Even Market Leaders Can Falter with Subpar UX
Best Buy, a global consumer electronics retailer, was once synonymous with cutting-edge technology and renowned for its exceptional customer service. However, this organization that once stood as an industry benchmark now finds itself falling short in the face of intensifying competition from online retailers. Without an exceptional user experience (UX), Best Buy risks fading into obsolescence in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
My Role
Research: Survey, Interview, Usability Test
Design: Wireframe, Prototyping
Project Management
Duration
July 2023 - Sep 2023
Team
Sunali Ravella (Myself)
Amanda Johnson (CX/UX Manager)
Overview
Prompt
We evaluated Best Buy’s website and identified significant usability challenges. Our analysis highlighted areas where their features no longer meet user expectations. Our focus is on optimizing navigation, search functionality, and mobile responsiveness to enhance the digital shopping experience.
Design Process
Initial Thinking
Target Users:
Research Methods:
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Usability testing conducted in Usertesting.com
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Heuristics Evaluations
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Thematic analysis of findings
How Might We Questions:
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How might we simplify the presentation of deals and options to reduce user overwhelm and confusion?
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How might we improve the visibility and accessibility of important elements on the website?
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How might we create a more intuitive navigation experience for users exploring Best Buy's offerings?
Background Research
Research Goals
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Identify usability issues on the Best Buy website
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Analyze user perception of deals and savings presented
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Examine the impact of website design on user decision-making
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Evaluate the effectiveness of the site's navigation and filter systems
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Identify the strengths/potential of the current system.
User Research
Empathize
While analyzing the user experience issues on Best Buy’s site, a recurring theme was the frustration caused by inconsistent navigation and overwhelming information.
Our team, with diverse backgrounds in UX and design, came together to tackle these challenges. We drew on our collective experiences to understand how these design flaws impact users. This shared insight was crucial in shaping our approach to improving the site's usability.
We focused on how these issues such as hidden headers and cluttered information—create confusion and disrupt the shopping experience. By reflecting on these user challenges, we developed our main design recommendations to enhance clarity and streamline navigation.
Key Findings
Research Questions
1. How does the overall navigation experience on the website, including the header visibility, horizontal scroll, and dropdown menu usability, impact users' ability to find and explore products effectively?
2. How does displaying numerous filters on the collection page affect users' ability to refine their product search and find relevant options efficiently?
3. What is the impact of the pricing structure, including multiple price differences displayed for each product, on users' perception of value and their purchasing decisions?
Heuristic Evaluations
User Testing Preparation
Mindset for Users
Imagine you are looking to purchase a new television for your living room. You value high-quality visuals, immersive sound, and advanced features to enhance your entertainment experience. As you begin your search online, you come across Best Buy (https://www.bestbuy.com/)
Tasks Given to the users
1. Next, please walk through the steps you would take to find a television to purchase for your home. Please think out loud as you do so and explain exactly what you are looking for as you go.
2. Please compare two or three different television models of your choosing. Evaluate and compare the product specifications, features, and prices to make an informed decision on which television best suits your needs. Think out loud as you navigate and compare the options.
3. You are ready to checkout. Please visit your shopping cart. Based on the layout of the shopping cart, do you feel confident knowing which products you will be purchasing and when you can expect to get them?
Thematic Analysis
Insight 1 :
Best Buy’s Comparison Tool: A Striking Miss in Meeting Customer Expectations
The compare feature on the Best Buy website, designed to empower users to analyze similar products, proves ineffective for its intended purpose.
70% of users faced significant usability issues when engaging with the compare feature
Findings:
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Comparison View: After selecting multiple products, users expect a visual representation of differences, which is missing.
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Instructions: Lack of guidance makes it difficult for users to understand the compare feature, with 70% facing usability issues.
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Mobile Accessibility: On iPhones, the compare button is hidden behind the scroll-up line, complicating mobile use.
Recommendations:
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Implement a detailed, side-by-side comparison view to clearly highlight differences between selected products, meeting user expectations.
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Redesign the mobile interface to ensure the compare button is always visible and easily accessible, especially on iPhones.
Insight 2 :
Best Buy’s Discount Overload Creates Confusion
Best Buy inundates users with numerous deals, causing confusion and cognitive overload. The cluttered presentation and spammy impression hinder effective decision-making.
60% of users perceive the featured product deals displayed on the website as spammy
Findings:
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Multitude of Deals: Best Buy inundates users with numerous deals and offers across product pages, creating a challenging user experience.
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Non-Intuitive Visual Presentation: Certain discounts appear as clickable items when they are not, contributing to user confusion.
Recommendations:
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Refine filter options to ensure they enhance rather than hinder the product discovery process, reducing user frustration.
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Simplify the filter options by prioritizing the most relevant filters to decrease visual clutter and facilitate quicker, more efficient product searches.
Insight 3 :
Inefficient Filters Compromise Product Discovery
Despite the variety of filters available, users struggle with the inconsistent structure and overwhelming number of options, leading to frustration and inefficiencies in their shopping experience.
40% of users experienced difficulty identifying the most helpful filter when finding a product from the collection page
Findings:
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Inconsistent Structure: Best Buy’s filtering system shows notable inconsistency in its structure, display, and the number of available filters, deviating from user expectations.
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Ineffective Filtering: Customers rely on filters to navigate and sort through products efficiently. If the filters hinder users from refining their search, it can lead to frustration and confusion, compromising the overall value of the filtering features.
Recommendations:
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Introduce smarter filtering algorithms that prioritize the most relevant options and dynamically adjust based on user behavior to enhance search precision and efficiency.
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Minimize visual clutter by consolidating filter options and presenting only the most essential criteria, simplifying the product discovery process and speeding up decision-making.
Conclusions
Our in-depth analysis revealed critical issues within Best Buy’s digital shopping experience. These identified challenges highlight common areas of misalignment that many companies across industries face.
Addressing these key UX misalignments is crucial for creating a more intuitive, efficient, and user-centric website. Such improvements not only demonstrate a commitment to customer satisfaction and innovation but also serve as a guide for other companies. By recognizing and rectifying these issues, businesses can better align innovation with user expectations, ultimately enhancing the digital shopping experience.