­   Logo

We had a clear direction set behind the brand message: Inspiring a new generation of consumers to choose handmade first. Amare Wear seeks an identity that is contemporary, romantic and simple.

What we had to consider was the flexibility of logo usage for a diversity of surfaces, from jewelry and packaging to website and social media.

The symbol A and W looks like a heart shape when looking at the logo upside down. The heart shape resonates with the word Amare (love in italian).

My role:

Head of product design

Teammates:

1 PM + 1 Developer

Duration:

1 Month

As an head of product design, I worked with the PM and Development team to redesign and deliver the web v2.0, which achieved some impressive metrics: DAU (+300%), Transaction (+123%), Avg Monthly Orders (+120%), Avg. Session Duration (+31%), Bounce Rate (-21%), and Exit Rate (-11%). I spent 2 weeks designing and 2 weeks assisting the development team with implementation.


Background

When I took over Web UX/UI design lead, Amare Wear was already popular on Instagram and Facebook but its website had relatively low traffic and high bounce rate. The team wanted to redesign and rebrand it to attract more customers to purchase the products and to increase brand loyalty.

Problem: Users were not staying on the site and bounce rate was very high.

User Testing of initial website

Three user testing sessions were conducted with Amare Wear’s target audience. Users pointed out they didn’t know what the website was about because there were no clear descriptions when they first landed on the site.

Participant: "Navigation is confusing, there’s no clear indication on which section I am on."

User Research

I interviewed the marketing team, discussing and analyzing the data, to find out who the users were and their general preferences. Users loved the large image showcases at first, but then pointed out they were lost and didn't’ know exactly what the website was about because the site only showed beautiful images without any call to action and did not have any description either.


Persona


Competitive Analysis

I chose and compared three major competitors which had similar offerings and a business model similar to Amare Wear, aiming to find out what’s unique about Amare Wear and what should be improved.
I identified that Amare Wear doesn't have any promotional offer, which many users would want.

Compare their visual design, features and content to identify the features Amare Wear lacks

  • No newsletter subscription to retain potential users
  • Special promotional offer to gather more potential customers

Condense the USP (unique selling point) of Amare Wear

  • Showcase the top 5 collections for menu items
  • Offer online gallerys to improve user experience

Mood Board

I created the mood board to set the tone and communicate with the one of the founders about the design direction I was leaning towards and also to gather design inspirations for myself.

The co-founder and the team were very happy to see the mood board, because it resonated with the visuals the company used. The brand images I wanted to use were pop, surreal, chic, eccentric and fun.



Information Architecture

Based on the finding from user interviews and competitive analysis, I proposed some new features to better serve users and promote the business.I restructured the information architecture to accommodate new features.


Iteration

After going through several iterations in terms of the structure, content, and labeling, one of our major focus was how to better use spaces. For example, we decided to add copy and be more descriptive on the hero section, so users knew this site was about selling handmade goods immediately. Amare Wear should make it easy for users to discover new products.



Low-fidelity Wireframes

After completing the structure, I developed the wireframes for the main section of the flow. This is a high level view.

Desktop


Mobile


Design

Homepage

Added clear call-to-action and descriptions based on several iteration and user feedback. The current layout is the one favored by most users (3 out of 5) we interviewed. As users scrolled through, they would see the most popular collection instead of random products.

We clearly communicated the value of Amare Wear, with a newly added call to action and a well written description to help users taking the right action on the homepage.

Product Page

There is now a clear section label that helps the users navigate and know what section they are on.

Product Detail Page

Added motivation for users to invite their friends to join Amare Wear. Added customer reviews so users could see specific product reviews and learn how others felt about the products and also establish more credibility.

Promo Code and Upsell

From user research, I noticed that our users were price-sensitive and also favored unique designs. So I discussed with the team to add a referral program for users to invite friends and earn credits for both, and make them more loyal customers..


Mobile and Tablet View

For mobile and tablet, we focused on keeping content and appearance consistent with desktop experience and optimized the layout for small screen.


User Testing

When the design was partly implemented at Amare Wear, I conducted several user testing sessions, both in-person and online. The testing verified that the design successfully communicated the brand image of Amare Wear (“Pop • Surreal • Chic • Eccentric • Fun, etc.), also identified some usability issues that could be improved in the future.



“The website looks like a gallery, it makes the products look like art pieces, love the colors and easy navigation”

    - User Testing Participant


Conclusion

It was very satisfying to see the design make a real influence on the business. According to metrics and user feedback, the new design successfully brought in more customers and kept them more engaged. The newly-added referral features brought in new Amare Wear users.


+300%

Daily Active User

+120%

Avg. Monthly Orders

+123%

Transaction

+31%

Avg. Session Duration

-21%

Bounce Rate

-11%

Exit Rate