aligns with TeamCarts' user and business objectives.
HERE'S A SNEAK PEAK . . .
Carts Page
'Vacay Fits' Cart Page
'Vacay Fits' Chat Page
THE PROCESS
How Did We Get Here? (Click to Enlarge)
PHASE 01. PROJECT BRIEF / CLIENT INTRO / RESEARCH PLAN 📝
PROJECT DESCRIPTION & CLIENT INTRO
TeamCarts, founded by Alykhan Kara and his small dedicated team, is an innovative mobile app designed to enhance social commerce by addressing shopper frustration. It streamlines the experience by allowing users to curate and share products from various brand websites with trusted peers.
Currently in its early development stages, the startup is focused on enhancing customer engagement and loyalty while improving data and audience insights. Our strategy will prioritize designing features that increase app usage and foster deeper user interaction, ultimately helping to understand the target audience and encourage prolonged engagement.
INTENT / SCOPE
To actualize this vision, over the next several weeks, our team:
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Undertook a comprehensive research initiative that validates the assumed target audience or identifies a new one.
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Conducted a meticulous usability audit to pinpoint and address any points of friction.
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Leveraged these invaluable insights to craft a high-fidelity prototype that fosters a seamless user experience that prolongs user engagement and interactivity.
RESEARCH PLAN
EXPECTED OUTCOMES
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Rigorously researched User Research Report that identifies TeamCart’s target audience.
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Detailed Usability Audit that exposes usability issues.
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Improved user experience that compels users to spend more time on the app and interact more with their peers.
SUCCESS METRICS
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Increased time spent on the app
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Increased user interaction on the app
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User satisfaction with the app
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Client satisfaction with deliverables
PHASE 02. RESEARCH & ANALYZE 🔍
Our Key Research Goals
🎯Analyze Competitive Landscape
🎯Develop Engagement Strategies
🎯Understand User Needs & Behaviours
CHALLENGES & ADJUSTED SCOPE
Adjusting Research Focus to User Engagement Due to Data Limitations
We initially aimed to boost app usage and user engagement for TeamCarts, but due to the following challenges, we prioritized user engagement. Instead of usability tests and time-based metrics, we focused on understanding the ideal user base, believing that enhancing the user experience will naturally increase app usage.
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Limited access to metrics about time spent on the app.
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Focus solely on user engagement.
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Untimely access to the new "feed" feature.
💡
Focus on current features.
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Recruitment channel yielded insufficient users for interviews.
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Deepen our understanding of the ideal user base
Here's a Look At Some of Our Actionable Insights . . .
🚀Optimize the Cart Creation Experience
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A high drop-off rate after users create 1-2 carts indicates a pain point in the user experience.
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Leverage findings from the heuristic evaluation, lit. review, and user interviews to enhance the experience.
🚀Improve Collaborative Product Research
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Many target users are in relationships, and thus value their partners' input when purchasing.
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Collaborative research and product selection can be enhanced by integrating social dynamics.
🚀Revamp Onboarding and Login Process
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A high drop-off rate (30%) during onboarding due to usability Issues.
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Reworking the process can boost retention and engagement.
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
Leveraging Competitor Insights for Innovative User Engagement
We analyzed 3 apps similar to TeamCarts to understand how they engage users, leveraging those insights to create a more effective user engagement plan and identify TeamCarts’ unique selling points.
💪 TeamCarts' Strengths:
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Enables users to make purchasing decisions with valued people.
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Like a virtual group shopping spree.
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Allows you to share lists, get comments, and vote on products in group decision-making.
💡 Potential Improvements Inspired by Competing Apps:
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Spot Deals (Basket)
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Keep Local (Karrot)
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Social Buzz (Poshmark)
The smart wishlist app
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Helps create wish lists and track prices for desired items.
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Provides team wishlist and price-tracking feature.
Your new neighborhood buy and sell
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Enables buying and selling locally with trusted community.
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Virtual garage sale experience in your neighborhood.
Shop and sell sustainably
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Social shopping app for buying and selling clothes, home decor, etc.
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Combines Instagram-like social features with online shopping.
Go More In-Depth:
(Click to Enlarge)
COMPARISON OF FEATURES
HIGH-LEVEL POINTS OF COMPARISON
HEURISTICS EVALUATION
Uncovering Critical Usability Issues in the TeamCarts App
A heuristics evaluation of TeamCarts identified 11 usability issues potentially affecting the user experience.
These can be addressed with minor changes and redesign. We focused on the key features: Onboarding, Cart Creation, Curation, and Sharing.
TeamCarts requires attention to critical errors and a stronger focus on user-friendliness.
The two most critical issues include:
1) Onboarding & Login
The app freezes after completing the sign-up process, forcing users to exit and relaunch the app. In addition, logging out and returning to the app makes users repeat the one-time sign-up process from step one.
SEVERITY: High - Needs Immediate Attention.
EFFORT: High - Investigation, design, time, or resource needed.
FIX: Investigate and delegate resources to fix the sign-in slides for returning users.
IMPORTANCE: Negative first impressions, discourages continued use.
Fig. 1
Screen freezes after completing the sign-up steps.
Fig. 2
Users logging out of the app.
Fig. 3
Returning users have to repeat sign-up steps.
2) Flaws in UI Elements & Writing Errors
There are incomplete interface elements, obscured buttons and features, absence of back buttons, and errors in spelling and grammar, as well as inconsistent use of spelling (American vs Canadian English).
SEVERITY: Low to Moderate - Causes inconvenience to users.
EFFORT: Low to Moderate - Quick design and spelling/grammar fixes.
FIX: Investigate and delegate resources to fix/add UI elements and use a spell-check tool to ensure correct spelling.
IMPORTANCE: Negative first impressions, discouraging continued use.
Fig. 1
Options are obscructed by 'continue' button.
Fig. 2
Numerous screens are missing a back button.
Fig. 4
Users can edit cart name and description.
Fig. 5
Keyboard obstructs whole view when editing cart information.
Fig. 3
Horizontal menus don't let users know to scroll.
Fig. 6
Spelling errors on various screens.
STAKEHOLDER INTERVIEW
Understanding TeamCarts' Hypothesized Audience
To get a baseline understanding of the app's target audience for creation and marketing, we interviewed TeamCarts' founder Alykhan Kara, and Sarah Tkalec, responsible for marketing and content creation (Instagram and TikTok).
Insights helped define the target audience profile- further validated through literature reviews and additional user interviews, ensuring alignment with their motivations, behaviors, and evolving preferences.
📅 TeamCarts Timeline
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3 Years Ago: Conducted initial Interviews to validate the need for TeamCarts.
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2 Years Ago: Paused development for another project.
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1 Year Ago: Resumed development and conducted 15-20 additional interviews.
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Ongoing: Social media engagement and insights gathering.
👥 Target Audience Profile
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Age Groups: Gen Z: 18-24 and Millennials: 25-43.
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Gender: Primarily Female.
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Interests: Relationships, Social Media, Collaborative Shopping, Shared Decision-Making.
🧠 Users' Preferences, Behaviours & Motivations
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Social Shoppers: Engaged in social media and value recommendations.
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Authenticity Seekers: Prefer trusted recommendations, not influencer marketing.
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Consumer-focused: Highly value opinions from friends and partners.
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Collaborative Shoppers: Enjoy shopping together.
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Organized Shoppers: Value tools for tracking purchases.
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Tech-hesitant Shoppers: Frustrated by technical issues and poor user experiences.
ANALYTICS
Understanding the Initial User Engagement and Usage Patterns
Alykhan provided us with initial statistics on TeamCarts which helped us gain insights into user behavior, crucial for identifying areas to improve the user journey leading to a better experience and increased engagement.
📊 Analytics Summary
500 App Downloads
Baseline of potential user base and marketing effectiveness.
App Downloads Primarily from Instagram Marketing and Ads
Insight into successful acquisition channels.
On Average, Each User Shares 3 Carts
Reflects engagement with core functionality.
30% of Downloads Don't Complete Cart Creation
Potential onboarding/UX issues to address.
High Drop-off After 1-2 Carts Made
Identify friction points in the user journey.
📌 Key Takeaways & Next Steps
Address Drop-offs After 1-2 Carts
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Simplify the process or provide incentives to encourage continued engagement.
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Use insights to improve onboarding, UI, and key features.
Tailor Communication and Engagement Strategies
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Leverage user behavior data to personalize outreach.
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Target users who drop off after 1-2 carts with re-engagement messages or efforts.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Mastering Social Commerce for Gen Z and Millennials
We reviewed existing social commerce and user engagement research to enhance TeamCarts' audience connection. Through our holistic, research-backed approach, we had 2 key objectives to guide our design decisions.
🎯 01. Refine TeamCarts' Target Audience
Target Audience: Gen Z (12-27) and
Millennials (28-43)
Overview of Target Audience Findings
Values: Trust, self-expression, inclusivity, sustainability, and affordability
Motivations: Interested in self-presentation, identity, and social commerce
Behaviors: Seek frictionless shopping, value social ties, and active on social media
Further Breakdown
Gen Z is more active in social commerce than Millennials.
Women are more engaged in social commerce than men.
Men have a more linear approach to shopping.
Women are more emotionally driven and active online.
🚀 Actionable Insights
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User Interviews: Recruit mix of Gen Z + Millennial participants with higher concentration of Gen Z and women.
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The Discussion Guide: Should validate and elaborate on the literature review findings.
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User Interviews: Explore gaps in the literature, such as social shopping environments and journeys for a comprehensive understanding of the social commerce landscape.
🎯 02. Draft an Effective Engagement Strategy
Strategies for Improving User Engagement
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We identified 4 strategies but Gamification emerged as the key strategy for improving user engagement.
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Gamification uses game-like elements to increase user participation.
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Nir Eyal's Hook Model explains how habits are formed through gamification.
🚀 Actionable Insights
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Incorporate Hook Model’s Key Pillars: Triggers, Actions, Variable Rewards, and Investment into app’s core functionality to enhance user experience and encourage habit-forming engagement.
USER INTERVIEWS
Exploring TeamCarts' Target Demographic and Unlocking New Insights
Our goal with user interviews was to deepen our understanding of TeamCarts' target audience and fill gaps in the literature review. We focused on users' shopping behaviors, motivations, and experiences. Key themes included social proof, sustainability, frugality, and the analog experience.
These insights validated our earlier findings and provided valuable data for future development.
👥 Participants & Recruiting
We conducted user interviews with 5 participants. This sample size, recommended by Jakob Nielsen, allowed us to gather significant insights. We focused on Millennials and Gen Z, with a higher proportion of women. We recruited participants through personal networks. This diverse pool of Millennials and Gen Z was targeted using a screener survey.
🔍 Summary of Key Findings
All use social media for shopping inspiration and exploration.
Despite age/gender, all shared similar behaviors and preferences.
All rely on social proof, for decision-making and share products with friends/family to inform purchases.
Singles trust their own opinions; those in relationships value their partner's input.
4 out of 5 prefer brick-and-mortar stores to online shopping.
All prioritize ethical standards and personal values in shopping.
All are budget-conscious and factor costs into their research.
All use phones for social engagement during downtime.
Empathy Map of the Ideal Target Audience
This map of TeamCarts' ideal target audience synthesizes our research findings. It aims to help empathize with users' motivations, pain points, behaviours, and experiences, ensuring a user-centered design approach.
(Click to Enlarge)
PHASE 03. IDEATE & CONCEPTUALIZE 💭
Strategizing Design Concepts By Aligning Business and User Needs
Before we began the design process, we reflected on our research to strategize design concepts for TeamCarts by creating lean and value proposition canvases and mapping the user journey.
This helped position the business within the social commerce landscape and align business and user needs to design engaging solutions.
Lean Canvas Model
This one-page tool is designed for startups and entrepreneurs. It helped us focus on core aspects of the business idea, including the problems it solves, target customers, and solutions it offers. It also considers assumptions about the target audience to ensure the design delivers meaningful value and benefits to users.
(Click to Enlarge)
Value Proposition Canvas
This canvas is the center of the business idea; a clear and concise statement of why the product matters to the target audience. It goes beyond features and highlights the benefits that solve users' problems and improve their lives. Value prop. helps refine the lean canva- focusing on what products and services truly resonate with the users.
(Click to Enlarge)
User Journey Map
This map is a visual representation of the path users need to take to accomplish a goal. It helps communicate the user experience, uncovers pain points, and identifies opportunities to improve the overall experience.
(Click to Enlarge)
Journey of Social Commerce Consumers
The journey of social commerce consumers is non-linear and an infinite loop. The steps taken are not obligated to any specific order; for example, 'vetting' can lead to further exploration, while 'discovery' may skip directly to the collection stage. Consumers move freely between different stages, revisiting steps as needed.
This loop allows for loyalty and repeat purchases, keeping consumers engaged with the platform.
Prioritization Matrix
To streamline our sketching efforts, we mapped six actionable insights from our research initiative in a priority matrix. This matrix visualizes the importance of each insight based on feasibility and priority, indicating their value to users and the effort required by our team for implementation.
Low-Fidelity Sketches
We created simplified sketches to illustrate the product's layout and functionality; using a priority matrix to guide our sketching activities effectively. To encourage creativity and diverse solutions, we used a “Crazy 8s” activity, resulting in sketches that were voted on by our team and approved by the client.
Organized by existing features and areas of opportunity, these sketches depict potential user flows and a variety of layout options for specific features or screens.
Onboarding
Sign In:
Option to sign in via other social media and Google accounts
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Profile Creation:
Build profile via survey with bio info like age and gender to help users personalize experience
User Preferences:
Users can assert their values and preferences via survey like questions, to tailor experience
Identify Collaborators:
Users can establish collaborators, could utilize their phone contacts, the process can also be gamified
Tutorial:
Users can watch a video/demo to learn how to use TeamCarts and create first cart
In-Cart Chat + Collaboration
Cart Creation:
Users can create a cart via 'add' button. They can also access and edit older carts via the navigation
Pop-up Share Feature:
Pop-up feature to quickly share cart with friends in TeamCarts or external apps
for feedback or to collaborate on a cart
In-Cart Chat:
Bringing the chat feature to the next level, having an “In-Cart” chat is an option to vet products in context
PHASE 04. DESIGN & VALIDATE ✅
Designing for Success & Maximum User Satisfaction
We developed 3 user-centered design concepts using key research insights to improve engagement and satisfaction, collaborating with the client to review and select 1 concept that best aligns with user and business goals.
The 3 concepts we presented are:
1) A Robust Onboarding Experience (Onboarding A)
Onboarding A offers a more user-friendly onboarding process to seamlessly guide users through sign-up and setup, personalizing their in-app experience and boosting confidence from the start.
This approach aims to reduce cart abandonment and enhance user engagement. We stuck with the Hook strategy to incorporate a game-like element in the ‘Invite your Inner Circle’ screen, increasing participation and satisfaction.
The enhancements made to this onboarding process include:
A New Welcome Page:
Informs users about what the app is and its offerings
Additional Sign-in Methods:
Facebook, X, Google, and Apple
New Profile Creation Page:
Collects username. birthdate, gender identity, and location
A Quick Survey:
Get to know user better through their shopping values
'Invite Your Friends' Page:
Encourage users to invite friends to collaborate and earn points
A ‘How To’ Page:
Displays video demonstrations of how to use the TeamCarts app
2) Pared-Down Onboarding (Onboarding B)
Onboarding B is the same as Onboarding A but offers a more streamlined experience that complements our robust process. This approach enhances early engagement by allowing users to skip non-essential steps and start using the app quickly; with personalization available later. A 'Skip for Now' feature reduces page clutter and login time, minimizing drop-offs and ensuring users reach the app homepage faster.
The enhancements made to this onboarding process include:
A 'Skip for Now' Feature:
Allows users to skip non-essential steps
A Pop-up Message:
Informs users that they can complete skipped steps later on
3) In-Cart Chat Feature (CHOSEN CONCEPT)
To foster community, we incorporated an in-app chat feature that allows users to connect with their inner circle while shopping within the context of their carts. This interactive element enhances user satisfaction by enabling real-time discussions to help with shopping choices and peer feedback, keeping users engaged and reducing cart abandonment.
The client chose this concept as a creative opportunity to differentiate their offerings & add value.
The design features of the in-cart chat include:
INITIAL DESIGN:
Link to ‘Chats’ in the Nav:
Allows users to quickly access their chats
In-Cart Chatroom:
Chat about whole cart or create thread to discuss individual item
Social Proof:
Users can give thumbs up or down as quick feedback on item
Collapsable Threads:
Collapse or expand threads to focus on an item/declutter chat
PHASE 05. USABILITY TEST & REFINE 🔄
Validating In-Cart Chat Through User Testing
After reviewing the chosen concept, the client had questions about its integration with the cart. Initially, the chat was fully integrated into the cart screen, but the high-fidelity mockup separated them due to mobile constraints, losing the original context and reducing user experience and business value
We decided to use user testing as a co-creation opportunity to ideate and validate the chat's integration within the cart, ensuring we maintain both user experience and business value while addressing usability concerns.
User Testing Goals and Insights
Goal 1: Uncover Usability Issues Concerning Discoverability, Efficiency, and Consistency
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Poor discoverability for chat.
Goal 2: Identify Chat Information Architecture Integrating Cart and Chat
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Control over collaborators for co-creating carts, sharing carts, and chatting within the cart.
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Integrated cart-based chat with dedicated discussion threads for specific items.
Goal 3: Identify Chat Features to Motivate Engagement and Prolong Usage
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Need for contextual information on items.
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Most enticing features: swapping cart items, receiving notifications, price matching, and product recommendations.
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Gamifying the chat with points/rewards will motivate engagement.
User Testing Methodology
TESTING TOOL:
RECRUITMENT: To maximize the impact of the user interviews and foster a sense of investment in the new design, we chose to test, co-create, and recruit from the original interview participants.
PARTICIPANTS:
Tested Prototype
Heatmaps of participants finding in-cart chat
PHASE 06. FINAL DESIGN 📱
The final design enhances user engagement and aligns with project goals to provide value to TeamCarts. The in-cart chat feature promotes user participation and encourages prolonged app usage. Our iterative user testing and research ensured a user-centric design with intuitive UI elements and seamless functionality.
Create New Cart + Invite Collaborators
Users can start by creating a new cart and inviting peers to collaborate.
Share Cart + Invite Collaborators
When seeking opinions, users can share their curated carts with friends and family, as well as invite users to collaborate on creating a cart.
Swap Items in Cart Chat
Users are able to efficiently swap items in cart-specific chats.
Adding Items to Chat + Cart
Users can paste product links in the chat, with the ability to add them to their chat-specific cart.
PHASE 07. LESSONS LEARNED 🎓
Key Project Takeaways & Lessons Learned
Communication, prioritization, and being goal-oriented are key to combating busy schedules and newness to work.
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One obstacle we faced was coordinating our busy schedules while adjusting to the work. We overcame this with efficient communication channels, prioritizing tasks, and familiarizing ourselves with the project.
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Teamwork is essential, so we took time to understand each other’s strengths to help navigate challenges effectively.
Pairing multiple different sketching activities is conducive to getting ideas down and not getting stuck.
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Surprisingly, many found it challenging to produce eight sketches during the Crazy 8s exercise to quickly generate due to time constraints and the app's underdeveloped features, which led to overlaps with existing functionalities.
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Pairing various sketching activities may allow more time for idea generation while keeping progress on track.
You get out from user testing what you put in.
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Well-planned testing yields valuable insights for informed design decisions.
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Functionality often outweighs aesthetics for users. as in our user test, they chose a text-based chat button over the more visually appealing message icon button.
