The challenge
Renotalk is the go-to portal for all homeowners to find interior designers and renovation packages. Our web analytics analysis suggests that the number of quality leads are on an exponential decline, bounce rate are on an exponential rise and users are spending lesser time on each page.
Note that since 2016, the Renotalk website as of now has changed due to the revision in business model and team.
UX Challenge
Apart from decluttering the interface, one of the many challenges was increasing the CTR and conversions rates for the lead forms. At the same time, it was imperative to preserve and exemplify the home brand Renotalk to users.
Renotalk was a platform created in 2003 and their main revenue channel is their lead generation engine driven by their Request For Quote (RFQ) form and forum. However, their website was not optimised for efficient RFQ submission and users are often overloaded with redundant information at the onset. Combining good UX practices and design, I had to present their content hierarchy and cluster in a concise way without overwhelming their users.
The Project
Content Analysis & Competitor Benchmarking
Within the short amount of time, we have to efficiently gather ‘what’s wrong’ about the old Renotalk website. Some of the questions that guided the analysis are: “At what point did users drop out the most?”, “Are some of these information helpful/obstructive?”, “What are some of the information users want to know before completing the RFQ?”. Combining web analytics analysis with existing and new user usage data, here are a few insights gathered.
Staying Relevant as the Market Leader
As the market leader in the home renovation industry, Renotalk needed to stay relevant amidst new, modern competitors. A competitor benchmarking was done informally to quickly quantify user perceptions of Renotalk’s value proposition, showing exactly why users prefer this site (or the competitors). It is a quick and effective way to find relative context to measure the effects of design changes as well as gauge current trends.
Although the site has the highest unique visitors per month, the bounce rate was increasing exponentially and the quality and quantity of leads are decreasing. Users are dropping off on their current RFQ form.
Quality leads (defined as higher rate of conversion into paying customers) are dropping off to competitors and startups that offers quicker RFQ process, modern designs and better packages. I decided to tackle this by addressing key user research insights with appropriate design principles for better UX and conversions.
What we discovered?
Through qualitative interviews and user testing with passive users (defined by potential customers who heard about Renotalk, might have used it a couple of times but was not motivated enough to engage with Renotalk’s RFQ or services), we learnt about their user behaviour and mental model, and some of the insights that eventually guide the designs are:
New homeowners are now Gen Y (or Echo Boomers) and Millennials
They shop around, compare and expect an elevated level of customisation
They have short, selective attention and put a price on social proof
So, what was done?
To define a general direction, we conducted an informal low-fidelity collaborative design and moodboarding with stakeholders. Apart from good team alignment, collaborative designing helps me to understand what stakeholders’ truly desire and look for.
Early Design Exploration
The CTA on the homepage is obvious and displays all 3 key value proposition offered by Renotalk. Instead of just a button, the CTA asked them ‘What their renovation priority is?’ using a quick dropdown, creating a more fluid transition into the CTA.
Designs informed by our insights
To preserve the one-stop solution branding that Renotalk had, our CTA had to be able to inform users. Renotalk offers multiple services and directories but the 3 key services are Renovation, Maintenance and Loan & Insurance. View the higher resolution interface design after this section.
Optimizing conversions through design
The progress bar on top moves forward immediately after the user selects an option for any questions, creating the illusion of a quick and short lead form, and providing feedback reactively.
Our research suggests that homeowners often start out not knowing the average budget to benchmark against their property type – causing them to drop-off at this stage or make uninformed decisions.
Removing redundant information/hurdles, reactive and appropriate feedback and having an informative user experience plays a big part in helping users make decisions faster and better.
Interface designs
View how the lead form is designed here.
These are some other interface designs of the registration process
These are some miscellaneous interface designs, e.g. viewing an article/post, gallery etc.
