GoPro E-commerce Gift Giving
Helping gift shoppers find and purchase
the perfect gifts for their loved ones.
DURATION
Jan 2022 - May 2022
ROLE
User Experience Consultant
(Design Ideation Lead)
TEAM
Forrest Kim, Shin Ning Chan,
Sunny Park, Asfaha Asfaha
PROCESS
Stakeholders Interview
Market Research
Literature Review
Developing Design Guideline
Brainstroming
User Flow
Low-Fidelity Wireframe
Mid-Fidelity Prototype
Usability Testing
Iterations
Hand-off
OVERVIEW
GoPro is a tech company that manufactures action cameras and develops complementary mobile apps with video-editing software. In preparation for the upcoming holiday season, GoPro aimed to create an end-to-end gifting experience. As the design lead, I guided the design process and took ownership of the checkout designs, which our clients appreciated. Our design was implemented in Q4 of 2022.
BEFORE THE REDESIGN
GoPro’s absence of a gifting option creates a frustrating and inconvenient experience. Take Kristie, for example—a mother who wants to buy a GoPro for herself and her son, Ethan, an avid skier.
Kristie found GoPro’s complex offerings and gifting process frustrating, especially the awkwardness of asking her son to pay for future subscriptions. Like many others, she voiced her dissatisfaction.
A SNEAK PEAK TO THE SOLUTION
An end-to-end gifting solution that removes guesswork and frustration, helping gift shoppers nurture relationships through meaningful giving—and ending with a frictionless checkout.
Increase awareness of GoPro’s gifting options by creating strategic entry points during the holiday season. Simplify the selection process with a detailed gifting guide featuring personalized recommendations.
Ensure a clear checkout process by separating gift giver and recipient details while keeping both within a single streamlined flow. Preserve the personal touch with an option to add a personalized message.
PRODUCT RESEARCH
Before diving into design, our team conducted product research to identify the root causes of customer dissatisfaction, focusing on the following objectives.
With these objectives in mind, we employed the following research methods to approach the problem.
STAKEHOLDER INTERVIEW
We engaged key stakeholders to understand the project's business needs. Through a focus-group-style interview with the Director of Product, Head of Subscription, and other team members, we learned that preserving gifting intimacy and highlighting subscription giftability were top priorities. They also referenced industry approaches to similar gifting experiences.
MARKET RESEARCH
Building on the referenced industry approaches, we conducted an extended SWOT analysis of how platforms like Headspace handle online gifting, particularly for subscription-based products. We found that flexible gifting options and personalized messages preserve the intimacy of gifting, prompting us to explore the psychology and best practices of gifting to create a solution tailored to GoPro.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Due to time constraints and the early project stage, we opted to review existing eCommerce gifting studies, enabling us to start quickly and refine through usability testing. We studied eye-tracking, user testing, and diary studies from Baymard Institute and Nielsen Norman Group. Clear separation of giver and recipient details, along with gift recommendations, ensures a smooth gifting experience.
DESIGN GUIDELINE
As a team, we synthesized our findings and developed the following guideline to inform our next steps.
USER FLOW
We revisited the current user flow and, using research insights and edge cases shared by our GoPro clients, mapped out the ideal journey Kristie would take on the GoPro website to purchase gifts for Ethaan and herself. This analysis highlighted key opportunities to enhance gift awareness, streamline the selection process, and improve the checkout experience.
DESIGN IDEATION
Before delving into design, I guided my teammates to brainstorm solutions with crazy 8s. I listed some guiding questions to generate creative solutions for gift awareness, gift selection, and the checkout process. Through this exercise, I came up with several personalization ideas in checkout–which our client, GoPro, really encouraged me to further explore and work on later in the process.
Our clients and the team went through several rounds of design auditing before we prototyped and tested our solutions.
LOW-FiDELITY WIREFRAMES & DESIGN CRITIQUE
Landing Page Prototype
Landing Page Post-Testing Recommendations
Gifting Guide Page Prototype
Gifting Guide Page Post-Testing Recommendations
PROTOTYPING & USER TESTING
We evaluated our design decisions with usability testing. We recruited 8 GoPro and 8 non-GoPro customers to test our prototype and improved our solutions based on the results.
Checkout Page Prototype
Checkout Page Testing Recommendations
The new landing page integrates all design recommendations, with a main visual that highlights the excitement of a ski trip—reminding gift shoppers of the joy of capturing memories.
Gifting Guide Page
FINAL SOLUTION
I redesigned our product based on insights from user testing. Additionally, I leveraged the design system to maintain consistency and clarity throughout the UI. I also refined the UX copy to enhance the clarity of the checkout flow. Our clients provided positive feedback on the improved checkout experience!
Landing Page
In addition to all the recommendations, I highlighted the categories from the gifting quiz at the top of the page, as users find activities most helpful when selecting gifts. Since GoPro offers a limited variety of camera types, I decided to feature the newest models, as they are typically the most purchased. Additionally, I directly showcased the quiz rather than prompting users to opt in, streamlining the experience and reducing potential anxiety associated with its negative connotations.
Checkout Page
The design prior to testing was based on the current checkout page but lacked consistency with the design system and other pages. To address this, I studied the design system and leveraged it to ensure uniformity and clarity. Additionally, I refined the UX copy to clearly distinguish between the gift giver and the gift recipient, aligning with the core design principles.
REFLECTION
If we had more time…
Personal Growth
Validate designs with more users
We learned a lot from user-testing our high-fidelity wireframes. We would like to test and iterate our wireframes for more rounds to refine our design solution.
Conduct more in-depth research on different types of users
Our solution focused on developing the simplest path that a user would take to gift a GoPro product. Yet, we are also interested in understanding and designing for different target users. (A parent gifting a high-school filmmaker might be very different from a friend gifting a snowboarder in their thirties).
Be intentional. Ask good questions.
When GoPro first presented its prompt, our team saw gift cards as a potential solution to simplify the complexity of physical products and subscriptions. Questioning our clients in the first meeting wasn’t easy, but their response provided deeper insights into what stakeholders valued in gifting. This even led me to emphasize personalization in the checkout process.
There is no standard research process.
Our clients suggested we research the best practices of eCommerce gifting and focus more on designing the gifting process. This gave us more time to validate our designs with user testing at the end. I learned that a problem can be resolved more effectively if we select the right method based on its problem scope and the state of the problem.
Work with client’s design systems.
GoPro graciously provided their design system. Initially, navigating it was quite challenging due to recent updates and the need for new components tailored to this project. We collaborated with the client to develop new components and integrate them seamlessly with the existing design systems.