Problem Statement

• We are unable to provide Indian artisans and their rich art forms with an online platform to reach a larger audience and take the artisans' hard work into the luxury sector with more trust value.

• Users are not aware of the intensive process of making any product, which lacks justification for the higher price points.

• Lack of trust in users prevents them from purchasing high-order value products online.

Objectives

• To create an online handicraft e-commerce platform, with a focus on delivering a rich Indian handicraft experience to its users.

• To provide the essence of the richness of Indian handicrafts by creating a website which can become a one stop destination to both explore and purchase Indian art-forms.

• To improve the presence of Indian art-forms on a global platform by creating a modern and luxury website that attracts the High Net Individuals from around the world.

The website will serve as an online store where customers can get the essence of India and its artists and purchase related products.

Create a trustable platform where users can safely and securely purchase high net product with assurance of the quality and trust.

Target Audience

• Art collectors and Interior decorators who enjoy collecting handicrafts and understand the value and the hard-work that goes into making the products.

• High Net worth Individuals in search of unique products for their spaces.

User Research

My Approach

To bring the medley between the luxury market and handicraft market me and my team started by collating a repository of competitive websites selling handcrafted products, luxury websites, and websites with immersive experiences. Research was further divided into different agendas

• In-depth competitive study on Indian handicraft brands.

• Competitive study of international Luxury brands.

• Primary research to understand the interventions of artisans in the production, sourcing and how it is reflected on the brand websites.

• User interviews with the targeted audience.

• UI trends and patterns research by the Visual team on luxury brands and handicraft brands.

  
  

PRIMARY RESEARCH

Access to users and scope to conduct formal user research was limited due to crunched timelines and differing priorities. So I got creative! I studied vlogs and blogs and followed people who were handicraft collectors, interior decoration and handicraft enthusiasts. Their conversations with the viewers/readers helped me identify their worldview. 

I also reached out to a few High net worth Individuals s, interior designers and handicraft collectors who are the end consumers in Indian market. 

It helped me empathise with them and understand their needs and motivations. The following personas highlighting the needs of the two most prominent types of Indian luxury Handicraft consumers.

SECONDARY RESEARCH

Competitive Study/Market Analysis

A competitive study was done with 4 direct and indirect brands which deal in handcrafted products in India.

Visual Trend Analysis

To understand the Visual trends used by luxury brands, a competitive study was done for multiple luxury brands.

• Larger real estate dedicated to product images for better clarity at intricate level

• High quality 3-D Renders used to bring the products closest to the real world experience

• Sleek typeface usage to give out a posh yet subtle character

• Less focus on price and more on qualities of the product

• Usage of high quality model shots to display products

• Essence of exclusivity through elements like call to enquire

Brainstorming and Ideation

After identifying the user needs and pain points, I conducted an ideation workshop with design team and Product mangers using crazy 8 methodology to solve the pain point. Later the features finalised were prioritised with the help of product mangers.

Crazy Solutions

Objective of the workshop was to priorities the pain points and ideate the possible solutions using CRAZY 8 methodology.

• 3D visualisation in users space based product recommendations.

• Servicing reminder systems.

• Curators corner - community building.

• State wise virtual gallery tours.

• Infographics to explain process of the art-form.

• Meet and connect with artist

Information Architechture

Before moving to wire-framing i created the full information architecture of the website, which helped in scoping the project timelines and effort estimation.
Further collaborated with Product managers to priorities on the basis of business needs and user goals and plan upcoming design sprints. We need to make sure that extra manual effort is not required post-launch, so the designs have to be scalable to cater to the diverse needs of multiple different categories. The challenge now was to make beautiful, functional designs that address both the stakeholder and user needs.

After a few rounds of low-fi wireframes, the next step was to create a new UI design language. And challenge here was to incorporate Indian aesthetics and culture keeping the site minimal and clean and for that we took our inspirations from the Indian architecture and motifs.

Final Solutions

Since the product is under NDA and not be launches fully yet. I will not be able to share the prototypes and deep dive into the final screens

Decision Making

• Designed as an immersive and editorial way of knowing the product details, with focus on story-telling to set us apart from the usual e-commerce approach.

• To validate the richness of the product an approach to focus on smaller details and specifications about the chosen product.

• To assure them about the authenticity of the product various certifications, trust markers and GI tags were highlighted.

Customisation and Purchase

• Discovering all the variable attributes related to any product, trying out different possibilities to customise, and viewing the results in real-time.

• Keeping user informed on the longer timelines, variable pricing and other key information unique to customisation journey.

• With a largely varied product inventory and a roster of product customisation possibilities varying with each product type, scalability of the component is an important aspect to focus on.

Fitment

• Fitment is a cause of concern for many of the product categories like art, furniture, decor, upholstery, jewellery etc. Users buying online would want to know how well the product will fit or match with their needs

• See variations of the product, view it in your space, make it your own by adding customisations.
  Review and justify the price and delivery details and feel confident before placing the order.

Order Management

• There is scope to provide rich experiences even after customer place an order. From keeping track of the order with exciting updates throughout the process, to providing an immersive space to showcase digital assets linked to the product itself.

• A central place for customers to see products they own as part of their collection. This also includes products that are being made / on the process of delivery. Each product link leads to a dedicated home with various digital assets and updates related to the product.