Redesigning a bridal services website

Sweet P Beauty

User research | Information architecture | Interaction design | Branding

Role: Lead UX researcher & designer

Team: 1 researcher & designer

Duration: 4 months

Tools: Sketch, Omnigraffle, Squarespace

Platform: Website (desktop & mobile)

Project overview

Sweet P Beauty is an award-winning beauty salon in Renton, WA. Sweet P Beauty specializes in bridal makeup and also offers other beauty services. The owner felt that her website was out of date and needed to change. I took a user-centered research and design approach to redesign the website with customer and business needs in mind.

Challenge

With the existing website, customers struggle with:

Discovering the prices of services
Navigating the site
Knowing how to book an appointment or inquire about services

Solution

I researched and redesigned the website to:

Provide service details, including pricing
Have simple, organized information architecture
Provide a clear CTA to book appointments and contact the business

My role & contributions

As the sole UX researcher and designer on this project I strategized and executed on all aspects of the website redesign, from discovery to delivery.

I began research by conducting a comparative analysis and a heuristic evaluation of the existing site.
I also completed user interviews and user testing to identify and resolve pain points in the design.
Using my research findings, I restructured the information architecture.
I refined Sweet P Beauty's branding and created design sketches and wireframes to communicate with the client..
I worked closely with the client to iterate the design and implement it into the website.

Understanding users

To ensure the new website design was user focused, I recruited, interviewed, and conducted usability testing of the current site with 5 participants who have been married/will get married within one year.

Interviews

I asked the participants about their experiences shopping for bridal makeup.

User needs and goals:

Photos of previous work
Testimonials, credibility (awards)
Prices on website
Details about traveling costs, number of trials, number of artists

Usability testing

I asked the participants to complete three basic tasks using the existing website: find photos of work, compare prices between services, and book an appointment.

Pain points:

Unable to book appointment online
Unable to locate pricing for bridal packages and services
Confused by what services are offered

Analyzing the website

To analyze the existing website further, I completed a heuristic evaluation and a comparative analysis of industry competitors. I also facilitated a card sorting exercise with participants to inform new information architecture.

Heuristic evaluation

I evaluated the site using this scoring system which uses 247 web usability guidelines. I found that the existing site struggled with Navigation & IA and Writing & Content Quality. These findings were consistent with the insights gained during user interviews and testing. I chose to focus on these two key areas moving forward.

Comparative analysis

The comparative analysis showed that many competitors had a well organized information architecture, allowing content to be easily navigable. These websites also allowed users to book an appointment through the website. And finally, these sites made it easy to find examples of their work. These findings further supported user needs uncovered during user testing.

Information architecture

Redesigning the sitemap started with identifying what content was missing and out of place based on feedback during the interviews, usability testing, and card sorting.

While the existing sitemap appears to be simple, it was missing crucial content and too much content broad categories.

The new sitemap includes content that was missing from the old site and the content is categorized more granularly.

Translating insights to designs

Referencing all my findings, I started sketching possible page layouts and translated them into low fidelity wireframes. I implemented these designs into an appropriate Squarespace template. I incorporated client and user feedback early and often while designing this website.

Pain point #1 :

Users had a hard time identifying what services were offered and pricing information.

Solution #1:

Since Sweet P Beauty is primarily a bridal salon, I broadly categorized the services by “bridal” and “non-bridal”. The non-bridal services are further broken down. Each page includes an overview, pricing, and work examples.

Pain point #2:

Users wanted a way to book an appointment online and inquire about products and services..

Solution #2:

I linked a third party booking tool on the website and put the link in the primary navigation bar for easy access and discoverability. I also created a page where users can contact the business for further questions.