Focal

online camera store

Introduction: Videographers & photographers come to Focal’s website for all their A/V needs. It’s a site that appeals to them but, like many buyers, the buying process can be interrupted. Focal wanted to improve its metrics for mobile web customers completing checkout, as cart abandonment rates were too high. They also wanted to capture the email of new customers, and so that remained a priority during this design project. The goal was to create a flow that spurs the customer on through checkout with minimal steps while also eliminating obstacles or confusion that could halt or deter the checkout process.

After compiling some research documentation & formulating a research plan, I synthesized the information to establish which solutions to employ. Choosing to follow the established paths that were present on these competitor websites, I began to assemble my flow chart with a guest checkout option that captured the customer's email.

Normally I would have sketched out some ideas before moving on but, given the smaller scope of this project and shorter timeline, I moved directly to my low-fi designs. Again, these ideas relied heavily upon established web layout that seemed consistent across established online retailers.

I did my first round of testing using the wireframes, just to establish my ideas and sort out any discrepancies before moving on. Feedback was relatively minor, but they were enough to implement some changes as I moved closer to working on my hi-fi designs. But first, I took some time to improve my logo design since it felt a bit lacking against the rest of the elements that were coming together.

After a second round of testing, I was able to put my final iterations into place. There was a lot of fine-tuning involved to reach the finished look of the final designs, but no major changes to the general layout of my initial wireframes.

Keeping Focused During Checkout

The Problem: Data showed that 50% of users open on average 7 item pages and then abandon the site without moving any items into the cart. Additionally, 70% of users who place an item in the cart do not purchase. Data shows that users abandon the cart at the registration page.

The Solution: Design product pages and listings that have clear motivations to add items to cart, or at the very least put them into a wish list. Currently, users must make an account to purchase, but Focal would like to design a guest checkout process that still captures the customer’s email.

The Designer’s Role: My approach to solving for the problems Focal is experiencing include making a clean design that highlights the product images, pricing & “add to cart” buttons. Once customers have selected the item(s) they desire, then a simple guest checkout option will be designed with a simple flow with as few pages and form fields as possible to get them through to purchase with ease.

Design Process & Journey: My first step was to do some competitive research, looking at how some of the best-known online camera stores design their product pages and checkout flows. While there were a lot of similarities between these other companies, I was able to latch on to the core features that highlight the product and the action steps necessary once the customer is ready to buy.

Key Findings & Conclusions: While not quite a sprint, this project overall felt like it went by quite quickly compared to past one. The designs are the most detailed I’ve had to create, even though the flow was relatively narrow and straightforward. I also found on this project that my test subjects had little to say in the way of improvements, which I think has more to do with the established style I chose to follow rather than any ideas I came up with on my own. This project was one of those where the changes were minimal, and really it was only matter of adding something (guest checkout) to a process that otherwise flows very well and that consumers are familiar & comfortable with.