Project

This solo conceptual project was a research and design project with the goal of improving the desktop website navigation, product location methods, and checkout function for a small e-commerce retailer.

Introduction to Kona bikes

Kona bikes has always put the ride first. Kona is a bicycle manufacturer established in Vancouver BC in 1989. They opened offices in the US and Europe in 1995 and now have global distribution, mostly through local bike shops. Kona was one of the earliest manufacturers of mountain bikes in 1989 and quickly expanded their product line to include road, gravel, cyclocross, and many other styles of bikes. Their focus on products that are durable, good value, and fun, have kept them at the forefront of the cycling industry for the past 34 years. Kona bikes was purchased by Kent Outdoors in January 2022. The new owners are looking to focus more on increasing sales of bikes, apparel, and accessories through the konaworld.com desktop site with improved conversion rates.

Problem statement

The competition has a large advantage in site usability and customer service

I compared YT Industries, Specialized, and Jenson USA, as direct competition, and Gregory backpacks, Giantmouse knives, and Arbor snowboards (also owned by Kent Outdoors) as comparitory companies that market to a similar demographic. While the other companies had good websites and some functionality that is better than konaworld.com, YT is the company to beat. The site is easy to navigate, customer service access is easy to find, bike model specific parts are not buried in the navigation, they provide the ability to compare different models of bikes, and the checkout experience is simple. The only downside is that they continue to propagate the extreme view of mountain biking that is a barrier to entry for many. YT’s website shows why they are the industry leader in direct to consumer mountain bike sales. They have achieved this through an excellent online experience, providing great bikes at less cost (still expensive) and great customer service.

Konaworld.com analysis reveals needed improvements

The biggest issue is that purchasing bikes, parts, apparel and accessories requires the user to leave the konaworld.com site and go to another site. Nope, not a single site. A different site for bikes, another for parts, and a third for apparel and accessories. The site also has multiple places that a user could buy replacement parts and the user has no way of knowing which parts will be in which place.

Kona’s ideal customer is named Mike

I created the persona of Mike to help guide us through this process. Mike personifies our user and is a way to keep the user’s needs at the forefront of our minds as we design. We can’t solve the industry wide issues through a website redesign but we can start to chip away at the issues that Mike experiences. I am proposing building a non-intimidating site using warm colors, sunlight filled imagery and showing people of all types enjoying riding bikes in all kinds of environments. The site would have improved navigation, comparison functions, and easier access to customer service. This initial proposal focuses on improved navigation and a redesign of the site colors and imagery.

I mapped out the existing user flow on the site and asked some Kona employees to categorize the different bike models using a card sorting exercise to determine ways to improve the user’s experience. The card sorting showed the categorization was already good but the user flow needed improvement. The biggest issue was that the user needed to leave the konaworld.com website to make any purchases.

Back to the drawing board

Starting with a clean sheet of paper, I sketched out an improved user flow for finding and purchasing a product and some initial wireframe concepts. Then I moved to the digital realm to develop an mid-fi prototype with the improved user flow and navigation.

User testing was successful with some caveats 

In user testing, the user’s were able to complete the required tasks well under the requested error parameters. Even though the prototype tested well the users had common suggestions for additional improvements. The biggest improvement was showing different variations of the bike models all on the same page by adding an aluminum/carbon frame option and a 27.5/29 tire size button.

Mike wants a website that feels friendly and encourages exploring

 I created the site color palette and mood board to explore these ideas and develop a color palette for the site. The mood board shows warm fall colors and people riding a variety of bikes in different beautiful environments. Mike rides because he loves to get outside so wants a website that shows the peaceful experience of riding.

Hi-Fi prototyping improved visual and user experiences

I built a hi-res prototype with the look and feel of the moodboard and the suggested improvements from the mid-fi user testing. The hi-fi prototype tested very well with users in spite of some technical issues with different size screens causing the cart and checkout models to display incorrectly. The testers were able to complete all of the assigned tasks without any errors and appreciated the improved visual elements of the site.

Next Steps

The prototype needs further build out to show different bike types, include video, and have an improved checkout experience. Taking it further, I would build out the bike comparison tool and provide better options for customer service. With the improved prototype I would like to do more extensive user testing with improved testing metrics.

I would suggest the following items in addition to the improvements found in the prototype if I was to present this to the Kona leadership

• Photos – Need hero photos with new warm, sun drenched feel
• Videos – show the joy of riding. Not just the thrill
• Stories – everyday people who love to ride
• Updated bike descriptions to match the new ‘love to ride’ theme
• Merch descriptions
• Updated ‘About’ section
• Updated FAQ section