Background

For decades, JCPenney has been dependent on stores for majority of its revenue. But in the last couple years, especially after the boom of Amazon, the company has been trying various strategies to compete with other retailers in the digital sphere. The native apps have been one such initiative, and this project was targeted to improve the current experience.

Problem

The app homepage had very low engagement especially on elements below the fold. Bounce rate was the highest from the homepage compared to rest of the app.

Users

Goals

The goal was to redesign the homepage to increase customer engagement and retention.

Pain Points

For years the homepage was used as a newsfeed and every new feature was slapped onto the homepage. This caused it to be excessively long with repetitive information.

Researchers spent a couple of weeks conducting interviews and usability tests, we identified the following issues with the old homepage -

Research

Competitive Research

Homepage is a very subjective aspect of the app and every retailer uses the homepage to generate their brand identity. The research team conducted a usability study to determine what are the best practices to help create an intuitive and inspirational experience.

Open and Closed Card Sort

One of the key issues with the homepage was repetitive information and features spread all throughout the homepage. We used open and closed card sort method to figure out when and where users’ expect to see features and information.

This method helped me introduce hierarchy that was easily understood by users, and remove repetitive information from the homepage.

Solving the Problem

Screen Flow

Based on competitive research and deep discussions with engineers, I finalized the following flow -

Ideation

Based on the user flows, I sketched wireframes and conducted multiple rounds of feedback with designers, developers and product owners. I wanted to level-set development effort with engineers early in the process and have an understanding of technical feasibility of the designs.

Concepts and Iterations

After multiple rounds of iterations on low fidelity wireframes, I finally moved on to designing the final prototype by incorporating elements from the desktop experience and new design system. The idea was to create an omni-present experience, and give users an idea of the JCPenney brand.

Usability Study

Given the time constraints, we did not have the opportunity to test the wireframes. However, we did test the final prototype, and made iterations before the release.

What methodology was used?​

Remote usability testing

Who are the users?

• Users 1,2 - Female | 25 – 35 years | iOS

• Users 3,4 - Female | 35 – 45 years | iOS

• Users 5,6 - Female | 45 – 65+ years | iOS

• Users 7,8 - Male | 30 – 50 years | iOS

Final Product