hemnes.us

Project Description

Hemnes.us ecommerce experience is a project that I have been working on throughout the duration of SMC's IXD program. Using the knowledge attained from my educational background as a User Experience designer and expertise in Fashion and Luxury, I developed a seamless shopping experience within Shopify's boundaries. After extensive user research between friends, family, and colleagues and running a competitive analysis between similar online luxury stores, I began to create what I believe to be the perfect way to shop for jewelry on the web. The website includes a shop-able catalogue, customer testimonials, about page, brand statement, newsletter, contact page, editorial images, unisex sizing recommendations & printable measuring tools, email & sms marketing, and a simplistic checkout experience. Product photography was done via iPhone 11 Pro, Moment's spectacular iPhone lens, and Foldio's photography accessories which were retouched using Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and Lightroom. On-body images were done in a seamless studio rental and were retouched by a client overseas. In my opinion, the brands shopping experience is what makes it stand out amongst the rest.

Problem

Some problems that I was able to tackle for this project were developing a luxury shopping experience with a minimal budget, providing customers with an easy way to determine jewelry sizing, developing an effective brand statement, identifying my intended market, and creating a seamless shopping experience.

Insights

The jewelry market has been something that I have been studying closely for years. Throughout this research I have identified key insights on what makes a jewelry brand's online store stand out amongst the rest. Most brands within this market tend to lack a sense of brand while others focus on much more than the product itself. Similar companies fail to provide customers with that "wow factor" which can be told through powerful imagery, an easy to use shopping experience, clear product shots both on and off body, and providing customers with incentives to return.

Solutions

Creating a shopping experience with a luxury feel on a minimal budget was only possible because of my experience in the fashion industry, willingness to ask for favors, and having a natural eye for luxury. Creating a competitive analysis between jewelry brands in this market made this process clear and concise. This experience was attained by mimicking eccomerce design characteristics of brands like Gucci, Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, and many more. Developing tools where customers could easily determine their ideal jewelry sizing was accomplished by creating a unisex necklace size reference illustration, a printable ring sizing tool, and an average bracelet size chart for both men and women. The brand statement has been an ongoing process of fine tuning and iterations. Defining this aspect of the brand was done by determining what makes Hemnes stand out amongst the rest, constructing an "our promise" sentence, and highlighting the brands use of sustainable packing and ethical manufacturing practices. Creating a seamless shopping experience was done by eliminating any possible nuisances that come along with online shopping. This characteristic of hemnes.us was only made possible through user research, data metrics, competitive analysis, visual appeal, and UX/UI.