Changing the industry through van shades.

You can see how the live website looks like – click here!

My role
Deliverables
Design Tools
Timeline

The problem

An innovative product deserves a high-end platform

Vanshades invented a new product called Window Pod, which is a practical alternative for curtains in camper vans. They offer a flawless, modern finish with blackout and thermal qualities while providing an elegant, classy look to your van. Window Pods come in many variants – carpet texture, blind colour, window position, van type, etc. – which set the challenge high when it came to product selection, easy navigation and user experience. 

The client wished to refresh their website as they realised the platform doesn’t serve their customer’s needs. They asked us to rethink the structure as well as come up with new features that their audience will appreciate. 

The project scope & process

Understanding your industry

After meeting with the directors of Vanshades it became clear what the main pain points and challenges were. We needed to understand the industry they are working in, their competitors and their customers’ behaviours.

Research

Terry the Trader and DIY Dave

Based on our research and our conversations with the client we identified two types of user personas, Terry the Trader and DIY Dave. Throughout the project, we used these personas to guide us to make sure we answer all their problems and frustrations. 

Their pain points can be grouped together as follows:

  • They need a clean platform with easy navigation so they can reach their goals in just a few clicks
  • Great customer support, which contains flexibility in product ordering, or guides and tips for product installation

Wireframing & prototyping

Translating issues into solutions

Using what we learnt during our research process we identified three features we definitely wanted to include in the final product.

We wanted to include a ‘Quick Order’ feature, which allows customers to quickly re-order from their order history with few modifications if needed. This feature was important in Terry the Trader’s case.

The navigation and how customers browsed the products also needed simplifying – for this a mega menu was introduced and several Call to Action buttons lead to the product gallery page, which offered a list and grid view also. 

The main issue DIY Dave was having is the lack of professional skill and industry information. To tackle this problem we added a section called Guides, tips & more which contained tutorials, how-to videos and text guides. Various forms of detailed FAQ sections were placed throughout the website and a separate ‘What is Window Pod’ page helped to inform the users in detail.

Final product

All the features customers need

The goal was to make the website enjoyable, easy to use while packing it full with all the features customers need and want. We spent extra time on perfecting the dashboard, testing the various access routes and making sure the platform offers all the necessary information the users might need.  

The fun and hard part

Now make it interactive

Based on the information we gained from our industry research we thought it would be a fun extra to include 3D visuals for Window Pod shopping. Placing hot spots on the selected van’s graphic allows users to get a better understanding of the desired products and build their own Window Pod.

Message me if you want to see more of Vanshades

Or let’s start working on something great!