Knickgasm
At the Protothon 2023, UX Hackathon by the University of Washington, our team KAVYY redesigned the Knickgasm website to improve the experience of how users design and order customized as well as pre-designed sneakers.
Hackathon
24 hrs ⏰
Timeline
May 6 - May 7, 2023
Tools
Figma, Figjam
Role
UX Research, UX Design, Prototyping
RESEARCH
Identifying Business Needs
With ~1000+ customers, Knickgasm stands as India's leading online brand that sells custom-painted and pre-designed sneakers primarily through Instagram DMs and WhatsApp messages. Their current website is in its early stages and incorporates a Google form to receive customer orders.
Goal
To divert the online purchase traffic from social media accounts to the official Knickgasm website.
HEURISTIC EVALUATION
Analyzing The Existing Website
In order to identify and assess the limitations of the existing website, we conducted a quick yet comprehensive heuristic evaluation using Jakob Nielsen's principles for interaction design.
Given that we were on a time crunch, we focused on the top 3 heuristics that we believed would have the most impact on improving the customer’s interaction with the website.
Consistency & Standards
Users are required to use unfamiliar tools like Google Forms to customize sneakers, increasing their cognitive load.
It lacks a product size guide, product description, ratings and reviews for product comparison.
Flexibility & Efficiency Of Use
There’s no product search, and poor navigation reduces product discoverability, with shoe brands not highlighted.
The currency change button is unresponsive. The customization process is restrictive too.
Aesthetic & Minimalistic Design
The bland color palette makes the website appear dull, failing to convey the brand's funkiness. There's no clear visual hierarchy, and key elements like CTAs aren't prominent.
The site lacks sufficient content to explain the brand and build trust.
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
Comparing The Market
We compared the Knickgasm website with 3 brands - NikeByYou, AllBirds, and ShoeZero based on 6 factors - Customization UI, Customization Features, User Flow, Visual Design, Content Quality, and Product Reviews.
Even though Knickgasm offers significant customization features, the Google Form prevents users from seamlessly using these features—doesn’t let customers visualize their designs.
SECONDARY RESEARCH
Understanding The Users
Customers often explore and design custom shoes with a specific theme in mind, such as a "Dragon" or "Naruto" design. However, there's hesitancy to place orders, as many are new to custom sneakers.
Pain Points
Feel unsure about how to customize sneakers.
Inability to browse and find the desired type of sneakers.
Have concerns about the authenticity and quality of the products.
HMW, SKETCHES
Defining The Problem Statement & Brainstorming
How might we design a platform that helps customers effortlessly customize their shoes and facilitates higher sales for Knickgasm?
. .and began ideating on the potential solutions.💡
And quickly ⏱️ sketching out our ideas helped us in translate our ideas into reality and decide the user flow . . .
MOCKUPS
Designing Solutions
Revamped brand identity—bringing forth the funkiness
Every aspect of the brand—tagline, color scheme, typography, and layout, underwent a redesign to bring out the quirky vibe of the brand.
The vibrant and warm tangerine orange, along with the mint green, helped to highlight the shoes as the focal point while maintaining a funky theme on the website. The fonts Jost and Poppins were used to create a bold, yet clean and simple layout.
Effortless shoe browsing experience
Improved categorization of shoes with new filter and sort options for discoverability.
Two highlighted sections—Featured and Collections to easily find what's trending!
Customize shoes with AI integration
The new user flow for customers to
select shoe type → select shoe size → pick a category (such as Anime, TV Shows) → upload design images (or choose from suggestions) → AI-generated designs patterns to choose from.
The 'regenerate' button enables them to explore more design variations.
Improved product display page and streamlined checkout
To assist customers in making informed decisions, we added—product rating, size guide.
For checkout, we incorporated breadcrumbs with the option to make edits for improved flexibility.
Trust and authenticity
We integrated elements such as testimonials from influencers and celebrities on the homepage and the checkout page.
We added comments, reviews, and ratings from customers reinforcing the brand's authenticity and boosting the likelihood of conversions.
For assistance, we provided the chat with us feature.
WHAT DID I LEARN
Takeaways
Participating in the Protothon was a valuable opportunity to focus on team collaboration during tight deadlines and intense competition. This fostered a sense of urgency and creativity, pushing me to think critically and problem-solve under pressure.
We recognized the areas where we could have improved, particularly in the initial planning and distribution of tasks. Above all,
The Protothon encouraged a mindset shift towards innovation and thinking outside the conventional boundaries.
