TOOLS : SKETCH, ZEPLIN, ILLUSTRATOR, PHOTOSHOP
The rare & unique plants tended by the store are ingredients that create helpful, medicinal & thoughtful products. The goal of this project is to convert curious window shoppers & browsers into customers of the core apothecary products.
Rosehouse's eclectic exterior & window brimming with an eccentric living collage of plantlife pulls pedestrians into the store. At first glance Rosehouse looks like an urban nursery, but the plants are actually secondary to the store’s core health, beauty & wellness products.
During my research of Google & Yelp reviews as well as the responses of people I was able to speak to, Rosehouse was consistently identified by consumers as a plant store or nursery. This observation may not have been surprising for consumers that had only seen Rosehouse's exterior but it was certainly unexpected from those that had shopped there before & even more significant from people that had just recently exited the store moments before I spoke to them.
Most shoppers were unaware of or unable to recall any of Rosehouse's core products, including people I interviewed directly after exiting the store. This perception is based on both personal experience in the store & being featured in articles like the one below.
There were two sites active for Rosehouse with two separate urls. Rosehouse’s Google Maps listing & Google search results led me to Site 1. I only found Site 2 through Instagram. It is the newer & primary version Rosehouse is using. Having two sites up is confusing to users & the primary site is especially difficult for new customers to find making it likely that they never navigate to the correct version of the site.
The retail space is stocked with a wide array of visually interesting & intriguing products. However, both site versions don't mirror this both in the quantity of products on the site & representing their unique categories in the navigation.
The product cards on the site capture some of the magic of the store but it stops there
This site leverages the same plant appeal that successfully drives traffic at retail
The store carries atypical & difficult to categorize products that are purchased in small quantities. So the use of such general & unspecific product categories on Site 1 & Site 2 may have made updating the current products online easier & faster. These indistinct categories hide core products from site visitors.
Rosehouse's store & social media share a strong brand voice. This is not shared with either of Rosehouse's sites making them feel separate to users. There needs to be a greater focus to align the brand in all areas to create a seamless experience for shoppers.
The site should incorporate more of the successful content Rosehouse has created on their Instagram & facebook pages.
I created strategies to inform my design choices
that would improve user experience on the site
...
Translating the magical energy & visual appeal of the store online to increase traffic to the eCommerce site
Emulating the physical environment that draws in foot traffic & creates the most repeat customers could keep shoppers on the site longer
Organizing a collection of diverse, sometimes obscure & esoteric assortment of products that change frequently.
The potpourri of products carried, created & grown by Rosehouse are difficult to categorize in a meaningful way to users
Increasing awareness of unfamiliar product categories & education users at a glance.
Encouraging browsing to discover unfamiliar products then providing enough info to confidently buy
Tap in to the store's main source of brand loyalty : their expert advice & knowledge about plants & botanicals
Receiving the same guidance & advice online that customers get in store could remove confusion about unfamiliar products
I systematically applied each strategy to solve Rosehouse's existing problems
...
The Rosehouse retail store has been described by users as "a wonderland." The merchandising is nestled among & under a lush canopy of plants creating a hide & seek explorational experience for shoppers.
To try to recreate this feeling on the site, more content in a variety of sizes & density was added to every page. The addition of related & featured product galleries also mimic the treasure hunt experience online. Protruding plant leaves & fronds mirror the store shopping experience, where it is routine to push aside plants to view smaller products.
Rosehouse's products are very obtuse & esoteric. The assortment also changes frequently so the categories needed to be broad enough to accommodate this.
I experimented with more whimsical terms to fit better with the branding. After 10 card sorts, I landed on: The Living for all plantlife products, The Healing for all beauty & wellness products, & The Ornamental for all gift & decor products.
Created content sections to encourage browsing & exploring. Users are exposed to new product categories & sources of information, so they can passively learn more about Rosehouse's core product offerings. Two related product galleries were also created to showcase the connection between the plants grown & sold at Rosehouse with the wellness products & botanical treatments made from them.
Rosehouse customers identified the staff & owner's extensive plant & botanical knowledge as the main source of the brand's value. Hands-on highly personalized advice and knowing that Rosehouse has a horticulturalist on staff led to higher consumer confidence ultimately resulting in purchases. The cumulative long term effect created a strong Rosehouse brand loyalty.
This knowledge & personalized advice should be incorporated into the site. This was accomplished through creating a gallery of the owner's frequent livestream videos where she answers questions & provides other advice. A content block with a link to the gallery is featured on all product listing pages as well as product display pages.
Additionally, product display pages were expanded from the original two sites. They now feature an extended & more detailed product explanation. There are also quick visual guides instructing users on product attributes & providing practical information at a glance.
