Taylor Series Pages
Worked together with a large group of stakeholders to revamp and launch new guitar series pages. Our goal was to provide users with the right amount of information to make an informed purchase and avoid the 'analysis paralysis' that existed currently. We ended up with an experience that leads users on their purchasing journey, provides information for different types of customers and presents multiple 'outs' to specific model pages along the way.
Taylor Guitars
Challenge
The series pages on the Taylor site are one of the main entry points for users/customers to learn about the different series and models of guitars. With hundreds of different options, users were often confused about the differences between guitar models, leaving them in a state of 'analysis paralysis' - thus stopping them from continuing their guitar buying journey.
The design problem here was the sheer amount of information that had to go on these pages. There are a lot of elements and fitting them all onto a page without fatigue from information overload definitely wasn’t easy. We tried to break up large copy blocks, provide clear imagery, and present 'outs' for users to dive deeper into specific models.
Results
The redesigned series pages give users exactly what they were asking for. A way to browse guitars the way that they want to. Customers are presented with series overviews, video content, series features, and an easy way to compare the models within a series. We saw an increase in clickthrough rate to product pages, higher page view numbers, and a general uptick in interest about the different series.
105%
increase in page views
150%
Increase in time on page
67%
increase in clickthrough rate
77%
of users continue on to product pages
My Role
My main role in developing these pages was UX/UI design and Art Direction. From the UX side of things I had and understanding of our customers and what information they were looking for. This was critical when creating the content flow and components for the pages. This also involved working together with outside vendor partners to design and develop the new pages.
On the Art Direction side this involved coordinating and directing photoshoots, asset wrangling (so fun!), and an ongoing effort to incorporate video onto these pages.
As an amateur guitar player, I want to find a new guitar so that I can look fashionable and feel good about the amount I’m spending.
As an experienced wealthy guitar player, I want to easily find new guitars so that I can spend more time playing and add to my collection. about the amount I’m spending.
Defining the Problem
After the initial research I was focused on really understanding where the user was in their journey, and providing them with the right content to continue on - as an educated user. Our research concluded that the purpose of these pages was to provide a high level summary of the series, allow for easy access to specific models (including imagery), and show a large amount of imagery.
During this phase we went through the exercise of journey mapping. While we weren’t able to test with users, we could empathize with users by basing the journey’s on the personas we developed earlier. Since there was no purchase journey (buying guitars on the site wasn't possible yet) empathizing with our ‘fictional’ users really helped develop the modules that would be useful for the end user.
Shelley found it frustrating to find the ‘shop by series’ option. Once she found it, it was easy to figure out that some guitars were well out of her budget. Refining her search was easy, but she felt like there was a lack of imagery that she could identify with.
Craig thought it was frustrating to figure out where to go for series overview information. Once he found the series page it was easy for him to identify which series to look at based on the descriptions and the prices. After narrowing down his search to a single series, he wanted a better way to see overview information regarding specific models without having to click through to product pages.
Ideating and Designing
Working together with agency partners I worked to wireframe and prototype the series page experiences. Displaying this amount of information without fatiguing the user is a tough ask. We developed a number of new modules for the site, and kept pushing towards solving for the problems identified in the ‘define’ phase.
Users needed to have easy access to specific models, understand the basics of the series, and have ample imagery to guide them on their journey. During this time we also started gathering assets for these pages. This involved organizing photo shoots for lifestyle and beauty images, coordinating video shoots, and making sure that every module had all of the required imagery to set up a smooth build process
Conclusion
After rounds of revisions and prototyping we launched the new series pages. We let the pages live (fixing small bugs) and came back to check the results – so far so good. The next steps will be to continue to keep these pages updated, while also considering how to optimize them. We’ll apply CRO tests and continuously audit the pages for bugs. While other projects have taken the front seat, a lot of good ideas were left for a round two design and development cycle.