Guzi
Timeline
2.5 weeks
Role
User Research, Visual Design, Wireframing, Prototyping
Tools
Miro, Figma, Visual Studio Code
Overview
Guzi is a website where gifters and giftees can go for a convenient, fun way to discover and uncover other’s gifting preferences.
With a direct and honest approach, Guzi provides a platform where users no longer have to play the guessing game and instead engage in open expression of their wants.
The Problem
There is a current disconnect within gift giving culture between what someone says and how they actually feel. Being forthright with the gift you want is not exactly considered polite or kosher. Asking someone what gift they desire takes away from the mystery and joy in the gifting process. No one benefits when spending money and resources for unwanted gifts.
How could we remove the awkwardness associated with the current gift giving culture and create a platform for honest, open intention?
1. Research
Discussion & Interviews
Each member set out on their own conducting and recording qualitative interviews over Zoom. Some similarities began to surface.
Interviewees noted frustration with not being able to voice what they really want in a gift without coming off as rude, overly direct, or embarrassed
Gifting can be unpleasant, especially when done out of perceived obligation
There is not an easy method for deciding the right gift for someone without dispelling the element of surprise by directly asking or prying
Online Survey
To gauge user preferences, we also distributed our Google forms survey across various social media platforms.
What we learned from 55 participants in the span of 2 days:
54% were open to exploring a direct approach in voicing their desires.
Quality really does outshine quantity. Slightly more than half of people (52%) prefer receiving nothing over an undesired gift.
Most people (45.5%) are not shy about sharing their interests and preferences amongst friends.
2. Ideation
User Personas
To better understand our direction with the app, I aided in drawing up two user personas that would personify the stories from gifter and giftee perspectives.
Feature Prioritization
To organize our thoughts, we discussed key features and laid out desired functions. Arranging them into a matrix helped organize and narrow down our most important goals.
Certain notable goals:
To understand what the gift receiver actually wants
Create a social network with wishlist sharing
Make user interests and gifting preferences easily known to others
Create an environment where being direct is welcomed
3. Prototyping
User Flow
Before wireframing could begin, we needed to know the precise order and organization of each function.
Lo-Fi Wireframing
With a clearer path, I set out researching and developing the inner workings of our website’s most prominent tasks while my teammates developed the UX writing, research, and other visuals.
Sharing wishlists needed to be highly emphasized as the website needed to thrive off of social sharing and community.
Being able to add items to wishlists from other websites needed to be to effortless. The ability to auto-generate item information with just a URL link and a button click seemed like the most appropriate solution.
Questionnaires would address the problems of making interests and preferences known to other users. Taking or sending quizzes would yield results that would equate to gift suggestions and reveal insights into gifting habits for users to share.
4. Iterating
Testing & Feedback
Initial testing proved that the site functioned well, and user tasks proved intuitive. However, a few important key observations caused us to pause and reevaluate our approach:
Most testers were already quite familiar with Amazon and did not necessarily see the point in seeking out other similar apps in creating wishlists.
Questionnaire results page provided fun feedback, but some commented how it did not provide much more than a personality test and felt something else was needed to tie into the bigger experience.
Rebranding
We realized that our message would not and did not need to necessarily appeal to everyone as the market was already occupied with enough “nice” wishlist apps.
With directness at the forefront of our motto, we felt that our message would best resonate with Millennials and the Gen Z crowd, an audience already well-versed in the open practices of social media sharing and tweets.
Brand style shifted towards “punkifying” our imagery. The complementary color scheme of a bold yellow offset with gentler blue would play off the sweet and sour duality of gift giving culture.
Wanted to send the message that we definitely were not Hallmark. We are direct and unapologetic with a bit of sass, and our users can be too.
With more levity surrounding our tone, UX writing for questionnaires could now be more playful and humorous poking a bit of fun at the user.
Imagery would set the mood and tone of a rebellious yet playful nature to our site.
A Catered Experience
Greater emphasis on the user was emphasized within Profile and Quiz Results pages. Reminders, better gift suggestion categories, and personalized quiz feedback highlighted features that mattered most to the user and provided an experience that was uniquely theirs.
Further Testing
Additional testing showed positive reception to the changes as testers felt more engaged. However, certain UX writing prominently displayed on our front page sparked a great deal of discussion within the group and divided testers with mixed reception. Some of the team felt its inclusion was imperative to our brand, while others worried that it might be seen as only “shock value.”
This prompted further investigation in the form of A/B testing versions of our front page. In the end, the data proved inconclusive. Due to time constraints and insufficient data, we decided that “Fork Politeness!” would suffice as it still embodied the quirkiness and banter of our brand.
High Fidelity Prototype
5. Reflection
Takeaways
When in doubt, just test. Certain choices in rebranding sparked debate amongst the team. Rather than make assumptions and conveniently proceed, we needed to pause and test to make absolutely sure that this decision responded well with users. Sure, progress was halted, but our users come first.
No risk, no reward. Rethinking our branding meant a great deal of work in overhauling many ideas already set in place. What was at first just another nice wishlist site turned into what felt like a “mini-movement” of sorts.
Next steps
Further exploration of playful UX writing and fine-tuning the branding.
Investigate further in how to apply activities and other non-tangible gifts within the app.
Fully develop and test the mobile prototype version.