Quick Summary
My Role: UX Designer + Researcher
The Problem: The Mattress Category page had some areas it could improve.
The Solution: Redesign the Mattress Category page and design a conditional logic quiz to help provide a personalized recommendation to each user based on their sleep preferences.
The Results: A conditional logic “Sleep Quiz” that provides a personalized recommendation, a redesigned category page that helps users understand the products in a pleasant manner.
Initial Assessment
The original Purple category page focused on the technology of the Purple GelFlex Grid (the thing that makes their beds so comfortable) a departure from the expected result of defining specific categories for the user to discover. A large section of the landing page was also dedicated to Promotional Text, informing the user of ongoing offers. To actually view a product you had to scroll down past an auto-play video to see something called the “Essential Collection” if you scrolled farther you found the “Premium Collection.” This page can definitely be improved to help the user in their journey to find and purchase a new mattress that they will absolutely love ♥
Competitive Analysis
While getting ready to redesign the page I started the way I always do, with a little bit of competitor analysis. I took a look at Purple’s competitors in the direct to consumer space: Casper, Leesa, Saatva, Nectar and many others. I also visited traditional brick and mortar stores to get a sense of how mattresses were presented in each store. Many competitors featured advanced filtering, personalization quizzes and had a whole lot of information on both their mattresses and their competitors. I found many of the quizzes would produce the same results regardless of input. On the Mattress Firm site so many options were presented after taking the quiz that it didn’t feel personalized. I decided that my quiz would generate a personalized result and that my mattress category page would help users to understand the differences in the products.
Research
Research was conducted by sending out online surveys and by speaking with customers in a Mattress Firm store. The surveys purpose was to determine which factors customers considered most important when shopping for a mattress. They were asked:
“What is the most important factor to you when shopping for a mattress?”
Almost every customer reponded that the “feel” of the mattress was the most important factor with cost being the second most common response.
“How do you define how soft or firm a mattress is?”
Users described how far they sunk into the mattress, how much “give” that the mattresses had, ultimately my interpretation was how much “cradling” did the mattress provide to be a good way to frame their answers.
“What do you consider you current mattress to be, soft or firm?
Many users stated that they had waited too long to replace their mattress or that their tastes had changed and the mattress no longer felt good.
“How many beds have you tried?
“Too many” was the most common response I got especially when the user would be sharing the bed with someone else. Different tastes made it difficult to find the “sweet spot.”
Redesign
After finsihing the competitive analysis and user research phase I decided I wanted my redesign to do three main things:
1. Add a conditional logic quiz with the CTA “Take Our Sleep Quiz”
Using data from the surveys I made a conditional logic quiz that took the five inputs from the user and gave them a personalized recommendation at the end of the quiz.
2. Simplify the navigation menu structure.
The Purple menu structure had too many items that were not needed. The Sleep Quiz was now available to the user at anytime, saving their inputs. giving them the option to take the quiz again or displaying the product recommendation.
3. Differentiate the Essential and Premier Collections
After moving past the landing page and past the autoplaying gif giving the user another chance to understand the GelFlex grid, users found a comparison section that identified the differences between the renamed “Original Foam” and “Premier Hybrid” collections. This section gave both a visual aid and a section where users could read more about the differences in the Purple Mattress line. Beneath that section was a call out for three powerful tools that Purple offers, the live showroom demo, the find a store map and the call/chat function where you could speak to a Purple rep about any question you had regarding Purple.
Conditional Logic Quiz
The quiz along with everything else was designed with mobile first thinking. It was to have no more than 5-6 questions, keeping the user from giving up due to thelarge time investment and keeping the recommendation broad while maintaining the feeling of personalization.
Question #1 establishes a user and the possiblity to add another answer to the “Response Explanation” tab at the end of the quiz.
Question #2 estalbished a size and caches that data so that everytime a user nagivates to a product page that size is automatically selected fopr the removing friction in their purchase journey.
Question #3 not only contributes to the final recommendation but also helps mainain a positive experience, if the user couldn’t afford a mattress there was no sense in showing it at the end. It also gave the user ownership of the final result, the objection “Of course they recommend their most expensive product at the end” was all but eliminated.
Question #4 established sleep position adding to the end of quiz explanation and to the feeling of personalized recommendation by asking an important question about the users sleep preferences.
Conditional Logic Quiz Continued
Question #5 explained Purple GelFlex technology and added to the sense of personalization by taking into account the user preference.
The Results Page gave the possibilty of information capture while still giving the user to continue on without giving that information. As a user I hate when companies hold information hostage after I complete a quiz so I always give the option to opt out temporarily, its important that they not abandon their journey before seeing their recommendation.
The Recommendation Page showed users one specific mattress. A complaint that arose in the User Research phase was that the Mattress Firm quiz produced over 25 results leaving users feeling like the recommendation wasn’t personalized at all “a waste of their time” and “completely pointless.” This page gave the user the chance to shop directly from the land, even on mobile, while also giving them opportunities to explore more and discover what about their answers had resulted in their recommendation. Additionally to make the marketing department happy it also provides another opportunity to capture info by sending the Results to their email.
SparkNotes Version
The user is my focal point whenever I design an experience. By running competitive analysis, conducting user research and using developed EQ we can design experiences that delight and that are mutually beneficial. I’m passionate about people because I’m a person and I feel it stands out in this design.
Points of Improvement:
- Lack of Call to Action, users weren’t given information they needed.
- Lack of differentiation and information, not respecting the users time.
- Confusing menu structure, users could potentially get lost.
Improvements by:
- Designing a conditional logic quiz and adding it as a call to action.
- Visually showcasing differences in product lines, allowing for education and exploration.
- Simplified the menu structure and added the sleep quiz so there was always an opportunity for personalization.
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