Jack bretherick
Product designer
Boadicea the victorious
Boadicea the Victorious is an independent British fragrance brand. Taking a defining moment in history as our inspiration, we have created a range of gender neutral perfumes that are quintessentially British and of incomparable quality.
During my 4 years at Si digital, one of the projects I worked on and played a key part in was Boadicea I was heavily involved in the ideation process and mocking up ideas to better help users find their ideal perfume
The challenge
Boadicea the Victorious, a luxury perfume brand, required a website redesign to align with their prestigious image. The key challenges included:
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Brand Alignment: Ensuring the website reflected the luxurious feel of their internal branding and physical stores.
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User Experience: Creating an elegant fragrance finder tool that matches users with fragrances based on their personality and style.
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Product Complexity: Managing the complexity of over 114 fragrances, which could be overwhelming for users, necessitating the need for easy-to-use filters and clear descriptions.
Research
To address these challenges, we conducted thorough research:
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Brand Analysis: Studied Boadicea's internal branding and shop aesthetics to ensure the website would seamlessly match the luxury experience.
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Competitor Analysis: Analyzed major competitors like Penhaligons to identify strengths and weaknesses in their online presence.
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User Surveys: Gathered feedback from existing customers to understand their needs and preferences when shopping for fragrances online.
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Prototype Testing: Developed and tested prototypes to gather user feedback on design concepts and functionality.
Brainstorming solutions
With insights from our research, we brainstormed several solutions:
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Luxury Aesthetic: Designed a website with a luxurious aesthetic, incorporating high-quality images, elegant typography, and a refined color palette.
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Fragrance Finder Tool: Created an interactive fragrance finder tool that asked users a series of questions to match them with suitable fragrances based on their personality and style.
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Intuitive Filters and Descriptions: Developed easy-to-use filters and provided clear, detailed descriptions of each fragrance, including notes on the ingredients and scent profiles.
Simplicity at the Heart of Design
Simplicity was a guiding principle in our design process:
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Streamlined Navigation: Implemented a clean and intuitive navigation structure, allowing users to effortlessly browse the website and find products.
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Clear and Concise Information: Ensured that fragrance descriptions and filters were straightforward, helping users make informed decisions without feeling overwhelmed.
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Elegant User Interface: Maintained an elegant and minimalistic user interface, aligning with the brand’s luxurious image and enhancing the overall user experience.
Insights & findings
Throughout the design and testing phases, we gathered valuable insights:
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Positive User Feedback: Prototype testing showed that users responded positively to the changes, appreciating the luxurious feel and ease of use.
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Importance of Filters: The large number of fragrances necessitated clear and effective filters to help users navigate the product range without confusion.
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Detailed Descriptions: Users found the detailed descriptions of scents and ingredients helpful in making informed purchasing decisions.
Summary
The redesign of Boadicea the Victorious' website successfully addressed the challenges of aligning with the luxury brand, enhancing user experience, and managing a complex product range.
By focusing on simplicity and elegance, we created a website that not only reflects the brand's prestigious image but also provides an intuitive and enjoyable shopping experience.
The introduction of the fragrance finder tool and the implementation of intuitive filters and clear descriptions have been well-received, positioning Boadicea the Victorious competitively against other luxury perfume brands like Penhaligons.
This case study highlights the importance of understanding brand identity, and user needs, and maintaining simplicity in design to create a successful online presence for a luxury brand.