Tangled Web
Tangled Web is a small but beloved comic book shop in the Upstate of Spartanburg, South Carolina. While their in-person selection is lively and engaging, their online site has much to be desired. Both frequent visitors and new potential customers have difficulty navigating a website that has no search function and little to no inventory listed. Through the listed research methods, we will bring clarity and efficiency to the site.
Scope and constraints
Two-week solo sprint
Solo UX designer and researcher
Marvel
Sketch
Roles and responsibilities
Tools used
Tangled Web, like many other local businesses, are struggling to stay afloat during Covid-19. The once loyalty in-store custom base is now drastically less than their normal revenue due to the pandemic.
Problem statement
Users need a clear and organized way to shop for comics online in the local area because the non-existent options at current favorite stores are frustrating and deterring.
How might we..
How might we make the website just as inviting as the store?
opportunities
methods used
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Heuristic
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Competitive and comparative analyses
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Research Plan
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Complete interviews
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Persona
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Journey map
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User flow
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Problem statement and how might we
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Card sorting
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Navigation Scheme
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Create a paper prototype
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Low fidelity prototyping
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High Fidelity prototyping
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Presentation
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Research report and plan
Foundational Research
Heuristic evaluation
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There aren’t enough features. Most things on the site are not clickable.
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Tangled web clearly meant there to be a way to purchase online because their FaQ has a shipping section.
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I called to verify that it still, in fact, sold manga, and they said yes, they do. I asked if there was a way for me to see their selection online, and they said they did not. They only put a few things on the site because of store limitations that were not disclosed during the call.
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current shopper demographic
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Long-time collectors, readers, and fans. Knows exactly what they want and looking for specific items.
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People that are just getting into the hobby. Customers that might want to browse and learn.
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A person that is buying a gift for someone. They may be unfamiliar with the products as a whole. They are searching off of keywords and like images or icons.
Rowan McKnight
Avid collector, Nerd things extraordinaire
Persona
Bio
Age-20
Relationship- Single
Location- Spartanburg, SC
Career- College student
Behavior
-Loves to shop in-store, so she can browse
-Saves extra money to indulge in her hobby
-Shops locally when she can
Frustrations
-Online sites are not available for most local business
-Site doesn't feel secure
-Site is not aesthetically pleasing
Goals and needs
-Wants an online store for favorite local shops
-needs to feel safe using cards/ payments online
-wants to be sure the money is going to the business, not a 3rd party
What were users thoughts on the original site?
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The site did not feel professional.
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People didn't like the 3rd party site.
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They did not feel safe in putting their debit/credit card information on the site due to its appearance.
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Many said they would not continue looking through the site after they saw the inventory.
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The main drive for many was supporting a small business.
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Want to be able to buy things online safely and securely.
Primary Research
What are leading online retailers doing?
I wanted to implement not only a checkout process but a simple and clear process. To do this, I compared how many steps it took to find and then check out the same comic book, Captain Marvel issue number 17. I decided to look at Amazon because they are a strong contender in the online shopping market.
Amazon- 7 steps from pulling up the site and finding the comic. There were an additional 5 to proceed to the checkout.
Tangled Web- While there were 6 steps to locating the comic, it was due to dead ends rather than a simplistic process.
So, Where are we starting?
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1. The only clickable item is the new release section.
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2. There is currently no way to purchase or order any items.
3. Items are being updated but only for this section.
4. Users wanted a way to see more information on the item
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Round one-Paper prototype
1. Clear navigation and categories.
2. Users enjoyed the simple and clean layout.
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3. While there is more product information, many requested a rating system for the item.
4. Main addition, a checkout feature
Round two- Low fidelity prototype
1. Top category bar is kept to allow ease when browsing.
2. Some spacing reads as off.
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3. Rating/review system added.
4. Users note that it feels like a comic with the structure and set blocks.
5. Users found the related category's to be helpful when shopping for gifts.
Reflections
a great start with room for improvement
As a whole, our reversion of the site was met with great reviews. Users were very excited about the assets on the site, such as recommended items. While the site is a great step in the right direction, there is still more to be done. Users still were unable to see the difference in the search bar and the categories. Users also wanted to see written reviews as well as stars alone. Many also wanted to see how many starts went into the rating.
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what i enjoyed about this project
This site was a pleasure to work on. This project combined my love for all things fantasy and pushing to see how expansive the field of UX can be. It may seem like just another small shop to others. But as this was an amazing place with nothing but fun energy and positive memories, I hope that I was able to introduce Tangled web to a new wave of fans and vendors.