Supporting businesses to design professionally
I joined PosterMyWall as the second UX Designer on the team. Primarily, I worked with our small team of engineers and digital marketers. Since we were a small team, I took ownership of several projects during my time there. This required wearing hats of a researcher, designer, and product owner - often simultaneously. Additionally, I played a key role in expanding the UX team, helping to recruit and mentor new designers, which contributed to the team's growth before my departure.
User Experience Designer, Digital Strategist, Senior Engineer, Product Manager
User Experience Designer, Digital Strategist, Senior Engineer, Product Manager
6 months
Problem
What is PosterMyWall?
PosterMyWall is an online graphic design tool that allows users to create custom posters, flyers, videos, and other types of visual content. It's popular among small businesses, educators, and individuals looking for an easy way to produce graphic materials.
How might we improve our template search?
As a community-driven design tool, the number of templates was growing rapidly thanks to contributions from our community. However, this abundance made it challenging for end users to find the right template.
Research
Using Google Analytics and Hotjar to track and gather data regarding user behavior on our template gallery. It showed that 67% of new users left the website after a few minutes of searching and 80% of the users spent at least 7 minutes finding an appropriate template.
The 'Template Search' page had several issues. Users encountered two search bars after initiating a search, leading to confusion. The overly large header usesd 30% of the screen height, reducing visible content, while a bulky and confusing sidebar complicated navigation. Additionally, the horizontal masonry layout limit the content displayed.Since finding design templates is largely visual, we aimed to create a more intuitive and enjoyable experience for it by reducing cognitive load.
Design Process
Wireframing to get early feedback
Our backend setup initially let users search templates by keyword, theme, or size, each method leading to different results and steps. To streamline the experience, I decided to group themes and sizes together and keep keyword search separate.
I collaborated with the engineering team to find a solution that wouldn't delay the project. This required a task analysis to identify overlaps in user flows and reconfiguring some backend code to ensure a consistent endpoint for all users, no matter their starting point.
To explore and refine our design direction, I created high-fidelity wireframes in Figma. This process allowed me to iterate on various design concepts. By visually laying out the user interface elements and user flows, I was able to experiment with different layouts and features, assessing their usability and aesthetic appeal.
Improvements that delight
The introduction of an advanced search feature, significantly improved our site’s usability. This update reduced dwell time by 12%, enabling both new visitors and regular users to refine their searches quickly and efficiently. As a result, new customers found relevant templates faster, boosting our conversion rates.
The enhanced search functionality meant that users spent more time designing rather than just browsing our template gallery, which primarily serves as an entry point to our products.
