Challenge
Online floral websites and apps either have beautiful flowers or a great user experience, but rarely both. Five Star Flora wants to achieve both.
My Role
Lead UX designer/researcher for mobile app and responsive website design.
RESEARCH
*interviews
*competitive audit
*personas
Insights
Bouquets aren’t available
The bouquets selected are not available at. checkout
Quality and delivery is not satisfactory
The bouquets delivered often don’t reflect what was chosen and paid for and the delivery date was not met during busy times of the year.
Hidden Fees
It is frustrating to clients to get to checkout and discover a large sum of hidden costs and shipping charges.
No Accountability
There needs to be follow through from the main company and someone held accountable when the items delivered are not satisfactory.
Not Many High-End Designer Services
You can find many mainstream floral shops, but there are few offering high-end design bouquets.
"When I order flowers online I want the vendor to have premade bouquets to select from. I don't know enough about flowers to put together a beautiful bouquet for a specific occasion."
--Julie, a busy professional who frequently shops online
Personas
"I don't want to get to the checkout process and
1) find out my bouquet isn't available and
2) have a bunch of hidden fees."
--Sarah, mother of 3 who has family in other states
"During important holidays I want to be able to send various bouquets to multiple recipients to save time and be fair."
--Mary, busy professional who sends floral gifts several times a year
IDEATE
Initial Concepts
Order high end designer beautiful bouquets
Have the big company online experience with boutique floral options
Send to multiple recipients in one order
Have a variety of floral options: wreaths, dried flowers, plants, and add ons
Offer monthly floral subscriptions
My Responsibilities
Conducting interviews, paper and digital wireframing, low and high-fidelity prototyping, conducting usability studies, accounting for accessibility, iterating on designs, determining information architecture, and responsive design.
User Flow and Wireframing Selection
*Main user flow is between the flower selection and back to browse categories/occasion/flowers.
*Adding to the cart will be a repetitive flow until one is ready for checkout.
Logo and Variants
The low fidelity prototyping focused on:
1) easy searching for various floral items,
2) creating an easy checkout process,
3) allow the user to send items to multiple recipients,
4) increase user confidence with online companies.
Logo and Color Palette
The logo concept was five stars, the best possible rating, with the frangipani flower because it has five petals appearing like a star. Typeface is Cinzel Decorative. The concept for the color palette was to incorporate a natural/plant based color scheme. The greens were chosen span the spectrum between winter evergreens and spring green tones.
Color Exploration
Color Palette and Contrast
Navigation Bar Design
TESTING
Usability Study
1
Clear Identifiable Options
Users need clearly defined options and precise language so they know what they can select and what exactly they are selecting.
Few Step Purchase Process
Users want as few steps as possible to purchase an item. They do not want redundant pages as that confuses
the user.
Little Data Input
They want to input in as little data as possible on their phone. They want to be able to use previously “stored/saved” data
Events
Front & Center
The main purpose of the app is to find upcoming events. This information needs to be front and center in the app and able to complete in as few as steps as possible.
Event Confirmation
Users want to receive an official confirmation that their upcoming service event has been approved and there needs to be a confirmation page.
2
3
4
5
What was said?
I was unsure what the option for 2x and 3x was. It seems like I want 2 bouquets or 3 bouquets like the one pictured.
I want convenience and few clicks. I would never input this amount of information on a phone. I would do it on a desktop. I want to do everything with one thumb: swipe, scroll, use stored addresses, payments, etc.
It is redundant to add cards. I want to just do it immediately on first page and continue from there.
I like the categories. I like when I can scroll across through images and down through the various categories.
PARTICIPANT 1
banking manager, age 54
PARTICIPANT 3
graphic designer, age 25
PARTICIPANT 4
lawyer, age 54
PARTICIPANT 2
global director, age 45
Takeaways and Moving Forward
IMPACT
Five Star Flora app has received nearly 3500 orders in the first quarter it was used. There has been a 25% increase in floral subscriptions since the inception of Five Star Flora.
LOOKING FORWARD
The floral industry has to remain agile and flexible due to the constant flux in plant availability, supply chains, and climate change.
LOOKING FORWARD
More and more consumers want to know where their products are being grown. They also want to ensure fair trade and equity and fair pay for employees. They will pay more to ensure their purchases support the common good of all.
IMPACT
More and more consumers want to know where their products are being grown. They also want to ensure fair trade and equity and fair pay for employees. They will pay more to ensure their purchases support
