A scented candle that smells just right to you?
In the mood for a relaxing night?
How do you choose from all the scents out there?
Soothing Flames simplifies it for you
Receive free scent samples & decide
which scents appeals to you
Purchase the full-sized scented candle from our app knowing you will enjoy it!
Scented Candle e-commerce app
Design Problem
Scent preference varies from person to person and consumers want to smell the candles before making a purchase
Hence, there is little confidence to make a purchase through an app unless the consumer has smelled the scent before
Design Goal
The goal of the project is to allow consumers to smell the candles without having to go down to a physical shop, hence giving consumers greater confidence to purchase through the app
Role: UX Designer
Project was undertaken by myself only
User Research
Brainstorming
Wireframing
Usability Testing
Prototyping (lo-fi & hi-fi)
Content Writer
Preview of Final Designs
Scent Quiz to aid users in finding their preferred scents
Free sample scents packs
List of different candles in one of the sample scent packs (scrollable)
Beginning:
User Research
User Interview
Method: User Interview through video calls
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Interviewees: Females ranging from 19 - 58 years old (and have interest in purchasing scented candles)
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Questions were asked about their:
1) General shopping habits (physical, online websites, apps)
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Sought to understand the rationale and emotions behind their habits to better understand their motivations
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Enquired about their frustrations, which together with their motivations, would help create an app with a more pleasant user journey
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2) Experiences with purchasing scented candles
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Priorities about choosing and purchasing scented candles to find out what truly matters to them
Pain Points
(about general shopping on apps & scent-specific shopping)
#1
Overwhelming information presented on apps
#2
Scents are personal and apps do not allow for smelling:
#3
Fire hazard from the open flames of candles
#4
Health hazard as customers worry about inhaling toxic fumes
Persona
Abigail
Age: 23
Education: BA (Economics)
Hometown: Singapore
Family: Single
Occupation: Data Analyst
A working lady who has more free time on weekdays after work and on weekends. Enjoys retail therapy. Her phone is often nearby and therefore she more often shops using apps out of convenience and also because apps save past purchase histories.
Wants to physically smell the candles before buying since smell preference is very personal. Uses candles to improve her mood (to be relaxed/happy).If she is able to smell the scents of candles through samples of scented strips, it would greatly diminish the need to go down to a physical shop.
Goals
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Improve mood (relaxation/happiness) through candles
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Physically smell candles before buying because smell is very personal
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Smooth shopping experience on apps where she is able to find what she wants easily​
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Gain happiness through retail therapy
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Purchase items at a cheap/ promotional price
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Return items for free if its unsuitable
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Being able to pay using different payment modes (earn points/convenience)
Frustrations
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Overwhelming when confronted with too many options on apps
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Advertisements that clutter up the screen and distracts on apps
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Complicated user journey that takes too much time and effort (finding item return page/ navigating the complexity of the item shipping process)
Future-state user journey
(includes what users would like to experience since they do not currently purchase scented candles through apps)
Browse e-commerce apps such as Shopee & our app
Type keywords such as “floral”
Understand the types of candles available
Take note of famous brands with good descriptions of candles
Tasks
Select scents she thinks she will like
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Key in address for shipping
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Pay a small fee
Waits for promotional dates such as 11.11
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Stay up late to grab online vouchers
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Bulk buy with friends or families for discounts
Checks that order is correct
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Light and smell the candle
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Find a location to place the candle
Source for candles through apps
Compare prices and quality across different suppliers
Request for sample scents
Purchase candles at the cheapest price
Receive candles at home
Shopping to relieve boredom
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Excited to search for scented candles
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Annoyed to get irrelevant results
Shocked at the price
Impressed by the assortment of scents offered
Curious about how the scents would smell
Annoyed at the amount of information needed to be keyed in
Cautious about keying in credit card detail
Excited to receive scents
Patient yet eager for prices to drop
Happy to be chatting with friends about purchasing candles together
Satisfied and pleased to be saving money from discounts.
Emotions
Happy that the smell is to her liking
Upset that the smell is not what she expected
Pleased with herself because the candle improves the aesthetics of the location.
Lo-fi Paper Wireframes
Chosen Paper Wireframe for Homepage
Obvious button to guide users to free candle scents samples
Brainstormed wireframes (5 samples)
Lo-fi Digital Wireframes
Homepage
Assistive questionnaire prompt + sample scents packs
Assistive questionnaire
Recommended Sample Scents Packs
Specific Sample Scent Pack with popup
Order confirmation
Usability study on Lo-fi digital prototype & Design improvements
Moderated usability study was conducted with 5 persons (2 males, 3 females) over Zoom where users were told to carry out tasks based on prompts without any guidance on a lo-fi digital prototype of the app.
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2 males were included to test out whether there were significant differences in expectations & experiences compared to females. There were no significant differences.
Design improvements based on feedback from usability study were made as shown below:
Before Usability Study
1) Users were confused about how to answer the assistive questionnaire and need better cues
2) The wording of “Answer Assistive Questionnaire” should be changed to be more easily understood
After Usability Study
After Usability Study
The assistive questionnaire was re-worded and changed to a popup for easier comprehension
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Before Usability Study
After Usability Study
3) Users wanted a way to contact the company for reasons such as getting refunds and having a change of mind
Added "Contact Us" to the hamburger menu
5) Users liked the purchasing process and found it straightforward and fuss-free
6) Some users wanted to understand why particular scents were recommended based on their answers in the assistive questionnaire
Usability study on Hi-fi digital prototype & Design improvements
Moderated usability study was conducted with 5 persons over Zoom where users were told to carry out tasks based on prompts without any guidance on a hi-fi digital prototype of the app.
Note: Some elements are included to create a complete look but are not essential to the design solution and therefore not clickable
Design improvements based on feedback from usability study were made as shown below:
Scent Quiz Page
Before Usability Study
After Usability Study
1) Users found the design clunky & reminiscent of retro designs
Reduced the font size to create a more calming look
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Made the design cleaner and reduced the visual weight of borders
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In the top navigation bar, relative visual weight of the current page users are at is increased, and page title is removed
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Added circular page symbols to let users know they are on page 1 of 2, so they know where they are at and how little there is left to complete
Sample Scents Packs Page
Before Usability Study
After Usability Study
2) Users were uncomfortable with the lack of margins at the sides
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3) The "Free" icon gave a childish feeling and didnt match with the rest of the designs
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4) Users thought they were only getting 1 sample per pack
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5) Users were getting overwhelmed by the page
Removed the dark outline around each sample scents packs to make the design cleaner and to create negative space at the sides for a sense of spaciousness
Removed the "Free Icon" because it gave the wrong feeling. Changed to "Free sample scents packs"
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Added " (6 samples) " because users were not sure that they will be getting 6 different scented candle samples.
Reduced the font size of ‘5ml/candle’ because it is not so essential
Final Design
Note: Some elements are included to create a complete look but are not essential to the design solution and therefore not clickable
Finale: Takeaways from this project
Impact:
Users were intrigued and amazed about receiving candle scents samples because that would solve a major pain point of not being able to smell candles when browsing through a digital medium like an app
What I learnt:
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Listening to understand without interrupting to correct the user is a skill to be honed since I can feel compelled to do otherwise.
Checking back to the overarching design problem and solution at key stages is important to ensure that the design process is fruitful and does solve the design problem
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Clarifying and asking probing questions helps to get to the deeper needs of users and also prevents misinterpretations of what users are saying