About Paridhi
Paridhi is an interactive e-commerce clothing website, specially designed to sell South Asian ethnic clothes online. The site focuses on selling Saree and related accessories. Saree is an ethnic garment that is mostly worn in South Asian countries like India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Nepal.
Project Summary:
Paridhi is a freelance studio project created to understand e-commerce website designs. The goal of the studio was to understand how to work with clients. Budgets/ time-frame plans were created to identify the scope of the project. I used this opportunity to design an online South Asian ethnic clothing website design. In addition, I explored various planning and branding options too.
The need
With the start of globalization, there is an upsurge in the number of Asian immigrants living internationally. According to the USA census 2018, 4 million Asians from India and 1 million people from Bangladesh, and Pakistan reside in the USA. Similarly, Canada accounts for 4 percent of the Indian population. This creates a demand for ethnic products.
Problem Statement
South Asian people staying in US, Canada struggle to find an online websites which provide them an easy way to shop online with quick delivery to their location.
Our Solution Proposal
Design an online website that helps people to shop for South Asian ethnic garments online.
The Design Process
Click on the image to move swiftly in different stages
Research
Performed User Interview, Competitive Analysis. Analyzed User stories.
Ideation-Test
Created Sketches, User flow diagrams, Low-fi diagrams. Performed Usability Testing.
Prototype
Created Hi fidelity prototypes. Showed app benefits through high fidelity prototypes
Final Takeaway/ Brand
Provided Final Takeways. Designed Logos Prepared marketing material, Created Design system
Research
To perform our user research we performed User interviews, Competitive analysis. User Interviews with multiple candidates provided some interesting insight into current scenarios.
Competition Analysis
User Testing
For getting a better understanding of the e-commerce South Asian clothing market, we ran a competitive analysis with 5 participants. Participants were asked to rate the south Asian online clothing website they have used in the provided category.
3 out 8 participants demanded that they need someone to answer for product-related inquiries
User Interview
Interview highlights were order delays, privacy issue and delay in the status update.
We took qualitative user interviews to understand user needs, experiences and requirements. In addition, users gave detailed experiences about their troubles with online shopping for Indian clothes from available websites.
Research Insights
Shipment Delays
It seems the user gets frustrated with order delivery delays
Exports items cause delivery delays since the location of most of the companies selling South Asian clothes are situated internationally.
Late Order Status
It seems users don’t like late order status updates/ time lags in order updates
No order status update with ordered items with prolonged waiting times can create confusions for the users.
No Privacy
It seems users don’t want to share data on WhatsApp
With no visual forms, measuring and sending data to an unknown/ unsecured number in whats app can be frustrating for the users.
Ria’s Order- 30 days journey
Lets check Ria’s order journey while ordering a dress from a website whose warehouse is located in India
Why the long process?
In interviewing users, we found out multiple users use the roundabout method to get their clothing items from India.
Since most ethnic garment stores and their warehouse are located internationally. Online orders sent from these stores use the local postal service which takes more than 60 days to reach. Local postal services are cheap but take more than a month to deliver. Due to this users prefer it to be delivered to their hometown. Additionally, Sending orders to hometown is easy to return in case of product defects. In addition, users can get their garments custom-tailored with trusted local shops.
The opportunity window
Proposals from pain points
These interviews provided a real opportunity to explore. After exploring all the data from user interviews, competition analysis, and usability testing and interviews I filtered it out to the final three pain points.
Providing chat-bots for product inquiries
Chatbots can solve questions related to the product enquiries.
Providing clothing measurement forms
Interactive measurement forms will provide accurate body dimensions for custom stitching.
Engaging users with better delivery service
Providing multiple delivery options for users help to select their trusted delivery service which can send products quickly.
Ideation
After finalizing our design opportunities, I created a User flow diagram, wire-frames, and low-fi diagrams for design iterations. Also, I analyzed the data collected to re-focus our criteria. At the end of the Ideation phase, I performed usability testing with our low-fi prototype and found issues to fix.
Design Ideation- User flow
The mapping shows the flow diagram in the checkout process.
Wireframe
Main Page
Filter
Product Page
Checkout
Low-fi Diagrams
Main Page
Product Browsing/ Filter
Product Detail
Usability Testing
After creating low-fi’s I performed usability testing with my initial design. 8 users participated in the testing. Users were provided 3 tasks to accomplish. The first task was to find Floral Yellow Saree. The second task was to add an accessory. The final task was to checkout with both items added.
Pros: Users loved the graphics. They enjoyed browsing through categories.
Cons: Users were unable to find the global search button on the primary menu bar to search directly. The user also commented on changes for adding forms instead of adding measurement details in the comment box. Finally, a few users commented on the last checkout page for removing extra scrolls and keeping it short and simple.
Before:
In the intitial design, users were asked to provide measurements in the comment box.
After
After testing, we provided measurement forms in the website for measurements in order to avoid confusions.
HI-fidelity Diagrams
After Usability testing, I worked on High Fidelity Wire-frames. The below screens show Hi-fi wire-frames sorted by categories.
Main Page
Prototype
Understanding feedback from the usability testing, final prototypes were created. We highlighted our website features with on-boarding, problem-solving chat-bots, product filters, product details, and custom sizing forms for measurements. Check out the prototyping video below.
Click the ▶ for the full prototype
On-boarding
Click the ▶ for the full prototype
We used on-boarding as an advertising tool, to update users with our seasonal trending clothes. Special categories with offers are added to the user onboarding journey.
Chat-bots
Click the ▶ for the full prototype
After user testing, additional features like chat-bot were provided for solving queries, providing details about shipping, product placement, etc.
Product Filter
Click the ▶ for the full prototype
Visual filters with descriptions are used to help users in identifying products easily. Side filter options are added for price range, designer categories, pattern style, and similar related options.
Custom Sizing
Click the ▶ for the full prototype
After user testing, custom sizing tools like interactive measurement forms are created for users to submit information securely on the website database
Product Details
Click the ▶ for the full prototype
Product details are provided on the product page. Additionally, related accessories and similar styling options are also provided on the same page.
Final Takeaways
I learned the importance of users while designing an e-commerce website. In this project, I was able to see problems in end-to-end customer experience for users while ordering their items internationally. With multiple levels of interaction pain points like finding custom clothing details and material details on the website, multiple users were also dissatisfied with the whole journey experience of the product. They were also frustrated with the follow-up they have to do to get basic information about the product. Their interviews were an eye-opener for me to understand the problem clearly in this project.
What I learned ?
Created technical specifications for website content. Presented ideations to stakeholders for ensuring the highest quality outcomes. Designed visual marketing material like logo, business cards, and posters for re-designing Brand style.
Created a usability testing plan for Paridhi. Collaborated with users for direct inputs to refine the website during the design process. Inputs gathered from users were validated to refine design solutions.
Created design systems that help clients, stakeholders, and current or future teams to understand product vision. Ensured consistent implementation of the design system from start to end of the project.
Back of the house work
Custom logo design, artwork, and typography styles play critical roles in creating unique brands. I worked on multiple styles to create the stylize that suits Paridhi and also attracts customers using the website. The design are the results of multiple iterations and user feedbacks.
Logo Design
Concept
The design of the logo is made in consideration of its image globally. The logo is designed in such a way that it caters to the native Asian as well as non-Asian population. Paridhi is written in English with the styling P (first letter of Paridhi in English), with (First Letter of the word in Hindi/ Sanskrit). The amalgamation of two languages has provided a unique symbol.
Motif:
The motif symbolizes the ethnic aspect of the brand. Since the Paridhi Poorti is an ethnic brand, the audience can sense its emphasis after seeing the logo.
The Dot/ Color
Red is an auspicious color for south Asian culture. The introduction to red in the logo emphasizes its prosperity. Earthy color is chosen to emphasize the origins of the company’s material and craftsmanship. Jute, cotton, and Khakee are the native material that is extensively in our products.
Typography:
A crisp, minimalist, clear text with artistic values to address the ethnic design is used. Understanding the target market, the typography selected is a mixture of two styles. Adobe Devnagari is used in highlighting products on the website. Every style is chosen to arouse a certain emotion in the audience…..
Sitka:
Developed by: Microsoft, Family Type: Serif/ 2018
Roboto:
Developed by: Google, Family Type: Serif/ 2013
Mood-board:
South Asian clothes are bright, colorful, and filled with different textures or patterns. Since Paridhi is an ethnic brand, most of its clothing lines will follow a similar theme. Hence, a warm color tone scheme is selected to complement the Paridhi garment style. The mood board presents versatility in clothing color patterns. The visuals are used to finalize the color theme for the website.
