German Glaswerks

 
 

Overview

Since 1986 German Glas Werks has been giving customers a one of a kind shopping experience.  They create stained glass pieces in the store, and work with each customer on custom orders. They have an extensive array of gift items.  Many of our pieces are for the general collector and the gift giver. In my role as UX designer/ Researcher, I developed a re-design for an existing local store that did not have purchasing capabilities.

What: E-commerce Re-design

ROLE: UX Design, UX Research, Project Manager, Interaction Design

METHODS + APPROACHES: User Research, Business Research, Competitive + Comparative analysis, Affinity Mapping, Persona Building, Feature Prioritization, Wireframing, Prototyping, High Fidelity Mockups, Usability Testing

TOOLS: Figma, FigJam, Whimsical

 
 

User research

I conducted research with potential users, antique lovers and gift givers. My research showed that customers prefer to have their content split into categories and a lot had mentioned they really want to know the history behind their product.  Most people wanted to know they were getting a good deal and that if the product was of good quality. There I introduce you to German Glass Werks 2.0.

 
 

Competitive/ Comparative Analysis

Before I started interviewing potential users of an antique store website I decided to see what other stores are similar, what they do well and what they could improve upon. During my research, I did a competitive and comparative analysis that gave me a good idea of how other antique stores and retailers design their content. I found that there was a niche market for very expensive antique stores and that opened a new world for me to explore. However, keeping in mind that I needed to focus on people who cannot afford expensive products too.

 
 
 
 

Main Takeaways

 
 
 
 

The Current site…

The current site has no way to purchase any of the products, bad image quality on all products and a strange layout throughout the site.

 
 
 

Ideation

I created a moodboard to develop a color palette and style for the final site. This helped to decipher how might we…

  • Help users find what they are looking for?

  • Make the experience quick?

  • Give advice to users on the products they are interested in?

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Solution

German Glas werks is an online antique/gift store that sells unique items. Using the online store; Jemima can discover the historical origin of the products she browses without having to research them individually. Brenda, can find unique discounted options by using the filter and search options. This enables both personas to shop their favorite products without having to go to the store.

 
 
 

Prototype

 
 
 

Conclusion

This project was challenging as I had to make sure the file was dev ready and also create a responsive mobile version as the sole designer. However, I learnt a ton and enjoyed getting to the finish line! I learnt how to individually manage a file for handoff and I also realized how vital it is to test and test again! Especially in E-commerce. In summary, this project prepared me help a store increase its customer base and how to organize a file that a dev would understand and be able to work from to implement efficiently, and to me, that is utterly invaluable.