Walter's Clothing
Bringing Atlanta’s iconic Walter’s Clothing back to life online
Overview:
Walter’s Clothing was founded in 1952 and has made a commitment to be a fashion trailblazer to Atlanta’s culture and community. The reputable clothing and sneaker store has provided the city with the newest releases and most popular products.
While navigating through the website of Walter’s Clothing, the consumers felt overwhelmed finding products whether they were just browsing or interested in a particular item. The products and certain navigation buttons were hard to locate, and the checkout system failed to allow consumers to make purchases without a membership commitment.
Most importantly, the redesign of this conceptual project ensured Walter’s Clothing had a stronger online presence through simple global navigation and a simple checkout system while also maintaining the brand values and mission – community.
The Problem
Customers need the ability to get straight to the products they want along with purchasing the product through an instant checkout process because they are shopping for something specific and get overwhelmed when the process is not quick and easy. Consumers feel they are spending a significant amount of time on the website because there is a lack of organization of products and their best option is clicking around the website and hope they come across the items they are looking for.
Current Experience
The Goal
I wanted shoppers to personalize their shopping experience by confidently searching, selecting, and purchasing the products they needed without confusion or frustration while optimizing usability all while showcasing community engagement, as well.
The Design Process
Usability testing was conducted during the initial interview process to better understand the frustrations behind the consumers navigating through products. Consistencies I heard synthesizing interview insights included:
Frustrations when having to create an account to shop or make a purchase
The lack of ability to search for the exact product desired
Anger when navigating through the website
The need to narrow down products on a page
Based on the insights, card sorting results and creation of a user flow, I was able to create wireframes to better represent the needs of the consumers.
The Redesign
ORGANIZATION Categories allow the consumers to see the most relevant products while jumping right to the products they’re searching for. I created global navigation categories based on a card sorting evaluation I conducted which optimized the visibility of product availability.
SEARCH ABILITY Allowing our consumers to control their search for a product allows for quicker product search and adding it to cart through keyword recognition.
ELIMINATION Narrowing down product search by specific preferences helps our consumers get to their desired products quicker without hassle through effective filters.
GUEST EXPERIENCE Our redesign included allowing consumers to checkout as guests as we consistently heard the frustration of mandatory membership signups.
Reflection
Consumers were able to complete a purchase within 7 clicks while utilizing categories, search bar and filters. The success of Walter's online presence through more features such as an option to sort products, a mobile application for shoppers to make purchases on-the-go, and through social media engagements to ensure community is the priority for Walter's Clothing.