KNICKGASM
Redesigning customer's journey for a personalized shopping experience
Knickgasm, India's preeminent custom sneaker brand, served as the focal point of our project—a comprehensive website redesign. It took shape in the spring of 2023 for a Protothon, hosted by Dubs-Tech at the University of Washington.
My Role: Discovery research, Product Ideation & design
Timeline: 24 Hours | May 6 - May 7, 2023
Team: Aditi, Yoshita, Khalindi, Yashvi and yours truly
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Tools: Figma, Miro, Balsamiq
OPPORTUNITY SPACE
Knickgasm's customers reach them through WhatsApp and Instagram, and placing orders via Instagram messages. Their new customers often feel uncertain about how to start the ordering process and have questions about website's authenticity and quality of products.
The customer's frequently asked questions revealed an opportunity to enhance the process through which they discover the products and address concerns regarding product quality, which got us asking...
Is there a more user-friendly method than the Google Form for personalized shoe orders? Can we harness AI to simplify customization experience for the customers?
Do you make completely custom shoes based on an idea given?
Are the Nike
Shoes Original?
Can you send me back some reference ideas of a shoe you can design for me?
Moreover, on their current website, they are just starting to take custom requests through a Google Form, so...
How can we streamline the process of discovering pre-made shoes to potential customers and build their trust in the brand?
HEURISTIC EVALUATION
We kicked things off by conducting a heuristic evaluation for the current design of Knickgasm's website, where we applied Jakob Nielsen's 10 general principles for interaction design to assess the website.
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Marked-up current Knickgasm website pages
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Here are the key findings that surfaced during this evaluation:
Match between System & Real World
The labels "custom shoe" and "design your own shoes" are confusing because customers may not know which one allows them to create customized shoes.
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Consistency & Standards
The website exhibits inconsistencies in button sizes and colors, and it lacks uniformity in its grid layout.
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Flexibility
The Google form intended for customers to design their shoes lacks ability to move around the system, and have a sense of control and thus does not offer flexibility.
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Aesthetic & Minimalist Design
The website lacks character as it relies on colors found on web templates. However, the brand is known for being really playful and vibrant.
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ANALYZING MARKET COMPETITION
Competitive analysis table with key features
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We chose Nike By You, Shoe Zero, and AllBirds for analysis due to their diverse footwear offerings and presence in the Indian market.
Knickgasm faces user engagement challenges due to its extensive customization features that are hindered by the Google Form's limitations, making it less intuitive for customers to execute their design preferences.
UNDERSTANDING CUSTOMER NEEDS
Leveraging the data and user insights provided to us, we crafted provisional personas that depicted potential Knickgasm customers. These personas emerged as crucial tools in our journey to truly understand the customers and develop a 'How Might We' problem statement.
"I really want to personalize my sneakers and add it to my Anime merch collection!"
"I would love to gift my sister these shoes on her birthday, she is a sneaker-head!"
"I am an artist so I want to express myself, and I am all about pastels"
And Recognizing Customer's Pain Points
1
Understanding the process of customizing their shoes.
2
Finding the right kind of pre-designed sneakers.
3
Figuring out the authenticity of the brand.
So, How might we design an easy-to-use platform that helps customers effortlessly customize their shoes and facilitates higher sales for Knickgasm ?
BRAINSTORMING OUR WAY FORWARD
IDEATING WITH SKETCHES
Low-fidelity screens created on Balsamiq
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UNVEILING THE SOLUTIONS
1
We Aligned Knickgasm's Playful Brand Identity With Their Website
The brand Knickgasm is known for its playful and colorful personality, but this vibrancy wasn't reflected on their website. To align with their brand's photography, which consistently features greenery, we incorporated tint of green. Additionally, to infuse warmth into the design, we introduced a hue of orange. In terms of fonts, we opted for 'Jost,' a bold sans-serif typeface, and 'Poppins' (light) for the body text. Overall, we aimed at creating a simple but powerful design for the brand.
Color Palette
#FE8A67
#D4E1D4
#000000
2
We Maximized Product Visibility and Navigational Clarity
In order to showcase their top products effectively and creating an effortless product-browsing experience, we simplified the navigation bar by changing 'custom shoes' and 'custom jackets' to 'shoes' and 'jackets'. We also created a 'Design your shoes' button for customers looking to customize their sneakers , and prominently highlighted the featured products and popular collections on the home page enabling customers to narrow down their choices more easily.
3
We Optimized Listing and Product's Pages With Simplified Information
We added filters and sorting options for easier product selection and optimized the presentation of information by removing clutter, resulting in a cleaner and more minimalistic appearance in the product's page. Additionally, we provided a size guide to assist users in selecting the appropriate product size. Buyers are more likely to make a purchase when they feel that they are making a safe and satisfying choice which is why we added ratings to the product's page.
4
We Built Trust by Incorporating Testimonials, Reviews and Ratings
To establish a sense of trust, we've implemented several key measures. This includes the introduction of the tagline "originals customized", prominently displaying testimonials on the homepage, as well as on the payments page. Moreover, we also added a section for reviews and rating on each product page.
5
We Streamlined Shoe Customization Process with AI Integration
In order to make customization easier, we've integrated an AI-driven form that creates different design options for users to choose from or modify as required. Users can now also get a visual idea of how their design might look before ordering the shoes. Additionally, we included popular categories, and provided them the ability to upload reference images and describe their designs using both audio and written notes.
Create
Select
Your Shoe
Upload image or select from suggested images
Pick a AI generated Reference or Regenerate
Select
Your Size
Select Category
Describe
your design
Add to cart and continue shopping or Checkout!
TAKEAWAYS
Effective time management was a significant hurdle during the Protothon. I recognized the importance of breaking our tasks into manageable timeframes, establishing clear milestones, and following a structured schedule for future projects.
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Collaboration played a significant role in the success of this team project. We learned that effective communication, delegation of tasks based on team members' strengths, and regular check-ins were essential for a smooth workflow.
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Next steps for this project will be to explore ways to enhance and refine it further. We intend to delve into the possibility of integrating user-generated prompts for generating shoe references. Also, not just enabling users to upload images but also creating an interface that allows them to position the image anywhere on the shoe. Additionally, the incorporation of augmented reality features to provide customers with the ability to view the product in their real-world surroundings, enhancing their decision-making process before making a purchase.
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Participating in the Protothon was an opportunity for me to thrive under the pressure of strict time limits, which helped me refine my creative problem-solving skills. It was a dynamic environment where my team and I constantly brainstormed ideas to excel in the competition.