Boomerang – Research-driven content design

UX writing, content design, copy

Project
The final project for the UX Writing Academy was to create a fictional company in need of content design. My company specializes in sustainable, reusable packaging serving small- to mid-sized companies. I was based partially in Germany at the time and a portion of my research was done there. This project was research- and testing-heavy.

Research Methods

Competitive analysis
I analyzed both direct and indirect competitor strategies to gain general insights into the current market. There are very few sustainable packaging companies out there with a business model similar to my fictional company, so it was difficult to get a grasp on common vocabulary. However, I noticed the competitors who did a better job of successfully presenting their information used these elements:

• visuals instead of abstract, measurement-based dimensions to explain packaging sizing,
• infographics and steps-based visuals to simplify and explain processes,
• built-in calculators to make ordering more transparent

1:1 interviews
I conducted interviews with three small business owners to determine what they look for in shipping packaging in general and sustainable packaging specifically. This information was used to craft the general offering.

Surveys
The purpose of the surveys was to gather basic information about a cross-section of small businesses and learn what kinds of shipping they are already use privately and professionally. The survey also gauged their needs in terms of ordering quantities and packaging sizes.

Conversation mining
I analyzed customer reviews, Etsy boards and Reddit groups for comments.

Research findings

The following are excerpts of my findings from my research presentation:

Finding 1: Small Businesses want proven sustainability

Small business owners feel guilty about waste generated by packaging. However, they are weary of greenwashing and require proof of sustainability.

• 50% surveyed already reuse shipping boxes.
• 30% use products designed for reuse.
• 31.6% named proof of sustainability–second only to cost as the most important factor in switching to sustainable packaging.

How can we use this?
Providing conclusive information about product sustainability will be very important.

Finding 2: Customer perceptions and education

• 95% surveyed small businesses believe there is some public desire for sustainable packaging.
• 45% have customers who have commented to them about sustainable packaging within the last year.
• 20% chose making a good impression as their main motivator in shipping packaging choices.

On the other side of that, there were comments about not believing customers correctly dispose of sustainable packaging when offered.

How can we use this?
It’s important to leverage the value of positive customer perceptions regarding sustainability. Guiding small businesses in how to educate their customer base and how best to promote shipping choices through a marketing packet will be crucial to everyone’s success.

Finding 3: Clear and calculable cost advantages

Cost was the number one motivator in switching to a sustainable model. Cost was also brought up repeatedly in online forums and interviews.

• 90% of survey respondents have bought sustainable products personally, although they are more expensive, showing there may be willingness to pay slightly more.
• 50% use rewards programs. One interviewee stated, “Our society works that way already—buy 9 coffees, get the 10th for free. So people would accept it easily.”

How can we use this?
We should highlight the long-term cost benefits of using reusable packaging in either the traditional product model or through an access model (rental). The use of calculators to help break down costs may be a smart choice.

Either a rewards or rental program may be an interesting avenue to explore.

Finding 4: A gap in the market – smaller quantity B2B

Most small businesses (1-10 employees) feel left out of B2B shipping offers due to MOQs (Mininum Order Quantities). It is not feasible in terms of cost or space to order packages in the typical large quantities offered. One interviewee indicated that a rental program would be attractive to small businesses because they could scale up without a large initial investment.

How can we use this?
Providing amounts and sizes that coincide with use will help small businesses feel included and listened to. It could also allow Boomerang to fill a gap in the market. A rental program geared to small businesses could also be a smart offering.

User Journey

I created a basic user journey to better understand the customer experience and smooth out potential pain points. This informed my decision to build a product calculator to ease the customer burden when faced with too many options. 

Testing

I ran a moderated highlighter test with some A/B options. Participants were given three highlighters and screen printouts. They were asked to highlight what strikes them as positive, what they find clear but feel neutral about, and what is either negative or confusing.

There were 2 participants, both environmentally conscious small business owners recruited through my personal network.

Testing Results

Homepage Headline/Structure

Objective: to determine what information on the home page would be the most effective at quickly conveying what our product is about and would increase the likelihood of more exploration.

Homepage – Test version 2

The participants had very different reactions about the headlines. The non-native English speaker (German) didn’t like the idea that headline 1 started with “Good-bye,” while the English native preferred it, as it introduces the problem and gives the solution. The English native found headline 2 dry. This may be a cultural and/or linguistic difference that should be taken into account depending on location.

Both participants responded well to the rest of the copy and offered no preferences. Further study would be necessary to determine which body copy is more effective.

One participant found the main menu confusing and thought it should correspond to the content below the fold on the first page.

Homepage – Adjusted version

(1) The first headline seems to work best with an English-speaking market. Both participants responded positively to “Fill, send, return, repeat!” This can be used elsewhere.

(2) The order of the bullet points was adjusted to put the most important benefits first.

(3) Also altered was the order of the content below the fold. Both participants seemed interested in understanding the process earlier, so we shifted up the “How it works” section.

(4) We also changed the “Support for your business” section in the main menu to “Marketing Toolbox” to match the section that appears lower on the page.

Recommendation Calculator

Objective: to determine if the recommendation calculator is effective at guiding users to find the products they would like.

Contents – Adjusted version

(1) Both participants found there should be more examples and/or categories to help guide the user.

(2) Because Boomerang does not offer packaging solutions for larger items, we decided to address this here and give users an alternate solution.

Size & Amounts – Adjusted version

(2) This product is mainly intended for the US market, but for greater inclusivity, we also added a “cm/in” toggle.

Frequency & Amounts – Tested version

(1) There was general confusion as to how the process worked at this point. One participant was confused at the explanation of the monthly rental and didn’t like the “one” appearing so close to the “10-pack” amount.

Frequency & Amounts – Adjusted version – part 1

(2) As the word “rental” seemed problematic, it was exchanged for “contract.”

Frequency & Amounts – Adjusted version – part 2

(3) Although the headline was originally what was tested (the alternate headline was “How often do you need orders?”), the layout was reworked to introduce the amounts after the frequency and provide a bit more information about the benefits of going monthly. The previously chosen sizes and possible amounts would appear under the chosen delivery frequency. If multiple sizes were chosen, all of those would be listed. If it is only a one-time order, amount info would also follow.

The option of ordering in a different amount would be possible. However, this may depend on the facility capabilities. It may only be available for one-time orders.

Summary – Adjusted version

Neither participant had strong feelings in either direction about this summary page. However, there is a lot of repeated information from the previous frequency page. Therefore, the pages were combined into one.

Summary – Adjusted version

(1) The participants seemed to like the idea of being able to edit their choices. However, as this is not part of the user’s cart, it made more sense to have a start over option instead of a delete icon.

(2) There was also confusion about how the process of changing your order within the 6-month contract worked. Therefore, a little more information about the immediate scalability is given, with the option of learning more on a dedicated info page. If the user chose a one-time order, this information would not appear.

Next steps

If this were a real company, expanded A/B testing on more of the pages would be necessary to determine the best wording. It would also be important to conduct unmonitored usability testing with a working prototype to measure how easy/difficult it is to go through all the ordering steps.