2020
Case Study: Nilton Enterprise
01. Research
02. Definte & Ideate
03. Design
04. Evaluate
01. Research
The research phase focused on understanding the current state of the online pet products retail landscape and identifying key customer needs, behaviors, and pain points. Through market analysis and user insight gathering, this stage aimed to uncover the motivations and frustrations of pet owners when engaging with online platforms.
The findings provided valuable direction for shaping a more intuitive and engaging user experience, ensuring the website not only meets functional expectations but also emotionally resonates with its audience. This user-centered approach forms the foundation for strategic design decisions and brand communication.
1.1 Objective
Define habits and behaviour of people while shopping for products at a physical pet shop.
Define habits and behaviour of people while shopping for products at an online pet shop.
Identify what people like and do not like about their shopping experiences at a physical pet shop and an online pet shop.
1.2 Competitor Analysis
To better understand the competitive landscape, a comparative analysis was conducted on leading pet retail brands in Singapore. Direct competitors included Polypet, Pet Lovers Centre, and Perromart, while indirect competitors such as Qoo10 and Shopee were also evaluated to assess broader e-commerce benchmarks.
Findings:
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Research revealed that users value brand visibility and credibility through social media presence.
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Endorsements by pet influencers or celebrities significantly enhance brand reputation and awareness, driving higher customer engagement.
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Customers also prefer platforms that guide them toward suitable purchases for their pets.
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Features such as detailed product reviews, health-related insights, and recommendations based on dietary needs help build trust and reduce the likelihood of negative feedback.
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Lastly, a seamless and flexible checkout experience is a critical success factor in the pet e-commerce space. Offering diverse payment options—including Apple Pay, Android Pay, and PayPal—contributes to smoother transactions and improved overall user satisfaction.
1.3 User Interviews
The next phase focused on understanding the target audience and uncovering their needs. To gain deeper insights, an on-site visit was conducted at Nilton Enterprise, where three customers—two women and one man aged between 23 and 38—were interviewed while their dogs were being groomed. The two-hour session provided valuable firsthand perspectives on their shopping habits and expectations.
Initial
Assumptions before the interviews:
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Customers prefer the convenience of online shopping.
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Customers expect accurate product information and real-time availability updates.
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Price and quality are key factors influencing purchasing decisions.
1.4 Empathy Map
Following the interviews, the responses were organised into an empathy map to capture what customers think, feel, say, do, hear, and see. This process helped uncover deeper insights into their motivations, frustrations, and expectations—forming a clearer understanding of their overall experience and guiding the identification of key user needs and pain points.
Insights after interview:
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Insights gathered from the interviews revealed that customers value a simple, well-designed website with intuitive navigation and easy product discovery.
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They also emphasized the importance of product availability, expecting both new and existing items to be consistently in stock.
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In addition, delivery speed emerged as a key consideration—customers prefer faster shipping options that do not compromise on product quality or affordability.
"Will there be express shipping or free shipping?"
1.5 User Persona: Zayne
Based on the quantitative and qualitative research findings, a user persona was developed to better align the design process with customer needs.
Meet Zayne — 28 years old, residing in the southwest region of Singapore. A lively and devoted pet owner, Zayne is passionate about providing the best care for his dog, Milo. However, his busy schedule as a Sales Executive limits the time he can spend researching pet products and understanding Milo’s dietary needs. While Zayne is willing to invest in quality, he is selective about the products he purchases, prioritising reliability, convenience, and trusted information when shopping online.
1.6 Zayne's User Journey
With the ideal shopper persona established for Nilton Enterprise, the next step was to develop a customer journey map.
This helped identify key touchpoints throughout the user experience and pinpoint moments where potential drop-offs could be transformed into business opportunities—enhancing engagement, retention, and overall satisfaction.
Zayne notices that Milo’s food supply is running low and needs to restock by the next day. He goes online to search for pet stores but is quickly overwhelmed by the abundance of options, products, and competing websites. During his search, he discovers Nilton Enterprise and decides to explore it further. After browsing through the selections, Zayne chooses one of the best-selling products and opts for express delivery, ensuring the order arrives within 24 hours.
Pain Points:
Overwhelming number of stores and options to make comparison.
Lack of reviews on some online websites, reducing trust and credibility.
Define habits and behaviour of people while shopping for products at a physical pet shop.
Difficulty finding accurate product information amid excessive recommendations.
Urgent need for fast delivery within 24 hours to avoid running out of pet food.
02. Define & Ideate
2.1 Defining problem and solution
By aligning business objectives, user needs, and the technical capabilities of the development team, a balanced middle ground was established. This alignment served as the foundation for defining the core solution—ensuring that the website would not only meet user expectations but also support business growth and operational feasibility.
Through this process, key features were identified and prioritised based on their impact, usability, and implementation complexity, forming a clear roadmap for the website’s design and development.
A responsive website that allow customers to quickly find products and services available.
Technical Goals:
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Secure payment
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Availability of products - New items and existing products
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Web Content Accessibility guidelines (WC3 Accessibility Standards)
2.2 Information Architecture
The next step involved developing a high-level feature list, prioritising key functions and elements to be included on the website. This list was informed by insights and data gathered during the research phase, ensuring that every feature aligned with both user needs and business goals.
Using the feature list as a foundation, a site map was then created to visualise the website’s overall structure and content hierarchy. This helped define clear navigation paths, improve information flow, and establish a seamless user journey across all pages.
2.3 User Flows
At this stage, user flows and task flows were developed to visualise how users would navigate through the website and complete key actions. The primary focus was on ensuring that the process of making an online purchase felt intuitive, efficient, and free of unnecessary friction.
These flows helped identify potential pain points, streamline decision-making steps, and guide the design of an experience that supports users in achieving their goals smoothly from product discovery to checkout.
03. Design
3.1 From Low Fidelity to Medium Fidelity Wireframes
The wireframing stage began with a series of sketch variations that incorporated the high-priority features identified earlier. These initial sketches explored different layout possibilities and served as a foundation for visualising how content and functionality could best align with both user needs and business objectives.
Throughout this process, careful consideration was given to layout structure, content hierarchy, and technical feasibility, ensuring that the framework could support design consistency across all pages and features.
The selected sketches were then refined into digital wireframes, followed by medium-fidelity wireframes to present a clearer representation of layout, spacing, and component relationships. At this stage, elements such as buttons, text fields, and imagery were defined more distinctly, providing a stronger sense of the website’s visual rhythm and user interaction flow.
3.2 High Fidelity Protype
At this stage, the project progressed into the development of high-fidelity prototypes to represent the final visual design and user experience of the website.
Due to budget constraints, Nilton Enterprise was unable to allocate resources for a dedicated developer. As a practical alternative, Wix was adopted. This approach provided a cost-effective solution that allowed the design to be implemented efficiently while maintaining consistency with the established UI guidelines, brand identity, and usability objectives.
04. Evaluate
4.1 User Acceptance Test
A short round of usability testing was conducted to evaluate the high-fidelity prototype created on Wix. The goal of this testing phase was to validate the user flow for completing key tasks on the website and to identify areas for improvement in navigation and functionality.
Four participants, aged between 24 and 40, were provided with pre-logged accounts and asked to perform the following tasks:
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Make a purchase for a cat and complete checkout using express delivery.
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Locate the ingredients section in Top Ration – Tasty Chunky Dry Dog Food.
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Find the cost of full grooming for a small dog and make a booking via WhatsApp
These tasks helped assess task completion rates, ease of use, and clarity of information across key user journeys.
To view the complete usability testing plan, click [here].
4.2 User Testing Results
100%
of users are able to complete all 3 tasks assigned
75%
of users completed all 3 tasks without any errors
100%
of users felt that completing the tasks were simple or easy
4.3 Affinity Map
An affinity map was created to organise and synthesise the responses and observations gathered during the User Acceptance Testing (UAT). This process helped uncover key insights, which were consolidated into a list of actionable recommendations. Each recommendation was categorised by priority level—from high to low—to determine which changes required immediate attention and which could be implemented in later stages.
Observations
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Overall, users experienced no major difficulties navigating the website.
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Most errors resulted from the prototype’s limited functionality and minor UX writing inconsistencies.
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Participants preferred using a combination of filters and the search function to find specific items.
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Some users did not utilise the filters as intended, revealing opportunities to improve clarity and interaction design.
While the usability testing results were largely positive, the web design remained a work in progress and required further iterations. It was also recommended to the stakeholder that, once budget permits, hiring a developer would enable the inclusion of more advanced features—such as tracking recently viewed items, enhancing search functionality, and customising the checkout process—all of which were frequently requested by users.
