Increasing brand discoverability
In May 2024, BWT recognised that users were largely unaware of the company’s sustainability efforts and the extensive product catalogue. Using user research, I explored design opportunities across various touch-points within the app to help bridge this gap.
Best Water Technology (BWT), specialise in water treatment solutions. They offer a range of products and services to optimise water quality for both domestic and industrial applications.
To define the problem, I focused on customer needs and business requirements, ensuring a thorough understanding of customer pain points and company goals.
Customers lack easy access to the latest BWT information. Whether it’s promotions, product recommendations, or company updates, they must actively seek this information through channels such as email subscriptions, social media, or the BWT website. This decentralised approach leads to missed opportunities and a fragmented customer experience.
BWT wants to connect with customers. The BWT Home App is more than just a smart lifestyle application. Beyond its intelligent features, BWT seeks to engage with users by sharing valuable insights about the company's environmental impact, product recommendations, releases, and more.
I started by exploring ideas and potential challenges to align the project with stakeholder goals. Early input from different perspectives helped shape a clear and focused plan.
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While I identified additional opportunities that could create greater impact for users, time and budget constraints led us to focus on four key solutions, with the rest considered for future exploration.
I experimented with various concepts to provide users with engaging ways to access BWT information. This allowed me to test different approaches and assess their effectiveness in meeting project objectives.
Push notifications: Send out updates via push to encourage app visits.
Pros
Cost-Efficient: Push is a cost-effective way to reach the audience.
Instant Communication: Push provides immediate communication with users.
Cons
Intrusiveness: When not relevant, push can feel intrusive and disruptive.
User Opt-Out: Users opt out of push, limiting the effectiveness.
Overwhelming: If used excessively, push can become annoying leading to app uninstalls.
Temporary messaging: Push does not last and has a character limit.
Landing page: A combined landing page for products and BWT updates in one place.
Pros
Conversions: For e-commerce, having features on the home page can lead to higher conversion trates.
Consistency: A single, comprehensive home page offering a consistent user experience
Cons
Instant barrier: This keeps the user further away from monitoring their products (app principle).
Overwhelming: If used excessively, the landing page may become less accessible.
Complexity: Excessive clicks mean more time and effort required to perform actions.
Frustration: Users may become frustrated when they have to navigate through multiple screens.
Product integration: Embed section on each product detail page.
Pros
Transparency: Keeping users informed about company announcements.
Timely Updates: With a simple design, the section can be updated periodically.
Cons
Reduced Screen Space: Potentially limiting the space available for the app's content and features.
Limiting area: The allocated space leads to not a very interesting visual style.
Advert: Unintentionally blurs the line between information and advertising.
Clutter: The product page is designed just for relevant and important product data.
Discover tab: A dedicated tab for users to browse news, recommendations and more!
Pros
Centralised Information: A dedicated tab providing a single place to discover BWT information.
Boosted Sales: Easy access to recommendations can lead to higher sales.
Brand Awareness: Learn BWT’s values, mission, and history, leading to brand awareness and trust.
Clear Navigation: It provides clear navigation, making it user-friendly, especially for newcomers.
Future proof: Designed to accommodate future ideas and designs.
Cons
Intrusiveness: If not well-designed, the new tab may feel intrusive or overly promotional.
Content Maintenance: Maintaining the content can be time-consuming.
Several iterations were explored but not all made the final cut due to unclear value propositions, cluttered layouts, or scalability concerns.
The designs were tested through rigorous user feedback sessions, as well as discussions with operations, marketing, and business teams. This ensured the proposed designs met user expectations and aligned with business goals.
To validate the designs or test prototypes, I conducted user testing. This involved a comprehensive approach, testing the prototype with individuals in both controlled testing environments and through guerrilla testing methods. This dual-testing strategy enabled me to refine and optimise the designs based on diverse perspectives.
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Engaging Company Story
Enhanced user understanding and connection with the company, resulting in an increase in user engagement on the page.
Cross-Platform Consistency
Consistent user experience across devices, leading to a reduction in bounce rate on mobile and tablet versions.
User-Centric Design
Improved user satisfaction, with an increase in positive feedback regarding the app’s usability and content.
Enhanced Visual Appeal
Increased time spent on the "Discover" page, indicating higher user interest and engagement.
