Habitual - From failed searches to confident purchases

The Context

As Thanksgiving and Christmas approach each year, Habitual, a gift and novelty company, prepares for an increase in demand and looks for ways to improve its online shopping experience.

By creating a dedicated mobile experience, Habitual has an opportunity to better support its 4K+ mobile shoppers and encourage repeat purchases.

The Problem

Festive events can lead to longer wait times and product unavailability.

To make the shopping experience smoother, e-shoppers need to quickly find the products they want, easily navigate their wishlists and product information, and complete checkout without unnecessary friction

Why does it matter?

• Shoppers — Uncertainty leads to slower decisions and longer waits.

• Enterprise professionals — Time spent checking inventory takes focus away from marketing campaigns.

• Business — Lower purchases reduce checkout and marketplace efficiency.

Research

Picking Up the Pieces

At the start of the project, I wanted to understand the clear mission and defined goals for Habitual's mobile shopping experience. Using some pre-existing insights as a starting point, I conducted usability testing with six participants to understand how habitual consumers searched for and found products.

My goal was to uncover the challenges they faced, understand the workarounds they used, and identify opportunities to improve their overall shopping experience.

Key Research Insights

The moments of high uncertainty became our focus for design improvement.

• Throughout the shopping experience, consumers developed their own workarounds whenever they felt stuck while completing an action in the app.

• Observing these behaviours helped reveal where users lacked guidance and felt uncertain.

• These moments were particularly important because they often made it harder for consumers to find the right product or continue through the shopping journey.

01.

Looks through deals hoping to find the right product.

02.

Tries different keywords when the search doesn't return the expected product.

03.

Feels uncertain while reviewing the product information.

04.

Leaves the process when the cart option isn't clearly visible.

We Redefined The Challenge - Opportunity Space

How might we reduce uncertainty throughout the shopping journey and help consumers make confident decisions?

Ideation Process

Sketching became an integral part of the initial ideation phase, helping us explore how the product experience could respond to the insights we had uncovered.

I am not able to see the cart and its not allowing me to go further - P3

Why I am not getting the product I want is there something I'm missing out - P5

These findings shaped two design principles that guided our design decisions while staying aligned with the company's guidelines:

• Balance transparency within the app

• Preserve product clarity to support cart decisions

We explored this opportunity through sketches and low-fidelity frames, focusing on how product information could be made simpler, clearer, and more accessible while identifying the features that would best support the shopping journey.

Design Direction

Based on the research insights and ideation process, I explored two approaches to help consumers find the right products while balancing transparency with user control.

• Registering their interests

• Finding the right product through search

Assessing The Structure

After creating the user stories, I explored mind-mapping certain scenarios to make product search simpler and more intuitive, so customers could find what they were looking for with less effort and clear guidance

Final Design

Supporting product selection through informed decisions and effortless cart management

The final experience brings together guided recommendations through Just for You, Deals, and My Interests, helping consumers discover relevant products with greater clarity.

It also makes product customisation easier and provides a clear checkout flow, supporting consumers in making more confident purchasing decisions.

Impact

Testing showed improvements in consumers' perceived trust and sense of control when navigating information-heavy parts of the shopping experience.

Stakeholder Response

Habitual stakeholders responded positively to the conceptual sketches, research findings, and design rationale presented ahead of the first launch review.

Validated Outcomes

I conducted post-test usability testing with 8 participants. Compared with the original prototype, participants reported higher ratings for:

Reflection

Beyond analysing research findings, this project helped me grow as a designer and strengthened the way I approach product design and leadership.

Progressive Iteration

• This project showed me how much potential there is in continuously refining a product based on what people actually need.

• As I iterated on the screens, I learned that it isn't about showing everything at once, but about organising the right information at the right time to reduce cognitive load and create a more personal experience.

Designing from Behaviour

• Usability testing provided behavioural insights that helped inform our design decisions. Watching participants interact with the app and complete tasks revealed behaviours that may not have surfaced through interviews alone.

• These observations helped us create clearer interactions and make the shopping experience easier to navigate, supporting faster and more confident purchasing decisions.

Final Design Prototype