Kylie Paper Co.

Crafting Connection: Redesigning Kylie Paper Co.’s User Experience to Boost Engagement and Sales for Art-Inspired Paper Goods
A dedicated site to present the artist’s original illustration on paper goods
The Kylie Paper Co. home page is a gateway to invite the users to explore the artworks and products.
Showcasing the brand identity and design intention
Offering stories of creation and the artist’s devotion that have been put behind every card.
Let the cards design detail speak for themself
A glance at the product detail, know it before you get the card
Helping users explore creative gifting inspirations
Giving users access to discover more exciting ideas to express themselves and stay connected.

Project Overview

Project Prompt
Website Redesign
My role
UX / UI designer
Kylie Landrey is a watercolor artist based in Lowell, Massachusetts. She established her paper goods company back in 2020. The store is online, and customers can make purchases from the website. During the holiday season or at local craft fairs, she sets up a booth to display holiday-themed and the most popular products. The current product lines include greeting cards, notebooks, and art prints, all featuring the artist’s watercolor paints. 
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Kylie Paper Co.’s current website is functional, providing basic information, and a purchase system was initially set up by the owner. The owner wants the new design to be an intuitive, easy-to-use website that allows the business to connect with existing customers and attract new ones.
Background
As a customer shopping for the holiday season, I want to see the card design concepts and crafting details of the greeting cards. However, the current website only displays general information about the cards, which makes me feel less convinced of the uniqueness of the product.
Problem Statement

DISCOVER

Research Goal
  • Identify potential user groups.
  • Understand users' general needs and shopping habits for stationery supplies.
  • Evaluate how online presentation can enhance the browsing experience.
  • Understand how users make purchasing decisions for paper goods.
Methodologies
  • Conduct comparative research to assess what similar services offer in the market.
  • Conduct user interviews to gather insights on users' interests, expectations, stationery shopping habits, and more.
  • Conduct stakeholder interviews.
Assumptions/Risks
  • Purchasing needs may heavily depend on occasions such as birthdays, life events, and holidays. Effective categorization of products will be crucial.
  • Identifying the potential user group (those habitually consuming greeting cards) may be challenging.
While the client is expanding the range of stationery products offered in the store, the primary product line remains greeting cards. To focus the study and obtain insightful findings, greeting cards were chosen as the subject for this competitive analysis.
Competitive Analysis
Summary of Findings
  • Buying cards at stores or supermarkets is suitable for both planned and spontaneous shopping.
  • Etsy stores/sellers offer unique designs, with some providing customizable services.
  • Greeting card services like Postable cater to users who struggle with physical card sending by providing virtual options.
  • Purchase actions are often triggered by upcoming occasions or holidays, suggesting the need for search bars and category browsing options by occasion/holiday/recipient to facilitate quick card selection.
  • Providing customizable options for card details such as personal messages, fonts, envelopes, seals, etc., is desired.
The user interviews consisted of two parts. First, a A discussion on general shopping habits for greeting cards, including where users typically go, how they choose cards, and their motivations. Second, an evaluation of Kylie Paper Co.'s existing website by participants who have experience or made purchases on the site. An affinity map summarizing the insights from these interviews is provided below.
User Interview
Key Findings
  • Users prefer having ample choices but not an overwhelming selection.
  • Clear descriptions of card exteriors and interiors are essential on product pages.
  • Detailed images showing size, texture, weight, etc., enhance user understanding.
  • A well-developed product category on the website is desired.
  • Easy access to order and shipping status is important.
  • Users appreciate spontaneity in shopping and want to learn about brand stories, new products, and local events.
At this point, it starts making clear that the users seek differentiation in brands and appreciate transparency in product details. Kylie Paper Co. has an Instagram account where have active posts and videos of new artworks for products. This particular information is totally missing from the current website. In the Esty shop, customers has left many great reviews yet were shown on the existing site. These are the information that already out there and will need to be allocated to enhance the new website.
What I learned

DEFINE

By taking in what have been observed from user interviews and learned competitive analysis, it made clear that having a well-defined product catalog is crucial for site structure and user navigation. The site map exercise were mainly focused on developing the product category and subcategory base on the current product inventory.
Site Map
Haley was created to represent a voice that I heard repetitively throughout the interview process: one who struggles when picking out cards that suitable for the special occasions. This shopping process could be difficult when so many similar products in the marketplace.
Persona
A new mom needs to see the card design concept and crafting details to feel confident in her purchase. 
POV Statement
How might we provide user with sufficient information to aid in their purchase decisions?
How might we…
Design Decisions
  • Maintain visual consistency in website UI elements and images.
  • Simplify the category structure for easier navigation.
  • Redesign the navigation bar to improve browsing and searching.
  • Add a "What's New" section on the homepage.
  • Incorporate banner-style promo sections.
  • Streamline the checkout flow.
  • Enhance the "About" page with brand story and product-making details.
  • Include social media links for better engagement.

DEVELOPE

The design process focused on key pages: homepage, about page, typical card detail page, and checkout forms. Elements like "What's New," reviews, and brand highlights were added to showcase Kylie Paper Co.'s identity. 
Sketching
Low-fidelity Wireframes
Created using the brand's existing color scheme and design elements. For example, I took the only brand color and set as the base color, then distributed the base color at different levels, the full pallet of gradient set were created. 
UI Kit and High-fidelity Wireframes

DELIVER

Participant were given 3 simple task to perform: navigate to about page learn the art making process, find a themed birthday card and finish a purchase of the card. These tasks were designed to test the usability of site navigation and the checkout flow. Following the tasks, participants were asked to provide qualitative insight by assessing the home page and browse cards using the product category.
Usability Test
Takeaways
  • Participants found tasks manageable but raised concerns about font size during checkout.
  • Subcategory visual style discrepancies were noted.
  • Participants appreciated the addition of the art creation process on the website.
  • All participants commented on the ease and effectiveness of browsing using the revised product detail page.
This project presented a challenge as it required redesigning while adhering to the existing brand identity and enhancing navigation for a more curated user experience with detailed product information. Following the initial stakeholder meeting, I quickly grasped the business's website needs through competitive research and user interviews, which highlighted the importance of conveying the brand story. Design decisions during development were informed by these insights, resulting in effective usability test results.

Furthermore, this project underscored the importance of close collaboration with stakeholders, given the evolving business needs and product inventory. Designing a website to accommodate these changes while maintaining brand consistency and scalability remains an ongoing learning process.
Project Reflection
© Xiang Yu 2024
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