Introduce User Experience to the organisation and re-design and optimise the existing E-commerce site.
Made.com – Head of Digital User Experience Remit
I was brought in by the CTO to head up the Digital Experience group. He was aware of the shortcomings of the Website and App in terms of user experience. He needed someone with extensive experience in introducing UX as a function and capable of building a Digital Experience Team that would incorporate Product, Customer Relationship Management, Visual Design as well as UX. I was originally to take on the role of establishing User Experience before looking at the wider Digital Experience remit.
The existing experience
Originally there was a confusing mixture of navigation and filtering options on the site, which meant certain product types were hidden.
Situation
The organisation had a history of thinking about design in terms of the online experience largely about aesthetics. Consequently, there was significant work to be done from a user experience point of view. Little to no research into customers’ attitudes or needs had been conducted. The Product team made functional design decisions and the visual branding team effectively concentrated on aesthetics.
The original work that required focus was the website which needed a significant overhaul from an experience point of view. This view was accepted and willingly acknowledged by many areas, however not untypically there was identifiable resistance from some that needed careful management throughout the process.
Initial work to be completed
The work to be done was extensive, it would include:
- New site Information Architecture and Navigation Design
- New Homepage – Structural design
- Creation of 2 levels of new site category landing page templates
- Improved Product pages (with the incorporation of key product information)
- Work to better incorporate SEO into the site
- Strategy for connecting the online experience with the showroom experience
- Improved search experience to intelligently incorporate landing pages
Building Relationships with key resources and stakeholders
In order to support the development of the necessary areas of improvement – I created detailed mid-fidelity wireframe designs and worked with key members of the Customer Experience team including the Product Managers, Visual Designers and Developers to get them delivered successfully.
In this initial period, I also did a significant amount of work across the business building strategic relationships with key personnel including key:
- The CEO, CTO and CCO
- Product Heads of the various departments
- International Heads of Sales Teams
- Showroom sales teams
- Marketing and Content Teams