What is Viledge?
Viledge is a community of Black-owned businesses on a mission to connect people through wellness, creativity, and joy. They curate themed gift boxes of dope Black-owned products and pair them with exclusive online experiences. It’s for people who want to make an impact AND find products that bring joy.
“It takes a village to raise a business”
About
We focused on the user research to gain insights into what information Viledge users want and need to see. on their path to purchase. So, we could provide our client, Viledge, with a user based design solution that motivates customers to subscribe to get the experience boxes.
Role: UX Researcher & Designer
Methods: User Interviews | C&C Analysis | Feature Analysis & Prioritization | Usability Testing | Affinity Mapping | Persona Development | Journey Mapping | Sketching | Design Studio | Wireframing | Rapid Prototyping
Tools: Figma | Keynote | Google Drive | Zoom
Our Focus
Our focus when designing the site was to keep in mind both the business and user goals. The intersecting goal was to purchase the boxes and we had to present information in a way that makes it easy and fun to support the business while also making it an easy buy-in process for the user by providing the information that they need to feel connected to the brands
Research
We conducted 14 user interviews.
The goal of our research was to gain insight on how people engage with brands and share about those brands with their network after receiving a product.
Viledge’s target users are those who seek out meaningful experiences and showcase their values with what they buy. They understand that activism takes many forms and are motivated to buy black as a form of pride and economic protest. From our interviews, we learned what users find important when they are purchasing.
Key Takeaways
Synthesize
Based on these key insights from user interviews and usability testing, we created a persona to better empathize with the user and prioritize goals according to their needs. The preferences, needs, goals and frustrations of the persona reflects the interviewees lifestyle; as it should be relatable to the end user.
Lusana’s Problem
Due to recent events, people want to shop small black-owned business and support the black community. Lusana, a conscious consumer who is considering purchasing an experience kit from Viledge, needs to feel connected to the brand and know the product will be something she will enjoy because receiving products that aren’t useful is a waste of time and money.
How Might We…
help Lusana sign up for Viledge with confidence knowing that she is both supporting small black owned businesses while receiving high quality products and resources that she will find useful?
Design
With Lusana at the forefront of our minds and a better grasp of what Viledge users need, we were able to use the Problem Statement and How Might We question as a guide in the ideation phase to come up with possible solutions to address the needs of Lusana .
Before going into design studio, we started with a Feature Prioritization to better understand what features were going to be essential in our design.
During interviews,
users consistently said:
They want to feel connected and aligned with the brand’s values.
They want to know about the business founders and product makers.
So, we sought to personify Viledge’s identity in our design with:
visual imagery
clean navigation
clear call-to-actions
Feature Prioritization
Design Studio
With our research and the essential features in mind, we moved forward into the design studio process focusing on the Homepage, Our Story Page, How It Works Page, and Member Access Page. We used this process to collectively brainstorm, create, pitch and critique our creative design solutions that would address Lusana’s needs.
Usability Testing
Conducting usability test during all stages of prototyping was key to designing a user centered product. Interacting with the user provided insights that guided us through all interactions.
With our mid-fidelity clickable prototype, the general structure of the website could easily be tested with users and we were able to make adjustments without much effort before moving into hi-fidelity mockups.
We conducted Usability Testing of our paper prototype using InVision for Quick Feedback on the site navigation and path to purchase.
Lo-Fi Usability Testing Results
Users were first drawn to the 'Our Story' page.
'My Account' page - Users assumed it was a profile, preferences, settings page. Therefore, we have changed it to Member Access for the next round of Usability Testing.
'Join Viledge' button - looking for further insight into this label and CTA in next round of testing.
Unclear of Viledge pronunciation. Provide phonetic spelling in next round.
Mid-Fi Wireframes
Homepage:
Clear Join Viledge: Call to Action… both on the homepage and on the primary navigation.. Providing a clear path for users visiting the site ready to purchase.
Description of Viledge and why it matters. So, Lusana can get a quick grasp of Viledge’s identity.
Images featuring some of the business owners to humanize what they do and the products they provide.
Information about this month’s theme and a “Call To Action” button for the user to learn more . And on the second portion of the homepage we provide Lusana with some credibility.
Testimonial/Quote from NYT for credibility.
Brands that Viledge has worked with for credibility.
Social media for credibility.
Our Story Page:
Clear Join Viledge: Call to Action… both on the homepage and on the primary navigation.. Providing a clear path for users visiting the site ready to purchase.
Description of Viledge and why it matters. So, Lusana can get a quick grasp of Viledge’s identity.
Images featuring some of the business owners to humanize what they do and the products they provide.
Information about this month’s theme and a “Call To Action” button for the user to learn more . And on the second portion of the homepage we provide Lusana with some credibility.
Testimonial/Quote from NYT for credibility.
Brands that Viledge has worked with for credibility.
Social media for credibility.
How It Works Page:
Lusana is a conscious consumers who typically only purchases products she needs, but she does want her purchases to say something about who she is: and when the brand’s views align with hers, she wants to support and feel connected to the actual business owners and further subscribe to the culture.
Information about membership
Current members review to provide the credibility Lusana is looking for.
Details of what is in the box slightly hidden. So, there can be an element of surprise.
Pictures and information about the Black-Owned Business owners that will be featured in this months box because Lusana wants to know the faces behind the brands and is more likely to purchase and spend more when she feels that she is supporting an actual human
Gift a membership because Lousana likes to share brands and products she loves with friends.
Corporate or bulk buys
Member Access Page:
Because Viledge members receive monthly boxes including exclusive experiences, we needed to address Lusana’s experience and part of the Viledge.
Exclusive video paired with box purchase.
Filter based on monthly themed experiences.
Articles and information related to the products and brands associated with the box.
Message board for members to share their experience and review the products.
Mid-Fidelity Usability Testing Results
What Users Said:
“I think it’s really important to have the names and faces of the businesses front and center”
“I’m most interested in checking out the Our Story Page”
“If I stumbled on this site and saw the subscription to black owned businesses, I would quickly want to become a member.”
Prototype
To test our newly designed pages with users, we linked up key interactions in Figma to create a Mid-fidelity prototype.
Click Image to View Prototype
Next Steps:
While our team made important discoveries on how to motivate customers to purchase on the website, we want to address the post purchase unboxing experience to encourage customers to actively engage with Viledge during the unboxing process with the goal of promoting black-owned brands. We want to further research how we can bring this traditionally offline experience back online. So, Viledge members can connect and support black-owned brands.