Client Consultation
Mission
Host is a small brand with a focus on providing party kits for those who are too busy to go shopping for party items but still want to entertain friends and family.
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The Host team needed assistance deciding whether to launch with either a standard kit, or to create several party kits based on occasion.
In an effort to eliminate cart abandonment, their focus was to integrate an easy check out to best suit the needs of their users.
What are others Doing?
Competitive Analysis
Through our competitive analysis, we primarily looked into the layout, check out process, kit or products offered, and the most popular occasions that bring people together.
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The Competitors that stood out were:
Boarderie, Big Night, Paperless Post Party Shop, Harry and David, Party City, and Sophistiplate.
Our main take aways were that birthdays, general life events, and sporting events were the most frequent type of occasions that bring folks together and the importance of honing your own brand.
Understanding Hosts
User Interviews
In order to best gain insight on those that will be using their kits soon after HOST's launch, 8 people from their pre-launch waitlist were interviewed. The conversations were centered around the type of occasions they usually host, the frequency of parties, the amount of attendees, what they prefer to serve, and some of their general frustrations while hosting these parties.
Commonalities Personified
After synthesizing our user insights a user persona was created.
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Social Sarah is a 36 year old wife and mother. Sarah has a busy schedule due to her demanding career, but places a lot of value on quality time with loved ones.
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Sarah is more comfortable having friends over than going out to socialize, but doesn’t have the time to plan the details of a party.
Problem Statement
Social Sarah needs a way to prepare modern and sophisticated parties conveniently because it’s difficult to take into account every detail on their own.
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We posed questions to activate creativity within our designs.
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How might we offer convenience to party planners?
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How might we instill sophistication with the product?
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How might we take into account every detail during the party preparation?
Keeping The Process Simple
Designing the Task Flow
Through our competitive analysis, we originally designed our user flows based on the idea that there would be multiple kits to choose from.
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After reflecting on our user insights and taking the current business goals in mind, to start narrow and scale out as they grow, we decided to move forward with a standard kit with the options to customize through add ons for a smooth check out process for users.
We took influence on how certain competitors portrayed their products pages, utilizing stock images for visual intrigue, with the necessary details on the side and an add to cart option. With that in mind, we sketched ideas for the product page and the entire web flow to collectively align on our first mock up.
Receiving Feedback
1st Usability Insights
We hosted a usability test with our first grayscale prototype to test it’s navigation and ultimately gain feedback from the users.
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There was a lot of confusion around the product page for our kit. Questions like, where to begin and what steps to take echoed. Users voiced they needed clear indicators to ease the experience and inform them they’re moving in the right direction and towards check out.
The word "customize" seems misleading
"Don't need the ability to leave a review on the product page”
“Page seems cluttered and congested”
“Use more directional verbs - ‘choose your cocktail’ instead of "choice of cocktails"
Using Direct Language To Guide
Changes Made
Taking the feedback provided, we strayed away from the original busy page and designed a simpler user friendly approach, using direct language to guide users, and clean up the page to be more intuitive for what steps to take. A drop down menu was also implemented to input the amount of guests in attendance, the date of the party and the preferred delivery time.
Changing The Layout
The order of operations is much clearer due to the language used, but also the sheer fact that the steps are below one another as you scroll. Based on user feedback, we also removed the review option and felt ready to see how this iteration would test with our users. so with our time constraint, we decided to host a second round of usability testing with this mid fidelity, gray scale prototype before proceeding.
Keeping Options in Tact
2nd Usability Test Results
This process was much smoother, with 80% of users successfully completing the task without assistance, but the insights that came about as a result opened up an exciting new path for us.
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Users noticed that they would like to know the cost of individual items inside of the kit
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The flow jumps from the home page to the product details page, making the user feel as if their kit was chosen for them, ultimately reducing their options, which isn’t the message we wanted to send at all. We wanted to offer convenience, with the option to customize for their occasions.
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Home Page
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Product Details Page
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Product Page example that provides choice
Product Page Based on the Most Popular Occasions
Changes Made
We implemented a product page showcasing the prioritization of the essentials cocktail kit as most popular and versatile in its usability with the easiest check out process, which was our first focus.
We also incorporated the most popular occasions we heard from our users and most used by competitors, Birthday kits, sporting events like Sunday Football Kits, and Custom kits for those that want a more hands on approach in creating their own kit and experience.
Changes within the Essential Cocktail Party Kit details page were made for an intuitive step process
3rd Iteration
High Fidelity Product Details Page
Weight and Color
Accessibility
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We altered the weight of the text to meet accessibility standards.
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On our initial high fidelity mock up, buttons were “yellow” but due to the results of accessibility testing, we soon discovered that it may present a challenge for Social Sarah during her shopping experience.
Custom Kit Details Page
Choosing what will make the Perfect Party
Customization
One of our main goals was to achieve another level of customization during Sarah’s experience
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62% of users mentioned their desire to substitute items in the kit
We used that information to present Sarah and others like her with a completely customizable option. On the custom kit page, each item is listed individually with it's price, so the user can easily add what they choose.
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Almost 35% of users express concerns about allergies, so we implemented alternatives for the most common allergies.
Kit Options Abound
High Fidelity Wireframes
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Overlay Cart Calculator for Custom Kit option.
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Add each individual product by card.
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Essential Cocktail Kit
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Home Page with the most popular "Essentials Cocktail Kit" or Standard Kit, and the Custom Kit Offered too.
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Custom Kits
Convenience with Apple Express Pay
Apple Express pay
Total Summary
Confirmation page
Lessons Learned
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Adaptability and problem solving in high pressure, time sensitive situations while dealing with group dynamics was paramount.
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Clear communication is crucial in order to exhaust all possibilities within a team environment.
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We were focusing our attention in one direction and then allowed our research to change our perception and ultimately change our designs for the betterment of the user and business.
Next Steps
As the brands continues to grow and flourish, we know the sky is the limit for Host. Evidence from user insights and competitive analysis led us to believe that users like Sarah would truly benefit from features such as the ones below.
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FAQs Page
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Search Bar
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User Profiles
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Subscriptions
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Favorites
