L’Amour

The project involved collaborating with the client to develop a bespoke website using WordPress, aimed at providing education about dermabrasion treatments to potential clients.

Challenges included aligning website goals with evolving business proposals and adapting to changing objectives over time. A design system was established for both internal and client use, facilitating the project's progress and future phases.

Role: UX/UI Designer, Project Manager.
Stakeholder management, User Research (GA), Design System, Lo-Fi & Hi-Fi Wireframes, rapid prototyping & user testing

Timeframe: Dec - Feb 2022 (2 months)

Results: Lowered bounce rate (35%, GA), +117% bookings via website

Background

As the project manager and lead UX/UI designer, my aim was to create a website that would cater to the needs and desires of our target users while boosting conversion rates and business for the client.

To achieve this, we decided to develop a custom WordPress website that could seamlessly integrate with L’Amour's booking tool, Timely

L’Amour - wanted to offer something unique to Strathfield locals: a specialised skincare clinic with a stunning interior, skilled therapists, and a relaxing environment for those with busy schedules or in need of some downtime.

Problem

Users don’t have a central resource hub in the area to find information about dermabrasion skin treatments, and subsequently be able to identify the best service to book or read more about.

Plan A…

As a team, our design thinking is empowered by the Double Diamond process. This has been chosen as our framework & supports the UX/UI Strategy due to its iterative implications and flexibility when working with multiple & agile projects.

For L’Amour, the process allowed us to continue reviewing the problem as the needs & goals of the business changed, and enabled us to ensure we were solving the right problem, right.

Competitive analysis & Keyword mapping

To understand our audience, we started by looking at competitors on Notion and did keyword mapping to see what people are searching for.

Since we couldn't access users directly, we held workshops with our team and the client. We used empathy mapping to understand users better. This helped us figure out the project's scope and timeline.

Insights

  • Having a clear way to make bookings that link to therapist

  • Educational content for users to make an informed decision

  • Testimonials to build trust in service & brand

  • Clear user flow to reduce confusion

Key principles

  • Building confidence by showing expertise and educating on the different products & services. Ease of user. Consider for value adds to users in all areas.

  • Allow for flexibility & customisation in actions and interact

  • Simplicity allows for clarity and helps direct users to the goal rather than utilising as many CRO elements as possible

  • Consistency that builds trust, confidence, and prevents confusion when interacting with different elements of the flow

Adapting to the environment - working in sprints

We were designing the website alongside the launch of the service and encountered challenges such as a lack of clear vision & purpose. As the project went on & our understanding of the users and what core service to offer changed, so too did the way we approached the project.

As a result, we moved into a more agile type of working, where we refined products week on week & these were developed & tested while additional features kept being worked on by the business & design team.

For each sprint we focused on a different function:
Sprint 1: Basic functionality & website to optimise for conversion rate
Sprint 2: Packages & Timely API integration
Sprint 3: TikTok videos & considering various types of medi a
Sprint 4: Testimonials

Wireframing

  • How much information does a user require before being able to commit to a purchase?

  • How can we make the navigation easier and more clear?

  • How might we design a flow that will sync with their other digital marketing areas?

Design, develop, test & iterate

  • Building trust & addressing uncertainty: Having an interactive module near the top of the page to allow users to select what skin type they have, and allow L’Amour to suggest specialised treatment for that issue

  • Adding testimonials allowing for photos & reviews from clients, but also directly linking to the Google Reviews Widget to bring a 3rd party into it

  • Consistent use of colours, buttons and UI elements

  • Preventing Information Overload: Cutting copy down to be more to the point, with many of the more scientific terms researched for individual service pages

  • Adjusting mobile design so that scroll time is less (heigh of containers, using dropdowns)

A design system isn’t always feasible or the best use of time for projects like these - but given that we were working in sprints I started to build one. I work off the Boostrap 4 framework which helps create efficiency in design & development.

Moving fast without losing quality

Testing & handoff

To ensure the sprint(s) ran efficiency and I could cut as much noise as possible, I made sure to bring into the process a method of testing and providing feedback to the developers. This was done using Google Sheets for a collaborative & high-level feedback approach, as well as detailed handover notes

Impact - Having run multiple sprints, we were satisfied a majority of the functions and insights initially identified had in some way been approached. Now what’s left was to monitor the performance of the website on the different devices & across digitally marketing channel.

I was able to lower their bounce rate (35%, GA), and increase bookings by +117% via the website

The website is still being used today, however it is run privately

RETRO

  • It’s easy to make assumptions - especially in an environment where you don’t have as much time or resources to do UX Research with your users directly. In addition to that, having a personal interest in skin therapies and treatments meant the content was relatable.

  • However I’ve learnt that your assumptions truly don’t represent the users you are designing for, and shouldn’t be relied upon to make design decisions. The benefit of having a mix of desk and user research at our fingertips is that we can ask the questions, and asking the right questions will lead to better design decisions.

  • Working in sprints is also no easy feat at the best of times - the agile methodology is fast-paced and for good reason. Time felt sort and the goal-post felt like it was always moving, but as we rounded off each sprint with a summary I realised it’s also quite dependent on the project that’s being worked on. While it’s challenging, an agile methodology is well worth it.