Website Usability Case Study
What is tippy type?
Created with the idea that having long nails shouldn’t mean that you can’t be productive with a keyboard, the tippy type keyboard cover was conceived and created to balance the want to express one’s self through their nails with the need to effectively interact with their computer. It’s a simple enough idea: To raise the level at which the keys are accessible while leaving enough space between them to fit a longer set of nails. Made of soft and flexible silicone, these keys are firm enough to stroke the keys and yet cushioned so as not to irritate the fingers. It’s an add-on product so that you don’t need to purchase an entirely new keyboard or new computer to accommodate your style!
The Opportunity Space
Tippy Type recently modified its checkout flow to optimize lead capture and conversions ahead of the additional site traffic they expected following their mention on the Today Show on Friday, Sept 27, 2024. Higher traffic and more views make an obvious need for their website not only to function well, but to bring their “A”-game on aesthetics while achieving these goals!
I was part of a design team that was asked to review the existing site to see what was working, what was working less well, and what could generally be improved so that the quality of the product was reflected accurately in the design of the website.
In a more general sense, we were also asked for what additional insights, if any, our team could provide as far as the general look and feel of
their site.
Current Website Overview
As viewed in the desktop version of the website, text tends to flow over the images. The call-to-action button, while visible and easy to understand, doesn’t offer much aesthetic appeal. The headline should always be the product, and it can be an unwelcome distraction while finding the one you want.
Screens filled with blocks of text are uninteresting to the reader. Important information can be indexed and presented in a more visual way.
The reviews are an absolutely important part of the product! People want to know what their fellow shoppers are saying when considering a purchase, and that should be highlighted! In addition to having a dedicated reviews page, some of them are already placed strategically well (most notably on the shopping selection screen), but it cannot be expanded to read the full review.
Final Recommendations
The first step was to go through the website. What were customers seeing? How did the site react depending on where they clicked? How easy was it for us to navigate from page to page?
The clients were presented with several key recommendations, the key of which was that hierarchy and the presentation of the content they had could be more user-friendly. The site was quite functional and satisfied basic needs, but to reach that next level, to receive that professional polish, we recommended bringing forward the visuals of the product as much as possible. Pictures sell!
How Did We Get Here?
Once information was collected from users, we put together our recommendations. On a surface level, it was almost immediately uncovered that the site was optimized for mobile devices, leaving the desktop experience somewhat wanting.
Once everyone on our team understood the basic functionality and the set up of the site, we conducted interviews with users most likely to shop on the site. In addition to the collective interviews, we each used the script our team had drafted together to interview someone on our own.
Learning & Impact
Tippy Type has been an interesting project for me! It gave me experience speaking about a product that I’ve never used, so research was definitely all-around on this. It was the first project I worked on as part of a group, and for not having assigned roles, we each found ways to contribute meaningfully and thoughtfully. Having this to do over again, I would have recruited another person to survey and really dig in to some of the details of the site!