My Role
Lead designer responsible for research, conceptualization, and design
The Team
Head of Global Digital Marketing
Global Art Director
Head of US Marketing
Development team
Timeline
October 2023
Introduction
woom previously offered gifting in the form of gift cards, but lacked personalization and involved a cumbersome user experience. In 2023 we were tasked with incorporating a more user-friendly, personalized gifting experience as we re-launched digital gift cards for the upcoming holiday season.
Context
The price point of woom bikes is higher than most will find in mass market retailers because of the high-quality materials and parts engineered specifically for children. This makes it the perfect gift for growing kids during holidays or other special occasions; however some gifters may not want to cover the entire cost, or have knowledge of appropriate sizing information.
Digital gift cards allow users to easily and conveniently contribute to a high-priced gift from wherever they are with flexible delivery.
Results
Due to the limited timeline, gift cards launched as a minimum viable product with only essential features and two artwork variants. Data from the launch was also impacted by seasonal promotions, marking down gift cards and increasing the number of users who purchased with the intent of applying the gift card as a discount to their own purchases.
In the future, success might be best measured by qualitative data such as system usability surveys, 5 second tests or preference testing to understand how useful users found the product.
To validate using quantitative testing, I would want to compare the number of users who schedule send dates to those who send immediately, and those who send to themselves.
It might also be relevant to track the number of gift card purchases through non-holiday seasons vs gifting seasons to understand the importance of digital gift cards as a means of gifting.
Skip the small talk
Research
Foundational research informed us of industry standards and later helped to define our value proposition.
I conducted a competitive audit of 4 retailers with various solutions for gifting programs.
Our Users
By better understanding our users, we can start to understand how we can build a solution to best fit their needs.
Rudolphs
Busy, Organized, Thoughtful, Promotionally Driven
64% of consumers start their holiday shopping in or before November. 1 in 4 start as far back as September. They are looking for and expecting value propositions as a reward for their early shopping.
Business Focus
Deals, Promos
Dashers
Rushed, List-tickers
“Dashers” are generally disorganized, impulsive, and more open to suggestions. They are more focused on ticking names off lists than seeking a bargain.
Business Focus
Convenience & Efficiency
Prancers
Relaxed, Cheerful, Goal-oriented, Informed
Holiday obligations are fulfilled, stress has passed, and these users are still in holiday mode. They’re ready to spend on themselves and their family and look toward growth in the new year. It’s time to cash in on gift cards and shop guilt-free.
Business Focus
Next, we broke down the problem to better understand how we can build reviews that benefit our users.
The Problem
Busy gifters are making many important purchasing decisions, but need to be sure their gifts are still thoughtful and personal.
Recipients are susceptible to unused balances and uninformed experiences. They are seeking gifts that are easy to use while managing busy lifestyles.
How might we provide users with personable gifting experiences with a simple-to-use, flexible solution?
Goals
01. Easy to Use
It should be accessible to all, use familiar navigation methods to complete, and minimize user’s cognitive load.
02. Flexible
The gifting functionality should offer users freedom to choose how they want the product to work.
03. Reliable
Context should validate success or failure of an action and inform customers about the product results. It should help users make decisions quickly and navigate errors successfully.
Our value proposition was determined by referring to our initial research while keeping our users needs in mind.
Could Have
Won't Have
The Solution
The final solution offers a flexible, personalized, easy to use gifting experience for all users, that allows users to choose from artwork that corresponds to their desired occasion.
Easy to Use
Jakob's Law
Many retailers and service providers offer gifting programs, so we know users are used to certain functionalities. Users are able to choose the amount they want applied to the digital gift card and enter recipient information in an easy to use, familiar and compact form.
While we could have chosen a sequential flow, we wanted the journey to mirror checkout flows for all other products and allow users control over all editable information in one single form.
Easy to Use
Native Integration
Some retailers used third party integrations to add features to the gifting programs. Users might not notice the change in website since they are not hosted natively and can become disoriented. They also might not trust a third party and reconsider their purchase.
Since we wanted to encourage purchasing of gift cards alongside other products through seasonal promotions, it was important that there be one single checkout for gift cards and physical products.
Easy to Use
Convenience & Efficiency
By determining fixed values for gift cards, users can feel at ease knowing their gift will cover the cost of at least one of woom’s products.
Senders can easily schedule the send date of their gifts without worrying about forgetting to forward the gift the day of.
We decided to limit the available artwork to 7 options total to avoid any decision fatigue that is common during gifting seasons, while still offering personalization.
Finally, recipients have the option to print the gift card to provide kids with a physical gift and building excitement around choosing their next ride.
Flexible
Personalization
Because gift cards are often thought of as impersonal gifts, it was important to add personalization and sincerity to the experience.
Users are able to select from 7 custom designs, choose from 3 different sending methods, and include personal messages.
They can choose to send their gift immediately, or schedule closer to the date of the celebration for an added element of surprise and thoughtfulness.
Reliable
Informed Gifting
A detailed product description and contextual form educates users on how they can make use of the gifting program.
Users are not required to enter any personal information when sending to themselves as this information is collected during checkout. To match the level of context provided when sending directly to recipients, a proactive support message provides details about this sending method.
Error states and familiar labeling of required fields helps users recover from and avoid errors.
Reliable
Recipient Experience
Recipients are able to easily determine the total value of the gift and confirm the remaining balance quickly from a link in the emailed gift card.
This landing page acts similarly to a blank state screen or onboarding for new customers, so a CTA was added directing them to conveniently start their shopping directly from this screen.