SCOPE OF WORK
UI/UX DESIGN
Coliwoo
Coliwoo is a co-living accommodations provider that curates beautiful co-living spaces in Singapore. As one of the largest co-living accommodations provider, Coliwoo believes there is an easier way to seek accommodation in Singapore, and that living in a community beats living alone.
We were tasked to re-design the Coliwoo’s website experience to provide easy, reliable and up-to-date property information, as well as refreshing the overall design language to closely align with the community-driven spirit of the brand.
The Challenge
Existing website’s Information Architecture (IA) is messy, making the whole user experience confusing, complicated, and overall makes the brand appear unreliable. Additionally, because of the lack of information presented on the website regarding Coliwoo and how the platform works, the brand is unable to communicate the value of its services and offerings to the intended users.
The Solution
To improve Coliwoo’s website experience by reorganising its IA and establishing a clear website navigation, so that users will be able to find relevant information more easily and accurately. Additionally, a refreshed and modernised design language coupled with copywriting that matches the brand story, Coliwoo is able to communicate more effectively with new and existing users; a greater understanding of the brand’s values and offerings is achieved, resulting in higher resonance among target users.
Research & User Testing
In order to improve the website UI/UX for the targeted users, we did both qualitative and quantitative research to better understand the user needs and pain points.
This will help reveal valuable information that eventually led us to make the recommendations and improvements during the design process.
*Only 1 of 5 personas are shown here
Clara Chong
28 year-old | Wellness Coach | Singapore
Clara is a certified wellness and nutrition coach. She works as a personal trainer by day, and a content creator by night. She is passionate about her job and aspires to help as many people as possible through her work. As an independent and extroverted individual, Clara loves to travel and enjoys meeting new people. Since being stuck at home due to COVID-19, Clara wants to move out to have her own space and decided to look for a co-living space in hopes of also scratching that itch to adventure.
Goal:
To be able to live life on her own terms and find a community of like-minded individuals
Frustration:
COVID-19 restrictions have make adventuring difficult and Clara feels a sense of dullness in her life.
User Testing — Key Findings
#1
All user groups find the Coliwoo website lacking in clarity in terms of how the platform works for them to make an informed decision.
Recommendation:
To include a ‘How It Works’ section on Home page that indicates a step-by-step process of how to make a booking and what to expect after.
#2
Overall, there is insufficient information on the property listings section on the Home page, even though looking for property is the main objective for most of the users.
Recommendation:
To Include a section on the Home page that showcases property offerings through images of property interior and relevant information such as price, location, apartment type.
#3
Most users find the property detail page too long to scroll through, and with no clear CTA for them to make an enquiry or book the property.
Recommendation:
To include a shortcut tabs/buttons at the top of the property detail page that allows users to skip to specific sections, as well as having a clear CTA at the end of the page for users to take action.
Organising the Information Architecture
Once the common pain points are identified through the series of user testing sessions, we started to look into reorganising the IA through card sorting session with users. Through discussions with Coliwoo and various iterations, we eventually landed on a site map that communicates both the emotional and functional aspects of the brand. Through a user flow that focuses on telling the Coliwoo story, users will be able to better resonate with the brand.
The Outcome
Values that helped and improved the user experience:
Clarity
Clearly defined website IA help users find information as where they would expect them, making the whole user experience clear and easy.
Authenticity
Weaving the Coliwoo story into the website help users to feel more connected to the brand’s mission, such that users are able to make an informed decision when deciding to engage with the brand.
Direct
As the main objective for most users is to make a booking, a ‘Book Now’ CTA button is integrated onto the sticky navigation menu, such that users can be directed to the booking platform immediately without going through mirage of content.
Design — Key Elements
‘How It Works’ Section
As most users are unsure of what to expect and how to go about making a booking during their search for suitable accommodations, a ‘how it works’ section, where the steps are listed out in numerical order, is included on the Home page to help users gain clarity.
Properties Information on Home Page
Majority of the users who visits the Coliwoo website is looking for accommodations and its relevant property information. Hence, a more detailed property information section is fleshed out on the Home page that showcases a few featured properties. Filter tabs for the different property categories (residences, hotel, upcoming) are also included to cater to the different user groups.
Shortcut Tabs & Clear CTA on Property Page
A number of users reported that the property detail page has a lot of information to look through, which had caused them to feel overloaded. To resolve this, we introduced shortcut tabs at the top of the page, which would allow users to directly access the information on the selected section. Additionally, a clear and striking CTA banner is placed at the bottom of every property detail page so as to lead users to the booking platform to make an enquiry or book the space.
