Nordstrom Case Study
In conjunction with the University of Washington’s Human Centered Design and Engineering Masters program, my 4 person team had the opportunity to work with Nordstrom to conduct a full scale usability study. We were mentored by a lead UX Researcher at Nordstrom.
The purpose of this usability study was to evaluate the Buy Online, Pick up in Store (BOPUS) functionality on the Nordstrom.com desktop website experience.
Role: UX Researcher
Location: Seattle, WA
Methods: User Research, Interview Moderation, Qualitative Analysis
Objective
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there is an increased necessity for Buy Online, Pick up in Store (BOPUS) shopping. Our initial heuristic tests of the product revealed issues in the online shopping experience and we were curious to observe if shoppers faced similar pain points when navigating tasks. Specifically, we wanted to test the ease of use of the pickup filters, browsing, and pickup options in the shopping bag and checkout.
Our goal was to investigate and uncover any improvements that could be made in this area of the website for Nordstrom shoppers.
Research Questions
The research questions guiding the study were:
How discoverable, functional, and usable is the pickup functionality throughout the Nordstrom site?
How easy is it for participants to find products available for same day pickup?
How satisfied are the customers with the online shopping experience for pickup orders?
Are customers able to adequately understand the messaging on the pickup functionality?
Tested Features
The key features that were tested are the pick up filter, pick up and shipping options, and checkout options.
Participants
We wanted to capture the experience of a typical Nordstrom shopper but also cast a wide net. Our 6 participant profiles were screened by the following criteria:
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All participants must shop online at least twice a year for apparel
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At least 1 participant identifies as male
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All participants should be between ages 18 and 65
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At least 1 participant should be below 25, and at least 1 participant should be above 35
Study
We conducted a remote moderated usability study with 6 participants. We conducted and recorded the sessions over Zoom, and they lasted about 45 minutes each.
During the study, moderators and notetakers worked together to track qualitative and quantitative data about participants' habits, behaviors, and pain points with the BOPUS system.
The bulk of our study was focused on our three tasks. Our tasks were meant to mimic how someone might actually shop for clothes that they need to acquire quickly for pickup. Our focus was on using pickup filters, customizing the shopping bag, and understanding pick up location details. We encouraged participants to browse as they normally would and to find items they would actually want.
Data Collection
Having a robust data collection plan allowed us to effectively gather information during our study. This improved collaboration as each team member could easily refer to our guide while taking notes during the study. It also provided a framework for our analysis.
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Findings
Overall, the shopping experience was pleasant for all of our participants. All of the participants were successfully able to navigate the BOPUS flow from the Nordstrom homepage to the checkout page. 80% of tasks were completed during the usability test. Most of the participants found the shopping experience to be an organized and linear process, and they have a relatively high opinion of Nordstrom.
Of the major issues we found, we were able to identify clear recommendations that would improve the usability for Nordstrom shoppers. These are the key findings that impact users in the BOPUS workflow for the Nordstrom.com website.
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Impact
Our findings were inline with data found from the Nordstrom team. They were able to leverage our findings as additional support for changes to be made to the BOPUS flow.
Next Steps
Conduct additional usability testing on the filters
Three participants had a couple of concerns about the filters. One had suggestions about new filters, and two were confused about some of the existing filters. We would conduct an additional usability study on the filter options. This would also hopefully give additional insights into how to make the pickup filters more visible as well.
End-to-end testing
Conducting a test on the full BOPUS experience would be beneficial. This would include areas after our test stopped, such as the full checkout process including providing payment, receiving a confirmation email, and physically going to the store to collect items. This would test the full functionality of the experience and shoppers’ assumptions about the process.