This student project was to design a website and conduct comprehensive user research for a fictional cosmetics brand. Neroli Cosmetics is a small Florida-based cosmetics and skincare company with a focus on local and natural ingredients. While most companies focus on skincare or cosmetics, Neroli wants to make a name for themselves by doing both. Additionally, the company founders are commitment to bettering the local community through various philanthropic activities which they hope to ingrain in the company culture as they grow.
This project includes product design and branding for Neroli, comprehensive research, a prototype of Neroli's proposed e-commerce website, a sample marketing email design, and a client presentation.
Web Design
UX Research
UX/UIDesign
Figma, Photoshop
Research, Sitemap, Wireframes, Prototypes,
UI/UX Design
What does a Neroli Cosmetics customer look like? Based on the target market research Neroli's typical client is female between the ages of 18-39 years old with an income of $20,000-$50,000 per year, is unmarried with no children, and has at least some college education. This segment is very loyal to brands that support environmental and social causes. They are well-educated, socially active, but do not necessarily have a high income. They are highly influenced by social media and often purchase products based on friend recommendations, influencers, or user reviews.
Gender:
80% female
Age:
18-39 years old
Annual Income:
$20K- $50K
Level of Education:
AS/AA degree+
Marital Status:
Single
Benefits Desired:
natural, local
22 year old college student from Melbourne, FL
Behaviors
Spending time with friends, surfing, participating in beach clean-ups and supporting environmental causes
Goals
Find simple beauty products that are good for the environment and save money for a summer trip
Frustrations
Products that claim to be "all natural" but really aren't, too many product options, high prices
34 year old mental health counselor from New York, NY
Behaviors
Working and spending time with her family, wants to model responsible habits for her daughter
Goals
Wants one single source of reliable and high quality beauty products, wants to feel good about how her money is spent
Frustrations
Too busy with work and parenting to shop for beauty products (too many options), high prices, wasteful product packaging
A competitive analysis was conducted to assess the strengths and weakness of Neroli's key competitors. I looked at three potential competitors that specialize in natural and organic skincare products and are around the same price point as Neroli - 4.22 Organics, Weleda, and Derma E. Three use cases were created to walk our personas through different scenarios on the competitors websites.
Key takeaways from the competitive analysis included the need to keep menu bars and content simple and to the point. Additionally noted was the importance of prominently displaying incentives, social media, and the shopping cart on the homepage.
Taking into account our personas motivation and mental state, three user journeys were created. It was important for our users to be able to easily find information about the company and product ingredients, but not be overwhelmed by too much content. It was also important to offer incentive for them to return.
Since Neroli Cosmetics is currently establishing their initial web presence, a through content inventory was conducted on the three competitors mentioned above. Based on the findings a preliminary content was established for Neroli’s website.
After determining our target audience and getting a rich pool of possible content, it was time to outline the actual content for our site and dig into how users will interact with the site.
The process flow diagrams followed each of our personas as they attempted to complete a complex task on our site. The process flow diagrams took into account all scenarios for completing the action. The three tasks were: purchasing a facial cleanser, checking out and receiving rewards for purchase, and finding ingredients in a product and completing a purchase.
The site map was created based on all of the previous research and was the first real look into how the website would be structured.
Initially low fidelity hand drawn wireframes and paper prototypes were created. The prototypes were created to show different scenarios users would take to complete tasks on the site such as purchasing products and searching for products based on skin care concern or product ingredient. After testing the wireframes and prototypes revised and updated to high fidelity versions.
view the prototype
The final design for the Neroli website focused strongly on their commitment to the local economy and use of local ingredients including fresh citrus. The color scheme is inspired by citrus as well.
The dropdown at the top of the home page shows the company's charitable donations which is something the client wanted to highlight with their new website. The home page also has a floating chat feature for visitors to easily ask questions and connect with customer service. The product detail pages allow the customer to easily see product ingredients for each item, share photos and connect directly with social media, and read reviews from other users. All features that were highly important to our personas.
A complementary email was designed to promote the featured product collection and support the new company brand.
