Bambus - Bamboo Store Online
E-commerce experience highlighting the stories of local artisans
Project Overview
Bamboo Store is an e-commerce platform designed to connect customers with sustainable, handcrafted bamboo products while highlighting the stories of local artisans. Over a 3-week sprint, our 3-member team used a lean UX process to research, ideate, and prototype a platform that blends commerce with education and community.
Challenge
A typical e-commerce platforms selling bamboo-based products often fail to communicate the value and craftsmanship behind the products. Showcasing the impact of choosing bamboo helps justify the premium pricing. The goal was to shift the user mindset from transactional shopping to conscious purpose driven purchasing.
Project Goals
- Promote eco-conscious consumption of authentic bamboo products
- Provide transparent storytelling around craftsmanship
- Create a seamless, delightful e-commerce experience
- Foster community engagement around sustainability
User Persona
Rishin
“I want to support sustainable products, but I also want to understand who made them and how. I just don’t want a messy checkout process again.”
- Age: 28 | Location: Bhubaneshwar | Job: Software Engineer
- Goals: Shop sustainably, discover product stories
- Pain Points: Generic sites, lack of transparency, clunky checkout
Research Insights
We conducted 6 in-depth interviews with users aged 25-40 who value sustainability. Tools included Otter.ai for transcription and Miro for synthesis.
- 83% of users wanted to see how products are made before buying
- 67% preferred educational content in small, digestible formats
- 4/6 users dropped off during the checkout flow on other sites
- 5/6 users were skeptical of “handmade” labels without artisan details
Design Solutions
Users want education
→ Added a “Bamboo 101” mini blog with visual stories
Users feel disconnected
→ Created Artisan Profile Cards with short bios & process videos
Users need better tracking
→ Designed a visually guided order dashboard
Checkout was tedious
→ Implemented one-step checkout with express options
Wireframing
We followed a mobile-first design process to ensure responsiveness and scalability. Starting with low-fidelity sketches, we moved into mid- and high-fidelity wireframes using Figma.
To validate our IA before full design, we ran a Tree Test with the tasks:
- “Where would you go to learn how bamboo products are made?”
- “Where would you check the delivery status of a recent purchase?”
- “Find a handmade kitchen utensil by Artisan Jaya.”
Style guide
Our sustainable design language that reflects the natural, eco-friendly essence of our bamboo products.
A/B Testing
CTR Higher in Option A: Indicates Option A is
more eye-catching and encourages more clicks.
Conversion Higher
in Option B: Despite fewer clicks, Option B converts better, users are more
likely to buy when they see a straightforward product presentation.
Option B may feel like a better choice to go with but a deeper analysis would suggest "Option A".
A/B Testing
CTR Higher in Option A: Indicates Option A is
more eye-catching and encourages more clicks.
Conversion Higher
in Option B: Despite fewer clicks, Option B converts better, users are more
likely to buy when they see a straightforward product presentation.
Option B may feel like a better choice to go with but a deeper analysis would suggest "Option A".
Results & Metrics
| Metric | Before | After | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Checkout Completion Rate | 20% | 46% | +26% |
| Avg. Checkout Time | 2m 15s | 1m 35s | ↓ ~30% |
| Artisan Story Engagement | N/A | 76% | +76% |
| Usability Score (SUS) | N/A | 87/100 | Excellent |
Reflections & Learnings
- Building trust through design and storytelling reduces the Bounce rate and encourages repeat visits.
- Storytelling adds emotional resonance beyond usability.
- Rapid usability testing provided us with unexpected insights and reduced dev time.