Migrate and redesigning the current EE customer checkout journeys to a headless CMS to launch in 2023
EE SIM Checkout
The problem
The checkout was built on an old platform and performing poorly which resulted in customer drop-offs and a negative impact on user experience and conversion.
The current headed platform being used for the checkout was slow with security issues, and most importantly, it couldn't surface better user functionality due to technical limitations. The migration was seen as an opportunity to re-visit the UX flow and reduce any customer pain points where necassary.
Research • Iterative UX design • Prototyping • Usability testing • UI design
Context
From data received from Google Analytics, we could see that it was taking a customer approx 04:06 to get through the checkout steps.
There was also a big 'drop off' of 76.8% visitors at the payment stage in the checkout journey. At the time, the journey could beimproved to reduce friction and get more people through the funnel.
My role
Hypothesis
We know that customers reaching the payment stage in checkout are potential buyers and likely to convert. By providing a streamlined checkout process, with reduced friction and optimum number of steps, our assumption is that more customers will complete the buying process and transact immediately.
The discovery
I mapped the user flow for the current SIMO Acquisition journey with all the stages outlined and the information requested from the customer at each stage.
The journey had the below steps with majority of the customer information being collected at 'About you' stage and all the payment details collected later:
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About you - (personal details, addresses, phone number, marketing preferences)
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Payment details
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Credit check
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Card info
The content hierarchy could be seen as confusing due to several steps required just for payment. You could see these being consolidated to make the journey seem less overwhelming to a customer.
The approach
To get more qualitative insights, the current SIMO journey was tested with users to understand customers' pain points and dig deeper into the problems. Generally, the journey was positively received but the important findings were:
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Flawed back journey - On the payment stage (step 2), there was a customer details summary section with their details entered in Step 1. When customers clicked to edit any information, they were taken a step back (step 1). This meant all the information entered before and at step 2 was lost.
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Confusing content hierarchy - Customers were very confused, about why they were being asked for card information at the end when they had already set up a direct debit previously. This was due to the messaging and content hierarchy being unclear. (8.2% current drop off at this point)
Usability testing
The research
Looking further into the data revealed that the current checkout drop out rate had increased by 2.6% from the previous one, hence we needed to look to find out 'Why?'
Ideation involved working in a collaborative session with the business stakeholders such as the trading managers as well as the content designer, PO and the engineering team to build a BML canvas that has the listed the user needs, business needs, opportunities, hypothesis and constraints.
This helped me list ideas for rapid learning to high value checkout propositions that require more effort that we can iterate on.
With a lot of different e-commerce checkouts out there, I wanted to explore how other companies approach their checkout journey. Some of the ones that had cleaner UI and a simpler experience were made.com, Shopify, Lakeland, Sky, 02, Vodafone, T-mobile and Three.
Ideation and BML Canvas (Build, measure learn)
Competitor research and analysis
The solution discovery
Checkout reimagined
The data insights and discovery led to designing the checkout on a headless platform that provides an optimum flow and a customer-friendly shopping experience. The prototype checkout was taken through a round of usability testing to ensure for an overall smoother experience.
The enhancements:
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Ability to view and edit personal details at the payment stage, so data is not lost and the user is not left stranded reducing drop-offs
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Reduced no of steps (3) with a clear content hierarchy
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The payment section consolidated into a single-step
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A clear journey stepper/locator
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Auto-suggest functionality for the address field
Content loads on user prompts reducing the cognitive loads on customers
Native app tray behaviour on mobile for editing customer details within the journey
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Use of modern and cleaner UI such as the card components that's much easier on the eye
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Introduction of the Apple Pay method
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Redesigned order confirmation emails
User tested prototype
The solution - Usability testing results
This was the first iteration designed that was mapped as the 'SIMO MVP checkout' on the BML canvas, that was of high value but the quicker delivery would allow us to learn rapidly and iterate on it.
With a score of 6.6/7 in the user testing, it rated very well for customer satisfaction and sliced for delivery.
The first iteration of saving favourites with the magic code authentication has been released, which had already seen an increase in conversion. These can now be viewed by customers on the My account dashboard which opens up a lot more opportunities for the business for returning customers.
The second iteration with customers being able to sign up using social login is being worked on engineers and planned to go live early 2024.
Success
metrics
Reported cases
since Sept 2023 launch
654
reduction in case handling time
-28%
Avg no of interactions per case reduced to
11
reduction in post sales cost per order
-£20
Kirti Devi Ram
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