Timeline
~ 2 years
Role
Lead Product Designer
Platforms
Mobile App & Responsive Web
Tools
Sketch, Invision, Jira, UserTesting
Background
What is FabFitFun?
FabFitFun is a female subscription box focused on lifestyle, beauty, health, wellness, and tech, offered in an annual or seasonal (quarterly) membership.
The membership includes a seasonally themed box of 6-8 full-size products, access to shop multiple flash sales with products at up to 70% off, the opportunity to reFill their favorite products each season at up to 75% off, an always-on Shop to purchase products between the sales, exclusive brand offers , custom magazine and TV content, and an online community forum of over one million other women.
OVERVIEW
Seeking Advice on Products
The only form of rating and reviewing products previously available to users was to rate the previous season’s box and its products. However, those 6.5M ratings and 1.7M reviews that were submitted were not yet displayed anywhere for other users to reference. Since there were no ratings or reviews displayed for any products, users resorted to asking others for advice and doing their own research.
For every box customization or sale, users post in the Community asking for advice on what they have chosen. They want to know if a product is worth buying or if it is something they can pass on. They value and trust other members’ opinions in the Community, sometimes even more than online reviews from other websites.
User Pain Points
Research & Risk
One of the benefits for brands that work with FabFitFun is that they get exposure to over one million users at once by including their products in a box or a sale. However, this means that sometimes users are left with the decision of whether to take a chance on a product or brand they’re unfamiliar with.
Users then have to choose between investing their own time and efforts in researching if the product in question is worthwhile, potentially wasting their money, or missing out on a great deal. If users choose to research, they then labourously scour the internet and must sort through reviews to discern which are relevant and reliable. Sometimes this process results in exhaustion, and ultimately, cart abandonment.
“I usually come to the forum first, then the brand site and anywhere that might carry that item. Gotta take some reviews with a grain of salt though. Like how are they handling the product, did they actually read instructions etc. Sometimes it’s truly just a gamble.” - supercookie78
The Problem
The decision to purchase a new product or brand requires heavy research on third-party sites, ultimately contributing to cart abandonment.
Time Commitment
Users sift through a combination of the Community, the brand website, and retailers’ websites to uncover relevant reviews. This is a manual, laborious, and time-consuming process.
Unreliable Reviews
Online reviews from strangers have to be taken with a grain of salt. It is known that some brands pay users to write 5-star reviews on their products.
Burden of Risk
Without the possibility of a refund, users assume the financial risk when purchasing an unknown brand or product if it ultimately does not meet their expectations.
Cart Abandonment
When unable to decide on whether to buy an unknown product, users resort to postponing the decision and removing it from their cart.
The Solution
Allow members to submit ratings and reviews on all our products to collect feedback and create a more trusted shopping experience.
MVP REQUIREMENTS
Fulfilling the Users’ Needs
Reliable Reviews
Only members can rate and review products. Those who bought the product directly from FabFitFun will also receive a “Verified Purchase" badge next to their review.
Leverage Previous Submissions
With 6.5M ratings and 1.7M reviews previously submitted by members, including these in the new feature creates a great base of information and encourages further participation.
Fast and Confident Purchases
Without any financial incentive or sponsored reviews permitted, users can be assured all reviews are legitimate. This reduces the time spent looking for external validation and any skepticism.
Influence Product Assortment
Members can express their approval or disapproval of a brand or type of product knowing that the Merchandising team will take their opinions into account in future curation.
Research & Inspiration
Market Research
When determining how to approach Ratings and Reviews, I first looked at some of the leading e-commerce brands in the space: Amazon, Sephora, Target, DSW, Glossier, and Express.
I observed the overall design of each brand and how they approach displaying information relating to ratings and reviews across their websites. This research directly led to the inclusion of an additional feature: the Rate and Review tab. While users can still write a review from the product detail page, they may also leave multiple ratings and reviews in succession from this tab on their My Account page (as observed on Amazon and Target).
IDEATION
Mid-Fidelity Wireframes
After reviewing the research and requirements, wireframes were explored to determine the best UX to fulfill users’ needs throughout the entire website across all devices.
ITERATIONS
Working to Find the Best Solution
Once determining the best wireframe to proceed with, many rounds of iterations were produced. These iterations also incorporated any updated user requirements or technical limitations imposed by our decision to use the third-party platform, Bazaarvoice, to help implement our proposed solution.
Writing a Review iterations
Sale iterations
Product Detail Page iterations
Rate and Review Tab Iterations
User Testing
Testing a New Feature
Users love having help in determining whether they should purchase a product. The goal of this user test was to provide a centralized location for users to consecutively leave ratings and reviews for multiple products across any previous purcha
The audience was presented with a mock-up of the current mobile app and was asked to rate and review 2 specific products while articulating their thoughts, perceptions, and expectations throughout the process.
“This has actually been one of the most easy and breezy rating review experiences ever – even better than Sephora.”
Testing Results
How Did It Perform?
On June 9, 2022, 10 FabFitFun members (80% Seasonal and 20% Annual) tested the prototype through unmoderated user testing on UserTesting.com. The general sentiment was overwhelmingly positive with all users mentioning the ease and intuitiveness of the process.
Top Successes
- 100% found the Rate & Review tab in My Account (10 of 10)
- 100% stated the first task was very easy (10 of 10)
- 80% stated the second task was very easy (8 of 10)
Top Problems
- 50% had trouble completing the entire test since they deviated from the required flow in the prototype (5 of 10)
- 4 users didn’t tap on the submit button to submit the rating
- 1 user navigated to the beginning of the prototype because she didn’t see the product in the list initially
Key Findings
- Location: A few users thought it could be more appropriate to have this feature under Orders (2 users)
- Sorting: Ability to sort by order date, especially for long-term users
- Program Context: Associate the product with the program in which it was bought
- Completion: 4/10 users did not tap on the submit button when leaving a review (due to the nature of the test or a UX issue)
Conclusions & Recommendations
- Location or Linking: Relocate the Rate & Review feature under the Orders tab for the mobile app OR link the Orders page and Rate & Review tabs so users can easily go back and forth between the two
- Member Desired Feature: Add in a search and/or sort feature (by program, date, or category of product)
- Ensure Completion: Include a warning pop-up if a user tries to leave a page without submitting their rating and/or review
THE SOLUTION
Final High-Fidelity Mocks
After rounds of iterating, user testing, solving for technical limitations, checking the fulfillment of user requirements, and determining the best user experience, the final designs for the Ratings and Reviews feature were solidified across all devices.
There are four main areas of implementation: the Writing a Review form, Sale Product Cards and Information, Product Detail Pages, and the Rate & Review tab.
Writing a Review Mocks
Sale Mocks
Product Detail Page Mocks
Rate and Review Tab Mocks
Results
In Progress
As this feature is currently in development, there are no results to report on yet. However, for when there are, the definition of success for the Ratings and Reviews feature is to achieve 10% participation of all users within one season. This metric was determined after reviewing a case study from Thrive Market and Bazaarvoice’s ROI Estimated Conversion calculator. The case study for Thrive Market revealed that they saw a 20% increase in AOV after launching their Ratings and Reviews and paying $1/review. Bazaarvoice’s calculator determined that our ROI should be approximately $21 million/year.
REFLECTION
Final Thoughts
The original designs were intended for full development by the internal engineering team. However, due to limited bandwidth, it was determined to use the third-party company, Bazaarvoice, to ease the duration of implementation. Their platform includes essential features such as review moderation, which frees the engineering team from having to develop their own tools from scratch.
While there are many benefits to using this third-party platform it, unfortunately, also means that not all the designs will be able to be implemented exactly as intended. However, being that leveraging Bazaarvoice’s platform is the most efficient and effective means to launch this feature, I am positive it will only increase the ability of the feature to achieve its goals.