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DAREBIN COUNCIL UX/UI CASE STUDY

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CLIENT - DAREBIN COUNCIL

Role – UX/UI Designer

UX – Card Sorting, Interviews and Contextual Inquiries, Research Synthesis, Defining Users, Building Personas, User Journey Map, Comparative Analysis 

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UI – Wireframing, Prototyping, Usability Testing

Duration –   2.5 weeks

Project Partner – Michelle Eynon

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Project name 03

Role Title

I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It’s easy. Just click “Edit Text” or double click me to add your own content and make changes to the font. I’m a great place for you to tell a story and let your users know a little more about you.

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Problem

Rare Books Paris sell their collection of books through an email contact system only. They do not have a website.

RBP need a platform to display their entire collection with e-commerce functionality and a way to provide special access to images for design researchers.

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Solution

I built a website prototype with a setup for

e-commerce. The site can display the entire RBP collection allowing visitors to view both available and sold out titles with a simple add to cart function for single or multiple purchases. I also created a way for users to access a curated image library for design research through a paid subscription system. 

 

 

For the in-depth case study​ see below

RBP sells books via an email only system which may be charming but is inefficient and archaic

Rare Books Paris is an Instagram account existing since 2015.

The account showcases images from a vast collection of rare books on Art, Fashion, Design, Photography, Architecture and Obscurities.

Through a slow email process, followers can purchase books from RBP but the company needs a way to show their catalogue in one place with e-commerce capability 

Followers want a faster way to find out which books are available and then purchase

At present, there are no prices mentioned on the IG page so users must email RBP to find out A) What the price is and B) If the book is still available. If the response is slow then RBP potentially lose a sale. Users would like to see a catalogue as they may be interested in buying more if they knew what was available.

RBP has a curatorial eye trained through the world's top fashion houses and this is their point of difference

RBP has more than 15 years working in design for both artisanal and luxury fashion houses. They have developed a reputation as a resource for trend and style referencing.

Rare Books Paris have over 100k followers and so a website catalogue with e-commerce capability is an MVP that could increase sales exponentially.

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Deliverables

Reconfigured IA, New Category Titles, Updated Shortcuts and built a Bookings and Payment tool

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Updated Shortcuts based on survey findings

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Discovery

Prototype

This Design focused on two main areas:

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1.Creating a website for the rare Books Paris catalogue 

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2.Creating a platform for an image research library accessed by paid subscription

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Figma Link

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As a reputable source for design research, RBP needs a way to allow access to curated images 

Followers have become accustomed to seeing coveted art and design images which are referenced by many in their own design process.

RBP wants to curate a library of images from their vast collection and charge an access fee through a membership feature. ​

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It is common practice to purchase material for referencing within the Design industry

The interview participants all worked with a creative industry and had experienced purchasing reference material as part of their design process.

For RBP I built a subscription feature which would give paying users access to a library of edited reference material from the contents of the collection.

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Interviews x 4 

We had paid subscriptions to every lifestyle magazine out there, the company simply claimed it as a business expense

~75% of followers would pay a subscription fee of €50

By offering a reference library to paid subscribers, RBP can still create revenue without blocking visitors to the site who may simply want to browse and purchase.

The reference library would be updated every three months keeping the seasonal trend forecasting aspect relevant. Subscriptions would be for 6 or 12 months with a discount on 12 months to encourage users to sign up for annual access.

The contents of the reference library would be high resolution images able to be downloaded and printed

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RBP's design is so minimal they don't even have a logo!

Discussions with RBP regarding design references resulted in the following insights

  • No logo exists, just the name Rare Books Paris in a basic font

  • RBP loved the font style used in Re-Magazine (defunct) and sent an example '13 Attempts'

  • RBP loved the simplicity of the font style and size on Bloomingdale's iconic shopping bags 'medium brown bag'

  • RBP wanted a landing page that would be a full bleed image with a discreet 'Rare Books Paris' in the centre.

I altered an existing typeface that was both similar to re-Magazine and the Bloomingdale's bag font, I also took the silhouette of the shopping bag and used it as the icon for the shopping cart.

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I looked at other online bookstores to compare flow and design

I researched five bookstore websites, two that had a large following on social media, one that is a favourite of RBP and a further two that were popular with collectors seeking rare titles.

I noted navigation, categories, search functions and sorting options amongst other user flow functionalities.

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  • Clickable tags for each title

  • Options to swap between List and Grid format

  • Similar item suggestions

  • Sort By Options

  • Navigation always visible on page

  • Sign up and Create Account page

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  • Sold Out shown when hovering

  • Social links on each book description page

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CLIENT - RARE BOOKS PARIS (RBP)

Role – UX/UI Designer

UX – 4 x Interviews and one Survey with 27 responses,

Research Synthesis, Defining Users, Comparative Analysis 

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UI – Wireframing, Figma Prototyping, Usability Testing, Font Design 

Duration –   1.5 weeks

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Rare Books Paris is an Instagram page showcasing art books for sale. They have over 100k followers. 

RBP prototype
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