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What was wrong with their old website?
Designer Shoe Warehouse (DSW) “America’s Favorite Place for Shoes” had two different web experiences depending on your device. If you were on a desktop browser, you would see something completely different than if you were on your mobile phone’s browser. It was a mess to the user because you’re switching between devices and experiences, and everything was in a different spot with no consistency between them. I’m sure it was a logistical nightmare for their business to update as well (twice the effort).
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Pick Up in Store
The giant green “Pick Up in Store” button really meant find stores around your zip code. There was no way to find a shoe in another store and have it delivered to the store closest to you without calling their support number or visiting that other store. It was also very confusing with another feature that let customers buy online and pick up in store.
Rewards Program
There was a confusing rewards program that left me wanting more. I never knew how many points I needed to get to my next reward and it generally didn’t excite me. Rewards should be fun, but there was only a tiny hidden section dedicated to it.
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Exploring
Finding that perfect shoe was a nightmare. Filtering, looking at different styles, and having to look at page after page of shoes, it was too time consuming. Even if I did find a pair I liked, checkout would take forever. I would often just abandon and shop at Zappos.
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Search
Most the time you would just get a screen with no results. I could never successfully find any results and when results did appear, they weren’t even close to what I was searching for.
What’s better about their new website?
Whether I’m shopping from my phone, tablet, desktop, or even a 60" TV, DSW’s website looks and works great. And it’s the same website on all devices, so even switching between your phone and desktop, everything’s exactly where you would expect it to be.
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Pick Up in Store
“Pick Up in Store” actually lets you pick up in store. They send it from their other stores and it even gives you an estimated time of how long it should take.
Rewards Program
The rewards program is beautiful and easy to understand how much you need to spend to get your next reward.
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Exploring
Finding the perfect shoe and checking out is a breeze. I can see the shoe in great detail, I have plenty of sorting options, I can choose that I need it today, it lets me favorite the ones I like without taking me somewhere else, and I can change colors on the fly.
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Search
Easy to use, very intuitive, and always found what I was looking for. I like how large it becomes once you select the magnify glass. It’s also nice to see what’s trending to get ideas from what everyone else is searching for.
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What don’t you like about the new website?
I think they did a great job, there were just a few things that annoyed me.
Location Services
Don’t give me a blank page and ask me for my location. Ask me for my location when I’m actually looking through shoes and it can help. Especially on mobile this was the worst thing to see as soon as I got to the website.
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Bugs
There were a few bugs during the experience when I went to select my shoe size or look at the detailed pictures of the shoe. I was also having scrolling issues too. I hope these get fixed in the short term because they create obstacles to the user.
Small Hit States
When I was on mobile I noticed that I had to hit the next page button, the color selection, or the free shipping radial just right or it wouldn’t select. Think about making larger hit states for those small items.
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In Conclusion
This update was a much needed refresh to DSW’s web presence. I know that their customers (aka Shoe Lovers) are going to be obsessed with how easy it is to use, navigate, find what they need, and checkout on any device. Well done DSW!
Did I miss anything?
Give me a shout and let me know what you enjoyed/didn’t enjoy about the new www.dsw.com at info@byandyphillips.com or via Twitter. Also if you missed it, be sure to check out Part 2— App: DSW’s Tech Comeback.