The Prompt
As a division within a larger theoretical agency, our team was commissioned to design a solution within a problem space of our choosing. For future brand integration, we were to select a potential company that would align with our mission.
Our Challenge
Delving into the space of gift giving, our UX team set out to find how we might facilitate meaningful connections by expanding the definition of gifts beyond product based items. At the conclusion, we pitched our proposal to internal stakeholders.
A one stop shop that enables you to gift unique local items, experiences and services. Discover and plan for everyone in your circle with personal information and reminders.
UX Toolbox
User Interviews
Researching gift giving and receiving....
We started by creating questions that would help us understand the user's experience with gift giving, gift receiving, along with their biggest pain points that come with this process. Our team then conducted 7 interviews to gather data about the users' experience and pain points when searching, planning, and executing during this process. The purpose of the interviews was to gather data to synthesize and understand the users' mental model while looking for presents for their loved ones.
Affinity Mapping
I statements
Preferences: "I have specific preferences when it comes to giving/receiving gifts."
Behavior: "“The amount of time, effort and money I spend depends on who is receiving the gift."
Pain Points: “I can never find the perfect meaningful gift in time.”
Gift Card Opinions: “I make it a general rule not to give gift cards because they are impersonal."
Asking for Gifts: “Unless I know them very well, I feel awkward asking someone directly I expect a gift."
Favorite Holiday: “I like Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.”
Definition of a Gift: “I think a gift is something with thought behind it.”
Frequency: “I purchase/receive gifts 2-3 times a year.”
Sustainable/Locally Sourced/Handmade: “Where and how an item is made is extremely important to me.”
Experience/Quality Time: “I love gifting memories, especially ones that I can join in on.”
Functional: “Finding a gift that is useful and of value to who I am giving it to is so hard.”
Brainstorm
Search
Discover
Gift
"I can never find the perfect meaningful gift in time."
Victoria
Software Engineer
33 years old
New York City
Persona
Meet Victoria! She has a large inner circle and cares deeply about her loved ones. It takes her a lot of time and energy to find just the right gift.
Goals
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To give thoughtful, unique local handcrafted items
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Spend quality time and gift experiences she can join
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Give acts of service/gifts just because, not only on special occasions
Needs
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Businesses or platforms where she can find affordable local items
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Needs reminders for her inner circle of gift giving
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To include personalized handwritten notes/artwork with her gifts
Frustrations
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Cannot afford the handmade gifts she wants to buy
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Feels awkward telling people what she wants for a gift
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Finding a gift that is useful and of value to her friends and family
User Journey
Brainstorm
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Her classmate's social media is not updated
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No idea what to gift
Join Victoria on her journey. Her old classmate, Maya, is moving to New York City. She decides to find her a gift to welcome her to the city.
Insights
While users like to both give and receive gifts, some had a preference of one over the other.
Users dictate the level of effort, budget, and timing on who is the receiving party.
Gift givers struggle with coming up with unique, tailored gifts and giving them in a timely manner.
Even though convenient, users don't like giving gift cards because they think they are impersonal.
Recipients feel awkward and think it takes away meaning when directly expressing that they want a specific gift.
Even though people give gifts all year, people have a preference for certain celebrations.
People perceive a gift as something that was thought out.
People generally get and receive gifts for birthdays and holidays.
Users are concerned about sustainability and supporting local businesses/artisans.
People prefer experiences as gifts more than material items.
People usually prefer to buy and receive gifts that have longevity and meaning.
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Revised Problem Statement
How might we create a space where gift-givers, like Victoria, and their personal network can communicate information to curate gifts beyond just products?
Market Analysis
Competitive and Comparative Analysis....
Our team employed a Competitive Feature Analysis chart to determine what other business in the same market space are offering to their users in relation to the product we hoped to design. A Comparative feature analysis mapped out businesses that use the same business model as Givvy but are different in scope. Having this comparison represented visually allowed us to prioritize and narrow our focus on what to include on our site.
Competitive
Takeaways
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Givvy was going to be sure to include the following feature used by our competitors: personal profiles, search and filters.
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Givvy looks to offer social media API, geo tagging and service gifts as some other competitors offered. However, it looks to offer experience gifts to distinguish itself.
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In the future, Givvy would consider building links to e-commerce websites, having wish lists and creating social media sharing capabilities.
Comparative
Takeaways
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Givvy was going to be sure to include the following feature used by comparative business models: curated feeds, geo logistics, shipping and suggestions.
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Givvy looks to offer local artisan/business catalogs and local events and themed offerings as some other comparators offer. To distinguish itself from these other businesses it hopes to offer reminders for social circles and themed offering based on recipient preferences.
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In the future, Givvy would consider building direct vendor communication and a rewards program.
Brand Alliance
Brand Partnerships that align with Givvy's values....
After working through design studio and getting an idea of how we wanted to organize and segment our main features, our last step, before building the first iteration of the website, was to clearly establish what product principles we wanted to uphold. Similarly, our team researched how both Etsy and AirBnb were potentially aligned with our business goals and how we could compliment each other.
Givvy's Product Principles
Local
Businesses and Artisans
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Handmade custom items by local artisans
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Recommendations based on users interest
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Highlight minority owned businesses
Local
Experiences
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Offers unique experiences, not just hosting
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Extensive database of experiences based on location
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Book experiences by filtering
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Landing page: Sign-up
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Navigation bar: Friends and Family
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Navigation bar: Calendar
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Profile set-up:
Basic info and Social Media imports
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Profile set-up:
Preferences among Experiences, Services and Services
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Profile set-up:
Favorite Brands
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Maya's Profile:
Favorite Brands w/
alternative local Givvy suggestions
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Maya's Profile:
Favorite Experiences w/
alternative local Givvy suggestions
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Gift Bag View:
Checkout call to action
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Gift Bag View:
Checkout confirmation
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Calendar:
Gift arrival, Significant dates of friends
Friends and Family:
Listed Connections
Brand detail page:
Offerings
Mid-Fidelty Annotations
Greyscale mock-ups of Givvy website
Usability Test
Mid fidelity prototype
Insights and Recommendations
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Friends and Family section on the home page was the first place users went to when asked to find a specific person, rather than the “Friends and Family” tab.
>> Change the “Friends” box feature on the Home page to “Upcoming” to give users announcements as opportunities to give gifts. Rather than a confusing secondary pathway to the overall social circle.
>> Make name and photo clickable
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Most users had difficulty with “checkout” window and expected access to their cart after completion.
>> Add “view cart” option to checkout popup and cart button to top navigation bar
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Copy on various areas of the site made task completion difficult, particularly during profile sign-up and understanding differences between experience and product gifts.
>> Revise site copy
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Most users wanted to see the calendar feature as a part of their own profile page.
>>Relocating the calendar functionality from being an independent tab in the navigation bar to becoming a section within the user’s profile.
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Within the Friends and Family section, most users had trouble understanding the layout and list view of the list members, it was difficult to navigate and find the people they were looking for. >>Adding a search functionality within the Friends and Family tab for easy search of specific individuals, along with the capability to filter through members via important events, birthdays, location, etc.
1
Landing page: Sign-up/Login
2
Landing page: Gift Bag
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Navigation bar: Friends
4
Navigation bar:
My Profile
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Upcoming:
Events and gifts on the horizon
6
Profile set-up:
Basic info and Social Media imports
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Profile set-up:
Favorite Brands
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11
Maya's Profile:
Favorite Brands w/
alternative local Givvy suggestions
12
Maya's Profile:
Favorite Experiences w/
alternative local Givvy suggestions
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Event detail page:
Book Event
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Gift Bag View/
Event Added:
Explore more
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Gift Bag View/
Event Added:
Add to Bag
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Gift Bag View/
Event in Bag:
Explore More
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Gift Bag View/
Event in Bag:
Check Out
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Confirmation:
Done call to action
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Victoria's Profile:
Basic Info
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Victoria's Profile:
Calendar, gift arrival
Profile set-up:
Preferences among Experiences, Services and Services
Profile set-up:
Favorite Hobbies
Friends:
Listed Connections
Brand detail page:
Offerings
Brand detail page:
Add to cart
Gift Bag View/
Item Added:
Explore more
Gift Bag View/
Item Added:
Continue
Gift Bag View/
Item in Bag:
Explore More
Gift Bag View/
Item in Bag:
Check Out
High-Fidelty Annotations
Final mock-ups of Givvy website
Usability Test
High fidelity prototype
Insights and Recommendations
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When selecting an item to purchase, the selected item is not clear its actually selected
>> Instead of graying out the selected item, adding a border or making it more obvious that it has been selected and added to cart.
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Maya’s profile seemed very busy and hard to look through, users had a hard time even remembering the task as soon as they got to her page.
>> Reevaluate the current hierarchy and segmentation of the categories to make it more digestible and action focused.
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Most users took some time to understand where certain tools were, specifically the calendar, which leads us to understand that there is a somewhat steep learning curve for the website.
>> Evaluate the option of adding a short tool walk through/tour of the website’s functionalities to help users get the most out of the features.
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Almost all users expressed confusion on the copy and wording of certain sections, specifically in Maya’s profile and check out process.
>>Rewrite the text to more straightforward sentences.
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From the home page, it wasn't obvious what the website offered, there was no writing or “slogan” to base their assumptions on.
>>Adding Givvy’s value proposition/business statement potentially on top of the main hero image so users are reassured of how we can help them.
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Overall, all users expressed their interest in the tool, shared that they would most likely create an account due to the ease of the process and enjoyable questions, and see the value of using the website. This helps us understand that the need is there and now is a matter of refining the layout for a more seamless experience.
Key Performance Indicators
Metrics for our brand partners and stakeholders
The Google Heart Framework is used to help focus on specific aspects of the user experience we want to monitor on the Givvy website. By identifying concrete goals and user experience metrics our potential partners and investors have a way to gauge performance as time progresses.
Google HEART
Conclusions and Recommendations
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Run further usability testing on the high-fidelity prototype to make sure it's ready for launch
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Once launched, a collection of the metrics we just went over will provide the information we need to go into the next iteration of the site
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Incorporate shipping company API's so users of the site can more easily track their orders
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Consider database integration of our recommended local stores for users
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As more people engage with the platform, the functionality of the site will be refined in order to give more tailored content for users