Northern Ireland's modern furniture specialists.

Algram Modern Living is Northern Ireland’s destination for exclusive modern furniture. Their showroom is dedicated to European modern & contemporary design, with some of the best Italian brands on the market.

Role: UX Researcher & UI Designer working alongside our Developer
Timeframe: 4 months
Deliverables: Website redesign for Algram Modern Living to replicate the professionalism of their in-store experience. Now extending our efforts towards the website redesign of their Algram By Night website also.

Project Overview

Our journey with Algram commenced by managing their social media accounts. I created and scheduled a variety of stylish posts that encourage users to visit their newly revamped showroom. However, the partnership with Algram evolved beyond social media management, expanding Algram's digital presence with the curation of an online portfolio. A new website had to reflect the brand's exceptional professionalism. Just like our social media strategy, the website's call to action was to invite users in-store where they would receive a personalised service, laying the foundation for customer loyalty.

Challenge

Following my research process, I started by conducting a UX audit of the existing website. This revealed several shortcomings, including a lack of cohesive branding, ineffective use of interactive states and difficulty when utilising the product filters due to restricting the number of selections, an unclear display of choices and disjointed interactions.

With aspirations of becoming the destination furniture store within Northern Ireland, understanding the target audience was pivotal. Through a comprehensive user survey that received 102 insightful responses, I identified the core audience as individuals aged 45 and above, who value high-end furnishings accompanied by personal and quality customer service. The survey results indicated that the existing website fell short of providing adequate guidance when choosing a product. Consequently, our primary objective in redesigning the website was to replicate the professionalism of an in-store experience. Valuable suggestions from the survey participants included refining product filtering, the ability to shop by brand, accurate stock availability, product personalisation options and more. These persuasive elements play a pivotal role in influencing potential customers to visit the Ballymena showroom.

The survey also curated a list of competitors' websites to analyse in terms of usability and visual design. Concluding my research with an in-depth site map based on the desired feature list.

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Results

The new Algram Modern Living website showcases brand elegance and professionalism. In terms of visual design, my focus was on creating a sleek, image-focused, editorial-style design as though you were flicking through pages of a magazine. Visitors now enjoy a more liberated product browsing experience with intuitive product filters, insights into product availability as well as an emphasis on the customisation capabilities available with Algram products, further enriching a potential customer's decision to make the journey to the Ballymena showroom.

The website prototype was tested at various stages throughout the design phases, however, I remain committed to the ongoing refinement of the Algram Modern Living website post-launch as well.