The sites main difficulty was identified as linguistic clarity with this affecting multiple elements of the site and having a broad impact on usability. Ambiguously worded calls to action/navigation options and a lack of text structured for scanning, made information gathering a chore for users.

Navigating the site, especially in relation to browsing products, was identified as a likely pain point for users. The navigation menu labelling used ambiguous copy and the grouping of elements was not the most intuitive or learnable.

The site presented an unclear/incomplete mental model of what services were offered, which had an additional cost or were included in purchase and of the buying process.

Ambiguity with calls to action and navigation copy, led to the site not being the most predictable in places, especially when trying to move towards conversion.

Key Findings

The Top Recommendations

Make the information architecture of the site more intuitive by ensuring pages are grouped logically and use unambiguous wording in navigation menu.

Information architecture was a particular issue with product pages as the product types had little structure. A suggested solution was to unify products under one heading and have products displayed in a mega menu style dropdown, giving space for categorisation of products into logical sections and offering different conceptual groupings of products e.g.: ‘product by room/area’. Running a card sort task was also suggested if taking this forward, to ensure the users mental model of product categorisation was met.

1

From the research findings I developed recommendations for the client to best address these issues. The images used here are mock prototypes made to communicate the recommendation and reduce ambiguity but were not held to be a set aim at this stage (because of NDA restrictions some information has been removed as requested by the client).

Reduce work for the user and prioritise their aims, to improve product browsing experience.

2

This recommendation focused on removing friction between the user and their aim and trusting the user's intentions when they choose to navigate to product pages.

Giving product category pages and ‘Product by room/area’ pages, usable sub categories as options to filter products.
Making product offering as immediate accessible as possible (above fold) and prioritise images of products.
Giving enough information on product pages for users to identify products that match their need (Brand, customisation options etc...)
Refocus navigation to prioritise product browsing while on product pages (don't hide main product options in drop downs)

4

The site had moved away from direct e-commerce but had not added the necessary infrastructure to make the new ordering process clear. Adding in clear conversion routes on product pages and adding an FAQ and How to order/our ordering process page, to give a dedicated space for pertinent information was proposed.

An overall review of text about products/services to ensure the site used clear and consistent language to discuss the different service options, was also suggested.

Reducing ambiguity regarding what was included in product purchase vs extra services and presenting a clear picture of the ordering and post conversion process

3

Make product pages functional as landing pages.

Many users were landing directly on specific product page, so it was important to ensure the users understood where they were in the user journey and could navigate onwards. The layout of product pages was recommended to stay consistent across all products and use conventions from B2C sites, to aid learnability and easy comparison across products.

Using navigation techniques like breadcrumb navigation and having quick answers available for decision relevant information on the product pages was also suggested.

Analytics

Google analytics were used to start to identify how the site was performing and how users were behaving on the site.

Research Questions going in=

How are users moving through the site?
How are users entering the site? And where are they going next?
What pages are they visiting most? Where are users spending most time?
What paths to conversion are users utilising?

Now with a general foundation of what was expected in the industry, I used Google analytics to start to identify how the site was preforming and how users were behaving on the site.

Key Findings

The home page had an above average time on page for the site. Potentially showing users may not be finding what they’re looking for.

Although the home page was the most visited page, the majority of users entered the site through product pages. Indicating an intention of product browsing and highlighting a need for clear navigation/orientation from these pages.

The site search function was being used to look up specific product names. Reiterating the focus-on product browsing as a key desire, and indicating a level of knowledge about products.

The contact page had a lot of through traffic, with many users returning to look at products or the home page without interacting with it. As the key means of converting, this suggested users may not be finding what they expected on the page, not understand the route to conversion.

Heuristics

Having established a more complete view of user behaviours, a deeper look was taken at the websites design, through a heuristic assessment and cognitive walkthrough.

Weinschenk and Barker’s 20 heuristics were selected to give a broad lens of exploration, and an opportunity to catch assumptions in the scope of the research by using an existing framework of measurement.

Using heuristics helped place the site in a frame of usability best practise and begin to move the processes towards thinking of the root course of pain points and potential design solutions.

Identifying the Problem

Before addressing the challenges users faced they had to be identified, this began by researching the B2B and office furniture industries to establish a foundation of empathy and understanding for engaging with the site.

Key Findings =

B2B Office Furniture Site

A B2B office furniture company was planning to update their site and a UX report with initial recommendations was commissioned as the first step of this process.

Project Context :

The site had moved from direct e-commerce to an enquire and quote system but had not redesigned their site considering the impact on users, resulting in an unsatisfying product browsing experience and an unclear conversion method.

Challenge

Prioritising the redevelopment of the information architecture and product pages to focus on the user’s journey and their key aims. Reviewing how the services/products are written about to remove ambiguous copy.

Solution

Designing the Solution

The ultimate deliverable in this instant was a report with written recommendations rather than a direct wireframes so points were more generalised. To developing the recommendations, I looked at best practise for the industry and multiple examples of competing sites.

A Prioritization Matrix was used to determine the relative feasibility and efficacy of the proposed action, the top 5 recommendations were communicated in an executive summary for the client. As changes made to the site were likely to be done in stages and the extent of the changes to be made had not been determined this was to help the actionability of the report’s findings and aid communication.

Comparative Analysis

A comparative analysis was completed to build a more specific picture of the local options for businesses and how the client’s site balanced against these.

Through this comparison some patterns became apparent that matched the pre-existing user feedback reviewed in the first stage of research, and highlighted potential routes to a competitive advantage for the client.

Looking at other sites that used the enquire and quote system, I also noted conventions in conversion steps, to gain an understanding of what users may be expecting.

When reviewing B2B furniture buying habits post pandemic, Staphaus found that B2B customers were bringing expectations from their B2C purchases, wanting a similar efficiency and presentation.

Despite an overall rise in online purchases, 52% of UK/US companies find buying on line frustrating and 89% thinking buying in person was less complicated. (Wunderman Thompson 2021 B2B report)

In their 2021 B2B Future Shopper Report, Wunderman Thompson surveyed 2,250+ buyers and noted that ‘finding products’ and getting ‘up-to-date information’ were key pain points.

User Profile

Research showed navigating the site and particularly browsing products as a difficult part of the process.

The home page did not help lead the user onto their task, with users seeming to get stuck on this page and it being very text heavy, with few CTA’s.

Specific product pages were inconsistent in lay out and did not give clear messaging on conversion steps, this contributed to an unclear product browsing experience at times.

Users developed a muddled mental model of what services were on offer, if they were free and what the conversion process was, this was primarily caused by ambiguous copy and a lack of information on some topics.

Pain Points

Research Analysis and Synthesis

Generalised aim:

To find furniture/service options that fulfil the needs of their business/employer/client.

What the users need from the site:

To be able to quickly and easily find decision relevant information about products and services (e.g.: do they deliver to our area? Is this product customisable?).
To be able to understand the purchasing process and post conversion steps (e.g.: delivery options, how to get a quote)

User Behaviours

B2B users have a set of requirements they are looking for when purchasing office furniture, this may be a literal list of needs set by a client or employer, including: budget, space constraints, function and aesthetics needs.

Users overwhelmingly used desktops to access the site, fitting with the work setting of their task.

It was shown that elements like customisability options are very important to B2B clients.

A portion of users were shown to be aware of specific product/brand names and using these to direct their intention, as seen in the use of the site search function.

When product browsing ‘room’ pages were popular as a first step or landing page e.g.: reception area, conference room.

User Needs

As the research information was gathered together an idea of the user/users began to develop. I decided to work with this data in the form of a user profile distinct from a user persona. As although user behaviour had been analysed directly, the project had limited ability to interrogate user motivation, and I felt a persona would obscure the data and act to motivate assumptions.

To further address this, and gain more insight into the ‘Why’s’ of the user, these questions were approached from our client’s side. Gathering feedback from the client about their interactions with clients/users, looking into:

How they received most orders?
What questions customers asked them most when interacting?
Did users have any assumptions when they ordered product? E.g. did they find themselves explaining something a lot?
How many products were users tending to buy at a time?

Gathering this information together with the research findings discussed above, insights and patterns in the data were used to construct a picture of users aims, context and behaviour.

As a B2B office furniture site 3 key types of intended users were identified:

Business owners (usually of small-midsized companies)
Employees on behalf of their company
Interior design agencies on behalf of a business client

These different user types have competing levels of investment in the task and expertise surrounding the task. But also share common attributes, for example that their operating in service of a business, that they may be looking at the site while at work (limited time), that the purchasing decision may not be solely led by their personal opinion (as with B2C).

Looking at the analytics allowed me to identify the user’s movements and see the actions they took. Gaining a direct view of how users were reacting to the site.

Although this did not reveal the reasons for their actions, some inferences could be made from behavioural patterns across a wide user base.

5

Optimise home page as a hub

Although not all users entered the site though the home page, the vast majority of users visited it, therefore its importance as a hub page was maintained.

The original layout of the home page was heavily text based and document like, in response to this it was suggested that:

Information that was important/valuable to the user and their decision was prioritised through placement and design prominence.
Make text approachable for user,
Place multiple calls to action/navigation options throughout the pages layout to help users move on to what they’re looking for