Problem:
As a platform, Farfetch has an astounding amount of product. User journey pain points and feedback revealed that there was a lack of product guidance, curation and inspirational content. The site was often quoted as '...a large jumble of product.' There was also no alignment of UI between desktop, mobile and app experiences and no detailed tracking and analytics.
Opportunity:
In January saw the integration of a new CMS called Coremedia. I joined a little before this major release, so I was required to learn the CMS and become familiar with the suite of content modules in order to dive into the exploration of how these components could be applied to support the business' long term initiatives.
I was required to begin research and exploration into the curation and hierarchy of content using these modules in response to feedback from users, stakeholders and incoming metrics.
The content modules as symbols allowed designers to quickly design content pages before publishing them in Coremedia
Phase 1:
The first page to utilise the new CMS and content modules were the homepages. This was an obvious choice as there was a new community brand strategy which required a daily content refresh.
The ease of building these pages using the components proved to be a lifesaver for marketing production and their work flow. Not only could they cut and paste rows of content and repeat them somewhere else on the site, but you could also track them - which provided valuable metrics and insights into user behaviours.
Also - the editors would be able to provide a content rich and immersive experience for our brands and users which is the foundation of the integrated content initiative (see integrate content case study)
The first layout of the Farfetch homepage with Community content showing 2 rows of product in purple, and the green representing content
Phase 2...and a new challenge:
So 6 months on, we were able to start collecting data and user feedback that was of significance. I organised and facilitated a Retrospective workshop with the stakeholders to glean some insights in to what was working - or not working for them.
We also ran a couple of other workshops for other projects that we were able to piggy back (see integrated content) and share some of the output.
TL;DR - there was now too much content and not enough product. We were losing the storytelling element of editorial content and losing the commercial balance of products vs. content.
We could only assume that our users weren't engaging in the content as they didn't find any relevance to their journey - there was no value in the content.
Phase 2...and a new solution:
After many sessions with stakeholders, we knew there was a need to bring back the balance of editorial storytelling vs. selling product aka brand vs. commercial.
I designed a set of flat plans for the homepage that took into account the brand/editorial needs of the business (publishing rhythm of editorial franchises) and the commercial requirements (ad slots, promotions, brand features, SEO)
Most importantly, personalisation and relevance to the user.
I worked on both the flat plans for both app and web
The designs can be see on farfetch.com
Homepage publishing frequency flat plan. The turquoise squares represent brand content.
A more balanced layout.
