Reimagining New Look’s Checkout Experience

Mission

To create a seamless, automated experience for customers who are checking out. We will minimise effort and cognitive load, streamlining the journey for speed and simplicity.

Customers will have easy access to their shopping bag, and a clear breakdown of costs and deductions.

Our mission is to revolutionise the New Look checkout experience by creating a seamless, automated process that minimises effort and cognitive load, ensuring a fast, intuitive journey for every customer.

Problem

The current checkout has not been updated or worked on in 6+ years. The Hybris platform that it operates on is also outdated and has been maintained only where necessary over the years. This has led to many bugs, breaks and limitations. move this to context section

Current core problems that users are facing:

  1. Broken experiences - ‘Gift card’ flow and ‘add new payment card’ flow are both buggy and do not function well.

  2. No overview of bag - meaning users often exit before purchasing to review their items.

  3. Unsatisfactory error handling - vague language, low visibility placement.

  4. Lengthy and requires a large amount of manual input - especially for new or guest customers.

  5. No payment summary of sub-total, shipping costs, promotional deductions etc. Users are simply given a final total to pay which causes confusion.

UX Design Case Study: Optimizing Checkout Experience

Problem

Let me walk you through the challenges we faced with the existing checkout experience. Users encountered several issues that created a frustrating experience:

  1. Broken Experiences: Features like gift card usage and adding payment cards were malfunctioning, leading to user frustration.

  2. Lengthy, Manual Input: The checkout process required users to enter information manually, which was time-consuming and tedious.

  3. Login Barrier: Users had to go through a login gateway before they could even access the checkout, adding unnecessary steps.

  4. No Bag Overview: Users couldn’t view their shopping bag while checking out, which often led to confusion and increased exits.

  5. Slow and Friction-Ridden: The overall process was slow and full of friction points, making it a cumbersome experience.

  6. Poor Error Handling: Error messages were unclear, leaving users unsure about how to resolve issues.

  7. No Payment Summary: Users didn’t get a summary of the total payment due, which made it difficult to understand final costs.

Goals

To address these issues, we set the following goals:

  1. Seamless Experience: We aimed to create a smooth, automated checkout process that feels effortless.

  2. Minimal Effort: The new design needed to minimize the amount of effort required from users.

  3. Fast Checkout: Our goal was to streamline the process and reduce the number of steps involved.

  4. Bag Access: We wanted users to easily view their shopping bag throughout the checkout process.

  5. Clear Cost Breakdown: Providing a transparent summary of costs and deductions was essential for clarity.

Limitations

As we worked on the solution, we had to navigate several constraints:

  • Express Checkout: We couldn’t implement a full express checkout because we offer both delivery and collection options. Express checkout was limited to delivery only.

  • UI and Platform Issues: The outdated user interface and platform, combined with time constraints (pre-peak period), restricted our design options.

  • Temporary Site: Since the site is a temporary measure while a new site and design system are being developed (with a timeline of 1.5 to 2 years), we had to focus on quick, impactful improvements rather than a complete overhaul.

Testing & Research

To guide our redesign, we conducted several research activities:

  • Hosted Lab Day: We organized a lab session where five customers navigated through the checkout process. This allowed us to gather detailed feedback and insights.

  • Unmoderated Testing: We also used Usertesting.com for unmoderated testing, which provided additional feedback from a broader user base.

Challenges

During the project, we faced a few notable challenges:

  • Developer Pushback: Developers were concerned about the increased effort required for the proposed changes, leading to some resistance.

  • User Testing Feedback: Despite the pushback, user testing emphasized the importance of making these improvements, which helped in advocating for the necessary changes.

Solution

Our solution focused on addressing the key issues while working within the constraints. We aimed to create a streamlined, user-friendly checkout experience. [Visuals of the new design will be included here to illustrate the changes.]

Metrics

To measure the success of the redesign, we planned to evaluate:

  • Time Spent at Checkout: We tracked changes in the duration of the checkout process.

  • Incremental Revenue: We looked at whether the improvements led to increased revenue.

  • A/B Testing: We compared performance between the old and new checkout designs to assess the impact of our changes.

This case study demonstrates our approach to improving the checkout experience, balancing immediate needs with long-term goals while navigating various constraints and challenges.