Jewelry Retailer
A usability test of alternative menu designs.
This client is a major jewelry retailer specializing in high-quality, ethically sourced diamonds with more than 200 stores across the United States. The purpose of this study was to assess the structure and navigation of the website and mobile experience, which previously felt confusing and overwhelming.
As a consulting UX researcher, I worked closely with the company's stakeholders and fellow researchers to develop a testing plan aimed at understanding user expectations and preferences regarding the depth, display of product categories, and navigational structures.
Role
UX Researcher
Responsibilities
User research, data-driven insights, prototyping
Timeline
Feb 2025
Research Goals
This research built on a completed card sort and tree test study that gathered insights into the organization of the retailer's product offerings and website structure. This usability test expanded on previous findings and aimed to:
Assessing perceptions of online jewelry customers regarding the shopping experience
Evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness of proposed navigation designs
Identifying barriers preventing online customers from engaging on mobile smartphone
The conclusion of this study should provide insights that inform efforts to:
Redesign the mobile website navigation
Modify website information architecture
Identify additional opportunities for website navigation improvement
Develop roadmap priorities for any missing features or functionality.
Methodology
We held sessions with twenty-one participants over five days. Each session lasted 90 minutes. One of three moderators conducted all sessions using a semi-structured test guide. All sessions were held remotely via Zoom and recorded on video. The participants tested three interactive Figma prototypes, with the presentation order of the prototypes counterbalanced to minimize learning effects and bias.
We asked participants open-ended questions and gave them tasks to complete. They shared their opinions and experiences and provided feedback on various elements of the website. We collected both qualitative and quantitative data related to their activities and comments.
Participants
Participants were shoppers who fit their target customer demographic, had recently purchased fine jewelry online from a retail jewelry store or major department store chain, showed interest in buying fine jewelry within the next three to four months, and did not work in any related or competing industry.
Menu Variations
Three menu variations were tested for their efficiency and effectiveness in helping participants navigate the retailer's website. We recreated their existing menu structure as the control prototype and introduced two new designs—a new menu interaction and one with a simplified information architecture. The client was interested in testing menu structures that let prospective customers reach product landing pages in fewer clicks while maintaining confidence in menu choices and not overwhelming users.
Control Prototype - Recreated the client's current website menu structure and interaction model
New Interaction Prototype - Revealed second and third level menu options in an expanded view of the same categories
Reduced IA Prototype - Also opened to an expanded view, but with fewer menu categories
Control Design
New Interaction Design
Reduced IA Design
Control
Overall, most participants found the Control prototype to be user-friendly, intuitively designed, and consistent with their expectations.
Most participants favored the prototypes that used the New Interaction Model over the Control. Some mentioned that while they could navigate the menu, the additional layers slowed them down.
"In this round, it took a little more reading and an additional click or two to click through to get to the end result." (P12)
New Interaction Prototype
Most participants said that the New Interaction prototype was very easy and intuitive to use. They liked the layout that shows all options and provides more visibility with additional choices. Those who didn’t like it as much mentioned they prefer having fewer options in the menu.
“It was much more detailed [than Control], much more focused on getting results. It felt thorough, and it felt organized, and it felt less stressful to have to search for an item.” (P17)
Most participants reported no confusion and rated little or no frustration with the New Interaction prototype.
"I like having options to choose from rather than me having to guess what options to select... It just makes that shopping experience a lot easier and less stressful" (P18)
Reduced IA Prototype
Most participants found the Reduced IA easy to use because it let them see all options without having to browse through too many categories.
Many participants didn't find the Reduced IA prototype confusing, but some had trouble with the second task because of the loss of the 'Shop by Brand' option. A few said that menus like Customize and Engagement were redundant and had too many categories.
"Going back to the collections piece, seemed like it was hidden, and it was not as easy to navigate as the other website" (P19)
Tasks
Task 1 – Shop for a Gift for a previously identified family member
We asked participants to navigate through the menu to find a location they thought would have suitable gift options.
Successful Path(s)
GIFTS → GIFTS BY RECIPIENT → GIFTS FOR MOM
Insights from the Study
Most participants reported no noticeable difference in their experiences between prototypes when completing Task 1, regardless of the design changes.
When speaking to what they would do next, most participants across all prototypes said they would continue filtering to narrow their search.
Participants were observed shopping for their gifts primarily in the Jewelry category, rather than the gifts category.
First time attempting Task 1: 76% of participants completed the task using the Jewelry category
Task 2 – Find a diamond and yellow gold ring offered by the Scout & Lark brand
We asked participants to again navigate through the menu to find the specified item.
Successful Path(s)
JEWELRY → SHOP BY BRAND → SCOUT & LARK
JEWELRY → SHOP BY CATEGORY → RINGS → FILTER BY → COLLECTIONS: SCOUT & LARK
Insights from the Study
Task 2 proved to be the most controversial across prototypes. Many with difficulties spoke about the confusion between collections and brands, unsure of where to look within filters or categories.
The Control prototype caused participants to make more menu choices, becoming confusing and causing decision fatigue between categories.
The full, expanded menu using a new interaction was not a barrier to completing this task or locating the Scout and Lark brand.
Many found difficulties using the modified menu due to: the loss of Shop by Brand in the menu or confusion between use of Brand vs. Collection in available filter options.
Task 3 – Imagine that you are going to purchase diamond stud earrings
We asked participants to navigate to where they would find this kind of product and let us when they had found them. This task had a timed element.
Successful Path(s)
JEWELRY → SHOP BY CATEGORY → EARRINGS → SUBCATEGORY: DIAMOND SOLITAIRE STUDS
Insights from the Study
Visual navigation showing subcategories at the top of the Earrings product listing page were most often credited as the reason for ease of task completion.
Participants across all prototypes most often found diamond solitaire studs within the Earrings category under Jewelry.
For this task, even more than others, participants were focused on finding the desired item, and they rarely noted differences in the interaction or structure of the menus.
The differences in time to complete between prototypes were not significant.
Task 4 – Imagine that you’re looking to purchase an engagement ring. You want to design your own unique ring.
We asked participants to navigate to where they would find that option.
Successful Path(s)
ENGAGEMENT & WEDDING → CUSTOM ENGAGEMENT → DESIGN YOUR OWN SETTING
CUSTOMIZE → CUSTOM ENGAGEMENT→ START WITH A SETTING
Insights from the Study
Almost all participants found Task 4 to be straightforward across all prototypes, locating the appropriate options within the Engagement and Wedding or Customize categories without undue effort.
Overall, participants expected to find custom engagement ring options under both the Engagement and Wedding and Customize categories.
Recommendations
This study found that while all of the tested navigation prototypes were well received, the new interaction model was preferred. An affinity for the new information architecture was less certain. Besides findings directly related to the proposed menu designs, we identified additional opportunities for improvement.
Continue pursuing a mobile menu redesign
We advised the client to continue pursuing a mobile menu redesign, since the new interaction model was preferred over the current system. An accordion-style design is also worth considering, but would need testing because it was not included in this study and support is anecdotal.
Address inconsistent and unclear terminology
We recommended working to identify and resolve the inconsistent terminology related to Brands and Collections within the navigation system—menus and filters. We also encouraged the client to conduct further research into the vocabulary and terminology used for category labels and menu options throughout the navigation system.
Custom engagement ring landing page
We recommended creating a custom engagement ring landing page instead of using the current menu links. Most participants preferred the prototype that directed them to a landing page, which helped them get oriented before exploring the custom ring builder.
Simplify information architecture
We recommended further exploring an information architecture with fewer categories and simplified menus.
Control Design
New Interaction Design (Preferred)
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