This is an exploratory UX study that I conducted. This study seeked to understand and examine the current structure of the site and how accessible it is to users (students). It also proposes ways to improve the structure of the site to enhance user experience.

The visuals on this page are from my UXR report designed to showcase my reporting ability.

BACK HOME

phase 1

UNDERSTANDING

BACKGROUND AND GOALS

In today’s clothing and hypebeast industry there is a rising “sneakerhead culture” which diminishes the availability of shoes as they are often taken by bots and sneaker resellers quickly. This consumer and manufacturing scarcity and programs such as the shoe sale lotteries allow for the push for resell sites like StockX or GOAT, which resells the shoes for up to 10x the original price of the shoe. 

THE GOAL: Create a sort of security system for loyal Nike customers to ensure the availability of the shoe and order what they want without the fear of being scalped.

METHODS

I began my research by seeking to understand user’s likes and dislikes with current security programs and shoe selling practices. I also had to understand shoe lovers’ processes of seeking out and buying sneakers from sites like NIke or other resellers.

TIMELINE:
• Planning: 2 days 
• Recruiting and Screening: 2 days
• Analysis and Report: 4 days 
• Delivery: 1 week
Tools: Google Form, Google Sheets, Figma

TARGET USER CHARACTERISTICS:
• Between the ages of 16 and 65
• Sneaker lovers to casual sneaker buyers
• Frequently buys sneakers through Nike or other resellers
• Regular seeks to attempt to collect sneakers
What I got: 15 sneaker buyers (ranging from under 18 to 25)

RESEARCH GOALS:

• I wanted to research this topic by understanding shopper’s goals when buying sneakers, as well as their willingness to buy shoes for an upgraded price to the scarcity phenomenon that often happens with sneaker drops.
• Looking at the success that was with Security programs that have been launched, I wanted to develop a similar program to a shopping area that is in such high demand these days. 
• I wanted to see if this program would be something feasible in this field of online shopping as well.

USER INTERVIEWS AND INSIGHTS

Based on the Interviews, I was able to create an empathy map that showed the participants feelings towards the current site.

EMPATHY MAP:

TAKEAWAY FROM THE EMPATHY MAP:

• There is a lack of availability when it comes to shoes sold by Nike, which is especially concerning considering there is such a high demand for such shoes.
• Due to the low availability, the scalping practice is becoming popular with sneaker heads, being termed “resale culture”.

• Within resale culture, there is a higher chance of a consumer being cornered into buying a shoe design they don’t want because it’s cheaper, or buy the shoe that they DO want, but at a much higher price than the original.

phase 2

DEFINING THE SOLUTION AND FINDINGS

USER PERSONAS

To better understand the target audience that we are going for with this product, some user personas were created. Our users are people like:

JOURNEY MAPS

To further understand the goals of the design, journey maps for the personas were created to visualize what features a user would need for the program to be successful. Alexander’s journey with the new app causes both a gain and restriction, while Sam’s journey makes it easier to get the shoes that she craves.

COMPETITOR ANALYSIS

The goal of this is to find mainstream sneaker selling and buying sites, and their visible weaknesses in usability and user experience. I also want to identify and investigate how other security programs work and how its process can be optimized for this creation.

CRUCIAL INSIGHTS

GAPS IN THE MARKET:

• GOAT and StockX both show only care for the hustle of the resale, and not the quality of the shoe, allowing for less assurance of getting a real shoe.  
• Essentially, users cannot put their trust in these resale sites for quality product, which is disheartening considering the heightened prices.
• This type of program is only in the early stages, but from other companies such as Telfar, it has seen much success at what it provides to its customer base.
• Design a site that is both welcoming and promotes exclusivity. 
• Create something that shows the brand’s dedication to its customer base, by allowing for a program that helps its most loyal customers.
• By building this site onto the original Nike site, it promotes the idea that the shoes that will be provided will be quality and certified, all at the original price.

phase 3

IDEATION & DESIGN

MIND MAP

To begin the process of create a design of a possible Nike Security Program, I first created a mind map. By create this, I can see the components that are connected within the relationship of shoe buying, reselling, and scalping.

LOW FIDELITY WIREFRAMES

From the ideas in the mind map, I created a low fidelity wireframe to visualize the overall vision of how the webpage would work, as well as features that would be necessary to add to make sure the security program is successful.

The main functions that were added to the wireframe were:

• Applying a set event time to ensure that Nike scarcity and hype can still be maintained
• Create a limit on the amount of shoes allowed to be bought, to stop the scalping process within the security program.

LOW FIDELITY USABILITY TESTING

The goal of the first round of usability testing was to ensure that all of the users’ pain points from the initial surgery were met. IT was to make sure that user’s are able to complete the goals, eliminating the initial issues found within the original shoe purchase methods.

After testing the main things that were mentioned (praised or criticized):

• The shoe purchase limit (to help limit bots)
• The limit on shoe types 
• The passcode to enter the security program 
• Having a preset on the shoe size to ensure a faster checkout time
• Having an overall shoe purchase limit as opposed to just limiting a bulk purchase.

HI FIDELITY PROTOTYPE

I created Hi fidelity wireframes to visualize the overall vision of a new Security Purchasing System for the Nike website. For a better visualization of my design, I focused on translating these main functionalities of the improved page to the frame:

• Ensuring the security of the site to prevent bots from taking all the shoes.
• Creating a system that both allows for all consumers to get the shoes that they want, while also keeping up with the exclusivity of the brand. 
• Ensuring that users have the opportunity to buy shoes at the original price.

DESIGN SYSTEM

To make sure the essence of exclusivity and scarcity was still present within the Nike Store, a home page was created in the style that made it looked locked and only available to certain consumers. 
The page is open to the public, but creating an interface like this ensures that consumers that are there to buy are the ones that continue onto the site. 

Adding the enter the name and shoe size BEFORE even entering the site prevent bots from hurriedly coming and grabbing all the shoes. 
The idea is to also automatically put all shoes to that size, making the selection and purchase easier for regular customers.

Including a home page with instructions is another way to deter bots, all the extra things before the shoe purchase can deter those who are just trying to buy the shoes as fast as they can rather than taking the time to really decide what shoe they want. Having password protected sites ensures that the bots are not able to come into the site, as it will be different for each security drop. A future question that could be decided is whether to supply consumers with the password on the site’s social media, or provide it into the emails of loyal customers, creating a sort of advantage to normal buyers.

Placing the welcome and size information on every page creates a unique experience for each user, and provides the illusion that the site is created for the consumer in mind instead of just the product.  
One of the biggest complaints from the original sessions was that there was no individuality to the site, allowing for bots to come and take the shoes easily for the purpose of reselling.

THE FINAL ITERATION DESIGN 

CRUCIAL INSIGHTS

In able to update both security and usability, it is crucial to use familiar coloring and placement of processes that require individuality to invite the consumer in. By placing the same amount of importance on the design properties with the usability of the navigation, or combing the UX and UI together, then an optimal experience can be created. 

phase 4

CONCLUSIONS

WHAT WE LEARNED

• Start a website with shoe lovers in mind! Creating a page that doesn’t allow for those who love shoes to have the opportunity to get them, whether it be because bots took the shoes first, or its not available in their size, promotes distrust with the company. 
• Create a site that looks as luxurious as the shoe that is being sold, to make sure that while the program does allow everyone to participate, it still creates that sort of boundary. 
• The security of the page is just as important as the design.

RESEARCH IMPACT

STRATEGIC IMPACT:

• In able to create an ideal user experience, prioritize user individuality before company and financial gains. 
• To establish user comfortability, make an experience that is unique to the user, such as remembering their shoe size or their name during the purchasing process.

PRODUCT IMPACT:

• Invite a change of design of visual components on the site to allow for important things to stand out and allow for ease of the user. 
• UI components that resemble things of security, such as the padlock and the password protection on the main page can allow for the consumer to be assured that they bots are not scalping their shoes from them. 
• Including things like the user’s name and the shoe size also ensure that the consumer is being taken care of with this program, and they know that the show WILL be available for them.

WHAT WE CAN STILL CHANGE

• Due to the project being a personal one, and not part of the Nike officially, there was limited to no access to measure success of the new site design.
• So how would I measure success?
  • Looking at how the security deliverables prevented scalpers and bots from being able to mass purchase shoes.

MY LEARNINGS

PERSONAL GROWTH COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

• This was the first project that I have taken on that involved utilizing a competitive analysis. As this project requires me to create a sort of program that meets the demands of the users who have trouble with sneaker resale culture, using the acquired knowledge I gained about other companies and how they use their business model, I know exactly what to do to change the way that these sales function. 
• Another thing that comes with these research methods is learning how to employ them and use them for the right purpose in your study. When completing the analysis at first, I did not realize how much influence it would over my design ideas. When creating the mind map, I realized that the analysis put my me in a mindset that focused on exactly what users have issues with.

PERSONAL GROWTH WITH FIGMA

• With previous projects I was able to learn how to utilize Figma for most facets of the process, to create empathy maps and user personas to name a few. With this project, however, I wanted to fully learn how to prototype with the program and utilize my components and design system to create a semblance of a fully functioning site. 
• This time, using Figma, I was able to create a uniform color scheme, ensuring that the storytelling element can be seen through this landing page. One of the biggest things about UX research is delivery, and how to create something that stakeholders can easily digest and understand. Through this design challenge, I think I have improved on my creating of deliverables.

WHAT WOULD I HAVE DONE DIFFERENT?

• I would have made sure there was more diversity in the participation of sneaker buyers. 
  • Many of the participants were 25 years old or younger. Having older sneaker buyers, who don’t really partake in online sneaker reselling culture, could have changed the metrics of the pain points significantly.
• Had a more diverse set of user personas to ensure that every type of customer is addressed in the study.
• Created a more in depth prototype, that really went into depth of how to combat bot buyers and ensure that all users have the opportunity to buy sneakers from Nike at the original price.