Slick Chicks
OVERVIEW
After Slick Chicks went through a rebrand, our team helped to launch a redesigned website in spring of 2017.
ROLE
UX Designer and Researcher
ACTIVITIES
User research, User testing, Information architecture, UI design
Problem & opportunity
As the Slick Chicks adaptive underwear product can appeal to a range of women, specifically those with disabilities, the brand was facing difficulty sending a clear message about its value online. The product itself has hooks and fasteners on the side making it easy to wear and made of a moisture wicking material that is comfortable against skin. As there are not many products on the market like Slick Chicks, there was a need for customer education and brand building. Our goals were to make it easier for those who land on the website to instantly connect with the brand and its unique offering.
User research
The universal need for the product cast a challenge for our team: how can we effectively communicate the benefits of Slick Chicks to women in very unique circumstances without alienating anyone? We uncovered through interviews that the needs and behaviors of women who can benefit from this product widely varied (e.g., injured, aging, pregnant, hikers), but found that in general discomfort wearing/changing into underwear can cause feelings of insecurity and women know what works (and doesn't work) for their body. So it was clear, we needed to help women understand how Slick Chicks could work for them.
Archetypes Chart: Differences in Users' Underwear Shopping Behaviors (n=11)
User testing
On the current website, we found users were confused with who the product was for and what made it different from other underwear brands. It was clear that restructuring the navigation and simplifying how information is displayed would be most valuable in order to quickly up-skill new users on the product.
Highlights from user testing current website
Information architecture
To bring more focus to the benefits of the brand and product, we found an opportunity to dramatically condense the website's navigation from 8 to 3 categories, which was informed by an open card sort with 6 users and user testing for discoverability.
Navigation comparison (Left: Existing navigation, Right: Proposed navigation)
Design
To break any feelings of insecurity, we used natural imagery that would bring a warmth and feeling of approachability to the homepage. Images would rotate highlighting women who might be experiencing some form of difficulty in walking including women who are pregnant to those in wheelchairs.
-
Breaking up content from paragraphs to bite sized pieces of information made it much easier to scan for the main product benefits.
-
Highlighting "how they work" information on the homepage was crucial to educating prospect customers upon landing on the site.
