Solid.gifts
Product design for a web application that helps users find unique gifts for loved ones.
duration: August 2022
role: As the product designer I was responsible for app conceptualization, UX research and design, prototypes, testing, and UI design. Then as product manager, I worked with 1 software engineer to build and launch the site.
Scope
Brief
Create a smart guide for helping users find the perfect gift that is both useful and unique.
Ensure filters are clear and simple and that users have access to a thoughtfully curated list of gifts in order to make finding gifts an easy task once and for all.
Solid.gifts' primary target users will range in age from 12 to 90 - folks who find social bonding meaningful, are given to tradition and want to gift long-term satisfaction.
Problem
Surveys show that most users are stressed by having a 'lack of time' and a 'lack of money.' In addition, over 50% of people are worried about the 'pressure to give or get gifts' (nesslabs). However, solid.gifts has identified a way in which to make the special task of gift-giving stress-free. Users can now find meaningful, useful, loved and unique gifts in just a few clicks.
Goals
This site helps users find the perfect gift - one that is meaningful, sustainable and potentially an heirloom, for important people in their lives.
Understanding the User
User Research Summary
The initial goal was to get the concept down and make it functional as quickly as possible. An assumption I made was that it would be really easy for users to find the gifts they’re looking for.
Pain Points
After gathering feedback on the usability from an expert UX advisor and several user tests, I adjusted the mockup for a more seamless user experience. Below are the main takeaways/ pain points that needed to be addressed as I developed the product further.
lack of options for visual impairments. needs options for enlarging; text next to buttons or to appear on hover; screen reader technology
unclear copy. needs clear, concise descriptions for all images and photos
lack of imagery. need accurate photography of all offerings
obvious tutorials/nudges. need easy tutorials for first time users and/or nudges
Starting the Design
Ideate and Prototype
Early on, decisions needed to be made on how this tool would be used. A responsive website would make this more accessible to folks, as important events come to mind at very random times.
Identifying the gift recipient with descriptors was an essential part of the functionality of this tool.
An early idea was a questionnaire, but answering all the questions caused too much friction right from the start. So I tested filter chips as a much easier way to pinpoint the kind of person the user is buying a gift for.
Digital Wireframes
After ideating and drafting paper wireframes, I created the initial designs for Solid.gifts. These designs focused on presenting descriptor filters and their functionality so that users could access gifts quickly.
Streamlining the filter chip labels quickly became an important part to understand and clarify early on in the process. For example: Who do people buy gifts for? What "tags" can you assign to them? Distilling labels meant understanding who users buy gifts for and how they might describe them.
Early user testing also revealed the desire for a price filter range.
At this phase, this could be done simply on a one-page website without needing other pages. Hence, a modal for the "About" section to keep to the minimal, one-page site.
Low-Fidelity Prototype
Please view a screenshot of the critical screens up to this point. Users immediately land on the gift recommendation page (home page), can click any filters, and will instantly see gift suggestions.
Brainstorming card designs for where gifts will be displayed, layouts, colors, button interactions and icon/emoji choices.
Design Tested
Getting closer to ideal functionality of the site. Label categories still need to be more simplified.
Refining the Design
Mockups
The initial goal was to get the concept down and make it functional. After a thorough critique on the usability, designs were adjusted for a more efficient compositional layout and a less overwhelming amount of descriptor-filters.
Final
Check out the end product! Maybe you will find a gift for a special someone’s upcoming birthday!
Responsive Design
The designs for screen size variation include mobile and desktop. I optimized the designs to fit specific user needs of each device and screen size.
Style Guide
Going Forward
What I Learned
This was a great first product launch experience. Within weeks of idea conception, I designed a fully-functional responsive website. As long as the designs are complete and there is a clearly written brief, handoff to the developer can be easy. Parallel to the design process, curating gifts required a lot of research and time which led me deeper into specific capabilities of Figma for prototype use. I used a sheets plug-in to populate all the gift data to rapidly make the gift suggestion cards.
Next Steps
Curate 100 total solid gifts.
Reach out to potential partners for advertising, exposure and collaborating.