enrou rebranding
PROCESS
With a lean design team consisting of 2 designers, 2 UX designers, and a developer, we went through multiple iterations of the site to get a better understanding of how to best give users a unique experience, as well as inspire them. Since most of the members of the team had 9-5 jobs and were volunteering their time on the project, we decided that the best way to get the project done in addition to our day jobs were to meet once a week for 3 hours for reviews and work sessions. After each work session we would leave the meeting with next steps due the next week and so forth. Within the first few weeks, we did a lot of research and post-it exercises trying to scope the website as a whole, trying to find key goals to focus on. In the end we came up with three distinct goals:
Emphasizing storytelling and content-creation as the main focus of the conscious shopping experience - this means finding relevant ways to showcase artisan stories and each purchase's impact
Intuitive means of allowing users to either 'shop by cause' or 'shop by impact' - necessity of finding a balance between e-commerce and social good
Increasing user retention, especially throughout the point-of-purchase flow
After defining our goals for the website, we went ahead and scoured the web looking for inspiration to help us get a better understanding of our “competitors” and what other like-minded companies were doing within their properties. We were inspired by three websites that best aligned with our goal of emphasizing storytelling and content creation as the main focus to a users shopping experience: Anthropology (fashion; shopping experience), Warby Parker (shopping experience; content), and Charity : Water (storytelling, content). In this process I was able to work closely with each member understanding why we chose the company, and any specifics within the site they thought worked and didn’t work. In the end, the sharing of ideas within the team helped established a direction on where the company’s redesigned website should gear towards.
Once we figured out the direction of the site, we took apart the MVP site and started restructuring content and products. We also had multiple discussions on what the websites key message should be. The team mapped out user journeys, poverty cycle, product creation maps, and so forth. Since there were so many different elements that would essentially be added to the final product, we wanted to make sure that the message and content all had a connective thread for consistency.
HACK-A-THON
When we felt like we got all the information and research done, we had a 16 hour "hack-a-thon" where we built different iterations on what how we felt the site should be laid out. In the first couple of hours, I worked along side UX designers mapping out the homepage. Once we were at a good place and got the Founders' blessing we shared what we came up with the team so the designers can start building comps on how they interpreted the research and goals.
PRE-LAUNCH PLEDGE PAGE
Upon solidifying a look and feel for the website, we were tasked to create a PRE-LAUNCH PLEDGE page that lets users know the redesign was on it's way, as well as giving them a taste of what's to come. This page served multiple purposes: 1) Give users a feel of what the new site would look like 2) Newsletter sign up so users can be updates and news about the company/brand 3) Understand the mission of the company, by challenging users to LIVE INTENTIONALLY.
FINAL WEBSITE
LOOK BOOK PAGE
SOLUTION
The Enrou e-commerce experience is the face of how users interact with the brand to build a cycle of socially conscious consumerism. The original team built a site that worked as their MVP, making changes as the site evolved. As the brand gained momentum, the team started to see shifts in how people were interacting with the site. We saw that people weren’t only interested it for purchasing the products we sold, but in the story that surrounded the artisan and creation aspect of the items. With this knowledge we were able to focus on improving the sites functionality and aesthetics, making sure to create an easy and informative customer journey.
Learn more at ENROU.CO