Wayfair: Custom Upholstery Options Redesign

User Problem

Custom products can be overwhelming to buy online. There are lots of options to choose from, higher price points, and longer lead times. Our custom products were underperforming compared to the rest of the catalog, and the product options experience seemed overly complicated.

Team

I worked closely with a Content Strategist, Connor Doherty, as well as my engineering team and product partner.

Initial research

We conducted interviews with folks who have bought custom furniture in the past, to better understand the behaviors around the perception, consideration, and purchase of those products. I went through a heuristic review to see what principles we were nailing, and where we were missing the mark. I also did a competitive analysis of in and out of category retailers to better understand how other companies dealt with the high optionality. My content partner did a series of unmoderated usability tests to see which competitive experiences were best in class, and to see how the current Wayfair experience compared. We didn’t have a ton of engagement data to go off of, so we gathered catalog data instead to better understand what the average number of option categories (e.g., Upholstery Fabric) was across products.

Design Phase

Starting with whiteboard sketches, I worked to execute on the goals above. A particular design challenge on this project was that we needed to appeal to the user who just wants a blue couch and the user who wants a fully unique piece of furniture. Additionally, not many Wayfair employees knew what the current customer-facing experience looked like, so we had to communicate both what the status quo was and what our proposed changes were.

I worked mobile first, and collaborated with a variety of partners and stakeholders to arrive at the final designs.

Results

The experience was a win across both breakpoints. Because our developers built it in a scalable way, we were quickly able to test more broadly across the catalog. It was a great opportunity for me to work on a complex product type and collaborate closely with cross functional partners and stakeholders. It was a great opportunity to design for the more challenging products onsite and scale that across the simpler products as well.

Check it out live! https://www.wayfair.com/furniture/pdp/craftmaster-spratt-88-rolled-arm-sofa-cae10025.html