Austin & Elkins
The Problem?
Austin & Elkins is a well-respected and established Alexandria-based jewelry company. Being around for the past 30 years has allowed them to maintain a solid client base, but there has been an increase in business with a younger generation. With this new growing client base and the pandemic, Austin & Elkins realized their website was unresponsive and did not reflect their business’ branding or their high-quality presentation standards.
My Role: UX/UI Designer.
Duration: 2 weeks
Tools: Figma, Adobe XD, Figma,Miro, Trello
Team: 3 UX Designers
BREAKING DOWN THE PROCESS
User Research
Right away, we scheduled a meeting with Robin not only to set up times frames and define deliverables, but to also take the time to get to know her, her business, and her goals for this project a little better.
Key Findings
Likes
Personal experience for the users.
Clear explanation of custom design process.
Details about the jewelry.
Inaccurate photos of the jewelry.
Text-heavy sites.
Poor time estimates.
Confusing navigation items.
Dislikes
Needs
Trustworthy jeweler.
A unique website that draws users.
A site that is easy to navigate.
User Persona
Journey Map
User Testing
Our team was glad we tested the wireframes, because we received a lot of good feedback on how to improve it. Users told us that having two CTAs on each page made it seem too "pushy," thought the hierarchy of the homepage should be rearranged to better showcase the values of Austin & Elkins, and the "Jewelry" page title was confusing since it was only a gallery and no option to make a purchase.
With the feedback we received, another team member and I set out to create a high fidelity wireframe. Designing a layout with all of the feedback we received was its own challenge, but trying to also incorporate the client's wishes of keeping it "clean, simple, and elegant" made it a little more difficult. The team wanted to respect the wishes of our client, yet keep the website from looking too "flat" or "dull." After creating a few versions and with the feedback of other designers, the final prototype was complete.
Sketches
Desktop Prototype
Mobile High-Fi Prototype
For the Future:
Having the opportunity to work with an actual client was nerve-racking, yet so rewarding at the same time. The whole project felt like a balancing act with what the client desired and the data collected from our research. We learned quickly enough that in order to create the best product for both sides it was important to consistently communicate with the client and to advocate for the users using the research to support our choices. The few weeks we were given to complete this product from the first client meeting to building out the website for publication helped reinforce the tools I was taught.
If provided with the opportunity to continue this project, our team had some great ideas we would like to pursue.
1. Update the galleries with more pictures of jewelry.
2. Add details about each jewelry piece on the website.
3. Create more interactions on the site.