Designing to align expectations with reality

In short

I created and executed the design strategy that informed two product portfolios that covered multiple pages and features, including top-of-funnel pages, the design editor, and associate tools with the goal to increase sales and customer satisfaction of Staples print services.

Working closely with my product partners,  I led a team of 6 designers and collaborated with various teams across the organization. I based the strategy on customer research, data, and business outcomes.

My team provided multiple design solutions that successfully help customers find a product and choose the right options for their needs as well as improved the tools customers and associates need to create a product that will print well.

Results:

7% increase in product pages' conversion rate

4% increase in category pages' AOV

2.4% increase in top nav's conversion rate

Successful initiatives:

Framing the problems

Both our qualitative and quantitative insights clearly showed that the there was a big area of opportunity in the top-of-funnel pages, given that the site had the largest customer drop-off before entering the design builder.

When customers visit a Staples store to print something, they are assisted by associates who provide consultations and guidance to find the perfect product for their needs. In the online experience, customers are often not print experts so they struggled to find the right product and options, frequently causing a big gap between what they saw on screen vs the printed product they received.

The Staples print site had an expectations vs reality problem.

Customers wanted to:

• Find the right product for their specific needs
• Choose the right sizes and materials
• Understand how different options impact the price
• Know upfront how product options vary based on fulfillment methods
• Prevent printing mistakes

Finding the right product

Helping customers to find a product was crucial to decrease site abandonment and start them on the right path to make the right choices. To achieve this, I oversaw the complete redesign of the top navigation and search experience which resulted in significant improvements, especially in the mobile experience.

Beyond the top navigation, I led the creation of components for the top-of-funnel pages that allowed customers to find what they needed quicker.

These components were designed to be CMS friendly and flexible so they can display multiple variants that are repurposed and updated across the site, which helped the UX and marketing teams experiment with content and layout frequently without development releases.

Understanding options

Customers choose materials and options based on how they plan to use a print product; they want to learn about attributes such as durability, ease of transport, weather compatibility, installation, etc. I led the design of a product configurator that uses copy, imagery, and progressive disclosure to help customers make better choices for their needs.

Proofing and troubleshooting

Customers biggest disappointments happened when the design tool allowed them to create a product that does not print well. They often did things that looked good on-screen but didn't print well, which is why they needed a range of warnings and recommendations to increase the product quality and customer satisfaction. I led various design solutions within a dedicated portfolio to deliver continuous improvements to the design editor.

The thin line between a promoter and a detractor

While our goal was to provide the best experience for customers to succeed in placing orders that will print well, Staples store associates can contact customers and help fix unresolved issues, which builds customer trust and loyalty.

When an associate has the tools, the communication, and the disposition to help, the experience can change dramatically. This is why I advocated and oversaw portfolios for in-store tools that make it easier for associates to produce and ensure quality prints for customers.

Scaling design while staying intentional

One of the things that I'm most proud of, is that my team created UI components that could be used in multiple ways to increase the value of our efforts. I directed designers in creating solutions that were scalable and flexible so that they could be adapted and used for different print products, e.g. posters, business cards, banners, stamps, etc. or in different pages, e.g. homepage, category pages, product pages, etc.

This was most evident in the documentation we provided to the CMS development team that showed multiple variants and use cases so we could maximize the potential use of a single component by allowing certain UI elements to be turned on or off or by enabling different layouts.

Working on these two product portfolios -product assurance and proofing & troubleshooting- also required a deep omnichannel understanding, given that we were trying to bring the online experience as close as possible to the in-store experience. Many decisions made throughout the design process had the goal to help customers make informed decisions without feeling overwhelmed, just like they would if they were talking to an associate in the store.

This is why I encouraged the designers in my team to provide content recommendations for copy and imagery to our creative and marketing teams. After spending so much time talking to customers and store supervisors, we had profound knowledge about the kinds of questions and details customers want to see, so I didn't limit our team to just provide image and UI specifications, but to be active participants of the content strategy so our expertise could truly come to life.