Transforming Famous Footwear’s Mobile Shopping Experience
In 2018, as part of my final project for my Master’s in User Experience at Arizona State University, I led a usability study to enhance the mobile e-commerce experience of Famous Footwear’s website. My role involved designing and conducting a multi-method study, including customer surveys, heuristic evaluations, and usability testing, to identify pain points and propose a roadmap for improvement. I analyzed data, developed personas, and delivered actionable recommendations to the Director of Site Experience and the President of Famous Footwear, influencing their 2019 mobile strategy. This project earned a perfect grade, contributing to my 4.0 GPA, and provided a high-impact framework for optimizing Famous Footwear’s user satisfaction and business outcomes.
Famous Footwear mobile app homepage
Famous Footwear desktop homepage
Challenge
How might we enhance the usability of Famous Footwear’s mobile website to improve user engagement, boost conversions, and align with the rising demand for seamless mobile shopping?
With mobile traffic growing 7% from 2015 to 2016 and mobile e-commerce projected to reach nearly 50% of U.S. retail e-commerce sales by 2020, Famous Footwear’s mobile website underperformed compared to desktop, with a conversion rate of 1.10% versus 3.20% and a higher bounce rate of 26.8% versus 24.6% on desktop. The challenge was to address usability barriers to create a more intuitive and efficient mobile experience.
Background
Famous Footwear, a leading U.S. footwear retailer with over 1,000 stores and $2.6 billion in annual net sales (2016), provides affordable, brand-name shoes for families. Its mobile website is a key component of its omnichannel strategy, supporting tasks like browsing, purchasing, and in-store pickup. However, issues in navigation, product filtering, and checkout hindered user satisfaction and conversions. My study addressed six research objectives:
- Who is the typical mobile user?
- What tasks do they prioritize?
- How effectively can they navigate the site?
- How easy is it to browse, filter, and compare products?
- Is the buy-online, pick-up-in-store option clear?
- How seamless is the process of adding items to the cart and checking out?
Approach
I adopted a user-centered, multi-method approach to uncover insights and drive recommendations:
- Customer Survey: I gathered responses from 4,817 mobile website users via Foresee, collecting demographic, behavioral, and experience data to define user personas and key tasks.
- Heuristic Evaluation: Three UX designers assessed the site using Nielsen’s ten usability heuristics, identifying issues in navigation, browsing, and checkout, with severity ratings from 0–3.
- Observation-Based Usability Testing: I conducted field tests with four participants aligned with personas, observing their interactions with tasks like shopping, checking out, and exploring the Rewards program. Pre- and post-test questionnaires provided quantitative and qualitative insights.
Using survey data, I created three personas: Busy Beth (example pictured below), Comparing Karen, and Trending Tabby, ensuring task design and participant selection reflected real user needs.
Busy Beth persona
Insights
The study revealed key user behaviors and usability gaps (reflected in the journey map below as well):
- User Profile: The primary user, Busy Beth, is a 30-something-year-old mom with a $40,000 household income, shopping for herself and her family. She values brands, affordability, and loyalty programs, frequently using the mobile site.
- Key Tasks: Users focus on browsing products (41% seek athletic shoes), researching prices/inventory, planning store visits, and purchasing (34% complete purchases online).
- Navigation Issues: The header’s “Shop” menu required extra swipes for “Girls” and “Boys” categories, while the footer’s vague labels (e.g., “More”) obscured email signup. Search lacked autocomplete and robust results.
- Browsing Challenges: The filter menu’s horizontal-vertical layout confused users, and single-selection restrictions limited functionality. The “in-store” toggle was hard to find, and product flags (e.g., “Online Only”) lacked consistency.
- Checkout Pain Points: The “Guest Checkout” button was below the fold, and a donation prompt disrupted the cart page. Default product selections risked cart errors.
- Performance Concerns: Slow load times (rated 8.4/10 in surveys) frustrated users, especially on mobile networks.
Participants described the site as “clean,” “simple,” and “straightforward,” with no critical errors blocking task completion.
Busy Beth journey map
Before: Confusing header and navigation icon
After: Simplified header with clear icons
Before: Missing information on rewards and offers
After: Dedicated email sign up and rewards information in the footer
Before: Confusing horizontal dropdowns for categories
After: Vertical navigation used with all links visible
Before: Search suggestion only offered broad categories
After: Search autocompletes to save time
Before: Confusing horizontal dropdowns for categories
After: Expandable vertical menu for categories
Before: Missing and vague ratings
After: Detailed ratings and product flags
Other recommendations:
- Minimize Cart Errors: Default product options to unselected unless pre-filtered, and replace the post-cart modal with an animated “View Your Cart” button.
- Streamline Checkout: Remove the donation prompt, elevate the “Guest Checkout” button, and add a Rewards modal for clarity.
- Boost Site Speed: Prioritize lightweight content, reduce high-file-size assets, and optimize code to minimize load times.
- Iterate Through Testing: Use A/B and usability testing to validate changes and ensure ongoing alignment with user expectations.
Impact
Presented to the Director of Site Experience and the President of Famous Footwear, these recommendations shaped the company’s 2019 mobile website roadmap. All of the recommended changes were implemented, including a streamlined header, vertical footer, enhanced search, and improved filtering. This project was incredibly successful as we saw both user satisfaction and revenue grow from the improvements.:
I’m glad I could guide the team both during my time at Caleres and beyond with this detailed roadmap of opportunities to take in a growing market.