Case Study

Robo

Overview

Robo is a fast-growing 3D printer company, looking to communicate their brand as an industry leader. This project was carried through with the Digital Operative team, through a strategic analysis, UX design, visual design, and front-end and back-end development. My role was leading the IA and UX phase, and providing additional consultation and collaboration throughout the entire process.

The collective goal of the project was to increase site traffic, user engagement, and purchase conversions. The redesigned site was launched in October, 2017. 

Understanding Users

From creative hobbyists to technical engineers, Robo has a range of both B2C and B2B users in various industries. Robo aims to bring 3D printing to the masses, with easy-to-use machines that make it accessible for the average consumer by reducing technical difficulty. The current customer experience was evaluated, and improvement opportunities were discovered through the analysis of current user behavior.

Key Findings

  • A majority (65%) of visitors view the experience on a desktop device

  • Approximately 75% of visitors enter the site via organic or direct traffic

  • Direct traffic accounts for >60% of all transactions, indicating that only the highest motivated visitors were converting

  • The homepage serves for >50% of visitors' initial experience

  • Machine purchases also yield repeat material purchases

  • We observed two main motivational segments: non-printer owners and current printer owners, within 3 separate persona types:

    • B2B customers: May know they need a 3D printer for their business, and are looking for the best option for them

    • B2Edu customers: Considering the use of 3D printers for education purposes, and are looking for value around supporting the curriculum

    • B2C customers: Hobbyists and creators, looking for ideas to spur their own creativity

  • Inexperienced purchasers are overwhelmed by the highly technical nature of products, and are looking for simplicity of experience and explanation

Information Architecture

Based on findings during the strategy and research phases, the site map was reorganized to better reflect the motivations of Robo users.

With the new site structure, users have the ability to take action by shopping for products, and educating themselves via inspiration or support. This results in a simple means of directing users on their individual paths to complete various tasks- for printer owners and non-printer owners. “What Can I Print?” is recommended to be renamed to “Get Inspired”, and “3D Resources” to “Download Models,” as action words are more direct in conveying the value of the page to the user. 

Sketches and Ideation

As this project had time limitations, sketching was a crucial phase in the process, as a tool for working through user flows and content placement. A series of sketches were continuously produced throughout the UX design process, serving to refine ideas and layouts prior to creating higher-fidelity wireframes.

Wireframing

Wireframes were produced to provide solutions and interactions to enhance the site's user experience.

The experience redesign included:

  • a simplified navigation and footer

  • interactive modal for customer segmentation and data capturing- to personalize the experience during initial visit

  • bold call to actions to guide paths clearly and efficiently

  • leveraging social media content to engage customers visually through further inspiration

  • addition of filtering methods on material category pages to filter by color- or select material type

  • easy-to-compare layout for 3D printers

  • the ability for users to discover printer features with the freedom to order at any point within the flow via a fixed add-to-cart button

The New Experience

The new experience is factual, engaging, easy, and fun. The live experience reflects Robo's mission is to make the imagined real by empowering makers with beautifully designed products and simple-to-use technologies.

Responsive design for the site supports the users' journey with Robo, accessible as any touch point and inciting creativity and the freedom to make throughout any point in the experience. The homepage captures featured "Robo Stories", providing a relatable platform for B2C users, and compelling and influencing customers with what's possible through 3D printing.