Palinode Design - Website
After collaborating with Palinode Design (a local streetwear brand blending architecture, parametric designs, and color theory within its clothing) for a couple of months, I noticed the brand did not have a dedicated website. The lack of a website limits the brand's visibility and credibility. To address this, I proposed designing an exclusive website for Palinode Design to showcase its features, products, projects, and brand story.
MY ROLE
Lead UX Designer (Team of 3)
DURATION
4 Weeks
(Freelance Project)
TOOLS
Sketch, Adobe XD, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator
SKILLS
UX Research, UI Design, Usability Testing, Wireframing, Prototyping
My Role
For this project, I worked as the lead UI/UX designer, collaborating with the founder and creative director of Palinode Design. Some of the responsibilities that fell within the scope of my work included (but were not limited to):
-
Strategic planning of the UX process - including defining the scope, goal, timeline, budget, and strategy
-
Conducting exploratory user research - including conducting user interviews, collecting observations, and interpreting data.
-
Implementing design decisions within storyboards, paper wireframes, digital wireframes, and low-fidelity wireframes
-
Finessing high-fidelity prototypes and mock-ups while taking into account accessibility considerations
-
Conducting usability testing and implementing the results within the design
User Research
To understand user pain points, needs, and requirements, foundational user research was conducted by guiding interviews and surveys to add context and inspire the design. The aim was to gain insights into the purchasing process of users within the streetwear niche and the significance they attribute to the brand website experience. Given the time constraints, qualitative research was prioritized to pinpoint specific user pain points with other streetwear brands and their websites, giving the team a holistic understanding of areas to address and strategies to pursue for improvement within our design.
Personas
Using a targeted approach, we conducted qualitative research with individuals aged 18-35 who have a strong passion for fashion and streetwear enthusiasts. By focusing on this demographic, we aimed to gain insights into their experiences and frustrations with existing streetwear brands and their websites. Each persona was crafted based on real user insights, incorporating key attributes and pain points identified during the research process. These personas provided valuable guidance for designing and optimizing our streetwear brand website to better meet the needs and expectations of our audience.
Problem Statement
Problem Statement
Sam Teller is a graphic designer and a streetwear enthusiast who enjoys being fashion-forward, aiming to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to streetwear fashion but is frustrated by the lack of product information (i.e. sizing) to ensure a confident purchasing decision.
Fiona Lee is a busy marketing coordinator who loves to explore the latest trends in streetwear fashion to express her individuality through clothing but is frustrated when the checkout process becomes time-consuming every time she has to purchase an item from the brand.
User Journey Map
By creating user maps, I wanted to illustrate how each persona navigates through tasks and how they behave, feel, and interact with the interface to accomplish related tasks. Illustrating these processes gave a better (hands-on) understanding of the pain points and strengths of other streetwear website interfaces to uncover facets that could have been overlooked in our previous research.
Goal Statement
The Palinode Design website will offer an immersive streetwear shopping experience where users can effortlessly explore the latest trends, delve into product details, compare items efficiently, and connect with a vibrant community of like-minded enthusiasts. We will measure the effectiveness by tracking key metrics like traffic and community engagement.
Storyboarding
Within the design process, the storyboard was useful for visualizing the user journey to further empathize with the end users while identifying gaps and opportunities in our design. Based on the insights obtained from user research and contextual inquiry, we developed a storyboard scenario tailored to the specific needs and preferences of our target demographic, ensuring it aligns closely with their context and situation.
User Flow
Developing a user flow allowed us to visually map out user behaviors and navigation paths within the website, facilitating the identification of pain points in the user journey and strategies for optimization. This process enabled us to pinpoint areas of friction in the user flow and implement enhancements to improve the overall user experience. For example, streamlining the checkout process is crucial to ensure an efficient user experience.
Site Map
Before designing the website, creating a high-level site map served as our design blueprint, ensuring a clear direction and organization throughout the design process. This helped us establish a logical hierarchy, identify key pages to include, and ensure a user-centric design that enhances usability and engagement. This site map was meant to guide us as we started but was subject to change if needed.
Paper Wireframes - Responsive
Understanding the user flow and site map led me to start with paper wireframes. The paper wireframes allowed me to quickly explore and refine layouts, incorporating crucial findings from the user research and creating responsive versions of the site. The final version of the paper wireframes felt like the best fit within the parameters, incorporating essential elements and creating responsive versions of the site.