Reimagined wedding registries
Facilitating shame-free cash funds for newlyweds in Mexico
Role
Lead UX Researcher
& UX Designer
Methods
Contextual inquiry, Concept validation, Rapid testing
Type
Iterative Research
Date
2016 - 6 months
A little backstory…
Uniko is a fintech startup that was looking to innovate the wedding registry industry in Mexico. Their product facilitated newly engaged couples to retrieve the cash value of gifts they received through the site.
The team consisted of two co-founders, two advisors (business & legal), a product architect (me), and a lead engineer. I managed 100% of the research and 90% of the design direction and user experience. I primarily worked with the co-founders, looping in the advisors and the lead engineer as needed.
Challenges
Match the online conversion rate of primary customers (~1%) to their offline conversion rate of nearly 15%.
Double the transaction amount of secondary customers.
…within 6 months!
Approach
An immersion phase to...
understand the needs & behaviors of their primary customers
understand the wedding industry in Mexico and it’s cultural nuances
A 5 day workshop designed to...
maximize our limited access to our advisors
to gain a deeper understanding of the feasible opportunities
A rapid iteration phase to...
rapid test multiple iterations of messaging, ux flows, and concepting features
A/B test core value propositions with the highest conversion rate.
And finally, an execution phase to...
design, develop, and deliver the product to our client.
Immersion
We interviewed and observed 20 newlyweds to understand what friction might be keeping the online conversion rate so low. We uncovered three big culprits, and many small usability issues.
Trust.
Because of the high incidence of scams in Mexico, there was a distrust to enter their information online in any site that wasn’t an established and trusted brand. This was our biggest challenge as we not only needed users to trust us with their information, but also with holding onto their money.
"I only trust big brands when I’m giving information online. There’s too many scams."
27 year old. Female. Engaged
Fear.
Another big hesitation on using the product came out of a fear of their guests not using the site. The founders admitted that a common question they received was how much money previous customers were able to accumulate through the product. However, this was nowhere on the site.
"This sounds amazing, I’m just not sure my family will use it. So I would still have to open a registry at a department store.”
24 year old. Male. Recently Engaged
Time.
We were dealing with overwhelmed and stressed out couples planning their own weddings; which if you don’t know is a HUGE DEAL in Mexico. The process had to be quick and painless.
"The registry is the last thing on my mind and the last on the list. There’s just so much to do."
23 year old. Female. Recently Engaged
This research served as a framework for all decisions moving forward, from messaging to design to partnerships & services.
Workshop
Focus: Identify key limitations and assess opportunities to enhance the future online experience to increase customer acquisition and transaction amount.
Purpose: Enable design to assess and recommend improvements to the user experience and align on feasibility.
Significance: Guide the client to strengthen and differentiate the online service in a way that builds trust for the brand through an enhanced experience for newly weds and their guests.
Pictured Left to Right: Mane Rodrigues (Product Architect), Ptah Dunbar (Lead Engineer), & Tere Cremona (CEO)
Phase 1:
Knowledge Transfer
We painted the full picture to ensure alignment on the shared knowledge amongst the team — goal, opportunities, and constraints.
Phase 2:
Current state
We identified areas creating distrust, friction, and an overall subpar experience — analyzing the critical path, the usability of the newly-wed & guest experiences, and the scalability issues of the current tech stack.
Phase 3:
Future state
We defined the first time user flow, prioritized new offerings and aligned on the scope of the changes.
The outcome of this workshop enabled me to design and present a future state prototype to the team, and more clearly discuss the direction and feasibility of the new concept.
Rapid Iteration
Rapid Prototyping
Trustworthiness: Without an optimal way to measure trust, I opted for measuring reported changes in trust and desirability for the following variables: messaging, imagery, logos of our partners, PR, and testimonials.
Ease of use: There was a huge range of tech literacy. It took 5 prototypes, but we managed a good user experience that fit all of the needs!
Fear of missing out: We weren’t able to curb the desire to open a registry at a department store. We instead opted to add a feature allowing them to import their registry from the top 3 department stores. It was a huge hit!
**Based on the post-launch survey, this appeared to be a highly influential feature in the subsequent increase in online conversion.
Prototype Version 6
A/B testing
There was a clear desire from newlyweds for two big new services, that also increased the likelihood of their guests to land on the registry — RSVP & a wedding website. However, the prioritization of these features on the roadmap was still unclear. So we executed a ‘quick & dirty’ test.
I put up multiple landing pages with different value propositions and fed users to it through facebook ads for roughly 2 weeks. The results were surprisingly favored the Registry & RSVP option. While this was only a litmus test, this was also the feature that had the strongest pull for guests landing on the website. So it established a clear priority.
Conversion rate results
Execution
By now, we were on a real time crunch and the handoff had to be extra smooth. I had twice daily stand-ups with the lead engineer to tackle issues as they would arise.
We were able to complete the delivery with only one week of delay. This was a triumph considering the many roadblocks we encountered.
Results
Uniko's transaction amount doubled and online conversion rate increased by more than 300% — from 5 to 50 per month.
This project allowed me to prove the value of foundational research informing design & business decisions through actual metrics — both to the company and to myself.
Although the metrics deemed the results successful, if I were to take on this project again I would allocate more time to the design itself. Being a Jr UX designer at the time, I did not allow myself the time and space to research & explore e-commerce best practices and missed the mark in a lot of my designs.
However, the most valuable lesson this project left me with, was the power of synthesis and storytelling when advocating for research.