5. Usability Testing Overview🖥️📱

Tests Conducted: 6 sessions (3 desktop, 3 mobile) with classmates; 2 experienced Uline users, 3 new users

Tasks: Product search, pricing, selecting options, and understanding bundles (e.g., find model S-13287, check overstock savings, choose glove color, calculate bundle savings)

Desktop Insights 💻

• Important details in the Additional Information tab were hard to find

• Add to Cart button felt hidden

• Bundles and pricing caused confusion

• Content felt cluttered

• Scale comparison images were very helpful

Mobile Insights📱

• Users wanted customer reviews for validation

• Text was hard to read

• Scale comparison images remained helpful

• Bundle purchasing system caused confusion

  

6. User Interviews (3 B2B Professionals)🗣️👥

Interviewee 1 — Lab Safety Officer (16 yrs)

• Uses Uline across multiple institutions

• Buys gloves, PPE, chemicals

• Values safety docs and spec accuracy

• Frustrated by hidden SDS sheets and incomplete details

Interviewee 2 — Shipping Manager (2+ yrs)

• Orders boxes, tape, industrial supplies

• Wants clear shipping deadlines

• Needs accurate dimensions

• Often cross checks orders with procurement platforms

Interviewee 3 — Makerspace Manager (1+ yr)

• Orders a wide variety of materials

• Relies heavily on search

• Wants better filtering by size, color, material

• Finds additional info hard to locate

Interview Themes

🔍 Search & Navigation

• Experienced users rely on search; new users depend on categories

• Filtering is difficult and often ineffective

• Additional Info tab frequently overlooked

📦 Product Information & Hierarchy

• Specifications need clear grouping

• Price breaks should be visible upfront

• Users want clearer warnings and materials info

🛒 Ordering Process

• Quantity rounding causes frustration

• Discounts only appear too late

⭐ Preferences

• Next day shipping highly valued

• Delays without communication are frustrating

• Free promotional items appreciated

Starting the Design Process🎨📝💡

1. Copy-to-Learn Workshop✏️

We rebuilt competitor PDPs in Figma to identify:

• Layout patterns

• Presentation styles

• Price table structures

This strengthened our pattern vocabulary and revealed effective competitor layouts.

2. Crazy 8 Sketching✏️

Crazy 8 is a rapid ideation technique where participants sketch eight different design ideas in eight minutes. Each idea is drawn within one minute, pushing for quick and diverse solutions. Rapid ideation revealed ideas and patterns in improving hierarchy, comparison, and visual communication, which we expanded through paper sketches before moving to digital prototypes.

3. Paper Sketching✏️

During paper sketching, we translated the most promising ideas into full page wireframes, experimenting with layout and visual hierarchy. This allowed us to explore different ways of organizing content and to identify the key features to prioritize for the initial mock-up.

4. Wireframing in Figma🖊️📐💻

We used Figma to create low fidelity wireframes based on our paper sketches.

5. High Fidelity Prototype (Hi-Fi)🎨✨

Key Features of the Redesign:

• 📌 Additional info link centralized on the page

• 💰🛒 Redesigned pricing chart near the Add to Cart section

• 👀 More visual pricing features for easy scanning

• 🔢 Redesigned quantity input field

• 📝 Subtotal features for quick tracking

• ⭐ Add to List bookmark for favorites

• 📚 Page catalog referencing info

• 🚚 Additional shipping info highlighted

• 🔄 Recategorized Additional Info tabs for smoother navigation

Usability Testing: Redesign vs. Original👀

Purpose: Evaluate whether the redesigned PDP is more intuitive, efficient, and effective than the original.

Method: Mixed-method testing with A/B comparison and structured tasks using two products. Participants completed realistic tasks like finding model numbers, stock status, pricing, and adding items to a saved list.

Participants: 2 Uline B2B users familiar with the website

Key Measures:

• Task success, navigation paths, errors

• Ease of navigation, intuitiveness, and efficiency (1–5 scale)

• Think-aloud feedback and open-ended impressions

Focus Areas: Information hierarchy, navigation clarity, and overall user satisfaction

Results — 35% improvement across all categories📈✅🎯

Key Improvements & Impact✨

• 🔄 Users backtracked less and navigated more efficiently

• 📖 Reading clarity improved with better information hierarchy

• 🏠 Layout felt familiar but much cleaner

• ✅ Decision confidence increased; frustration reduced

• ⏱ Task completion was 35% faster on average than the original pages

• 💰 Pricing and product information clearer, supporting faster decision-making

• 📤 Design approved for handoff to Uline stakeholders

Next Steps🚀

• Beta test with real Uline customers

• Expand redesign to mobile

• Refine bundle logic and procurement integration

• Add comparison tools and incorporate reviews

My Contributions 👩‍💻

🔍 Research: Interview protocols, interviews, usability testing, heuristic evaluation, cognitive walkthroughs
🎨 Design: Copy-To-Learn, Crazy 8, Sketches, Low-fi, Hi-Fi
🤝 Collaboration: Facilitation of multiple weekly sponsor presentations, full documentation, final project presentation

Reflection💭

• Strengthened skills in UX research, B2B design, and synthesizing complex data

• Learned to design scalable, brand-aligned systems

• Improved communication of design decisions

• Reinforced that PDP improvements are about user experience, clarity, and confidence, not just layout

it’s about earning user trust through clarity, accuracy, and efficiency.🌟