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This is a concept project done for boo kee sue BOTANICALS located in Islamorada, FL. It is a boutique offering the sale of rugs, plants, pots, and much more! The initial design of their website didn’t match the exquisite beauty and vibe of what the in-person shop portrayed. So due to my love for the shop I decided to create a redesign of their e-commerce site to match what the store offered, in hopes of increasing their revenue of online sales while also building a greater online presence of their brand.
I was able to conduct individual interviews with four different participants in person. Being a fanatical plant dad myself, this was the best part for me. I went into some other local plant shops to find individuals who’d be willing to answer my questions.
A recurring theme throughout the interviews was that all users preferred shopping in person. This is because after viewing the shops instagram the individuals felt that this store is one you’d have to see in person to fully grasp it all. Due to the great quality images on their instagram, the participants said they’d buy from this shop without any hesitation. They all were able to build “trust” within this brand just by viewing it through instagram.
After researching and interviewing users, it was concluded that the boutique website was “underwhelming, messy, and unappealing.” The appearance of the website affected how the user interacted with the platform, which often resulted in leaving the site for another.
Thus, it was imperative to be intentional with the structure of the website and prioritize the visual design. I wanted to create a minimalist yet inviting website that is able to highlight everything that makes this boutique so unique and special!
Upon entering the site, I was greeted by their “about” page. While it was nice to read about the company, my intentions were to buy and not be greeted by that immediately. There wasn’t a clear sense of direction within the site and felt more as if I was aimlessly viewing products rather than being catered to and taken on the path of a sale.
While the website had amazing images, all the user interface elements were placed a bit out of whack. The copy of the site seemed to be rushed and lacked empathy for customers who were looking to buy. Also, the colors chosen for the H1 headers and navigation menu are too bright and can be hard to see at times.
The brands’ identity was not present within their online e-commerce store. It is an open air boutique with vibrant colors and the online store simply didn’t match the beauty of the brand. Their products deserved to be showcased in all their glory which is what I designed while still being user centric.
The homepage is designed to immediately showcase what the brand has to offer to its potential customers. Upon entering the site you’ll be introduced with a slider of the shops products/categories, then scrolling down you’ll see there is a highlight of what products the company wants to push the most to be sold, as well as a brief “about us” with their social media accounts linked right below it.
In reference to the previous user interviews, they wanted to have a site that was more organized with clearer classifications for the products and categories. People beforehand saw the site as being a hassle to use. Mainly due the lack of functionality there was for finding products quickly and easily.
The “Essentials page” is the boutiques e-commerce store for their accesory items. With this redesign it contains a filter option designated to the left portion of the e-commerce page which will be sticky. It is also more cohesive and unified so that viewing the products can be effortless for the eye. With the minimal visual stimuli, users will have more time to focus on the actual products at hand.
Alongside the essentials page, I kept the “plants” page consistent with that same minimalistic design. The boutique has stunning images so I wanted to make that be the main attraction to the e-commerce pages. With having the products as the main attraction, this’ll ultimately entice potential customers to click and view the products in better detail.
