Role
Designer
Deliverables
Research
Concept Solutions
Timeline
Dec 2020 (3 months)
Tools
Figma
Mural
Wix
Wix logo
Redesigning the Wix ADI Editor with accessibility in mind
Overview
At the end of 2019, I had the opportunity to create a website. I decided to use Wix in light of my limited knowledge of website building and the advertisements I saw promoting its ease of use. I soon discovered, that the editing capabilities allowed on ADI were extremely limited, and I would need to switch to a different segment of the platform to make simple changes.
After completing the website, I felt an unreasonable gap between my expectations and my actual experience. This led me to take another look at their current onboarding method and UI to see if there was any room for improvement.
introduction
what is aDI?
Wix ADI is an online website development service that allows users to create websites using a drag and drop design system. While they also provide other tiers for the more advanced user, Wix markets ADI as the easiest way to create a website promising “a stunning and unique website with just a few clicks".
Competitive analysis for Noom, Lifesum, and Centr
Screenshot from wix.com
research
Marketing Content Analysis
I started my research by looking at the how Wix markets ADI and how it set user expectations before they even began interacting with the product. Using terms such as "stunning and unique" seems questionable, given that in order for something to be unique, it would need to be unlike anything else— and leads users to believe that customization is possible.
Competitive analysis for Noom, Lifesum, and Centr
Screenshot from wix.com
discovery
initial survey
In order to validate some of my own assumptions, I looked to comments left by users on open forums such as Reddit and Quora and built an an online survey shared and received 55 responses to my 14 question survey. These two methods helped me quickly gain some insight on the users' pain points.
Competitive analysis for Noom, Lifesum, and Centr
User feedback based on responses from Reddit and Quora
research
mapping survey results
Based on the short answers from the survey, I created an affinity map of the users' experience and focused on the largest issue that was causing frustration in the users. Through this exercise, I was able to identify that while users generally liked the simple modern aesthetic, there were UI features that complicated the interface such as tool bar windows popping up inside the workspace. Some users also found personalization to be very limited and difficult to achieve, which ultimately led to users abandoning ADI and the entire platform.
Competitive analysis for Noom, Lifesum, and Centr
Organizing user feedback through affinity mapping
research
gap analysis
My analysis of the data collected indicated that there were some areas that needed improvement in the UI as well as an expectation from users that were not being met with ADI. This was problematic because without proper onboarding, Wix users experienced a gap between the perceived and experienced value of ADI, which could be the reason why so many prefer to use other platforms instead.
Competitive analysis for Noom, Lifesum, and Centr
A value gap can happen if users are not properly educated on a product during onboarding
solution strategy
pain points & solutions
To further identify where the missing links were in communication, I conducted a gap analysis of the current process Wix has in place when a user first creates a new ADI website. This process helped identify the following issues:
No.1 / User onboarding
The current onboarding personalization quiz only takes information from the user to generate a website, but does not tailor the experience to the user.
Prioritize tutorials based on onboarding quiz responses
No. 2 / visual hierarchy
Though Wix provides an easy way to access its Help section, the information is unclear and overwhelming because of the similarity of font size and style.
Improve visual hierarchy in the Help section
no. 3 / consistency
Some tools are accessible in the left toolbar and other similar tools are placed directly above the feature when selected. A lack of consistency may cause users to think there are more hidden features and can cause frustrations.
Rearrange tools to ensure a consistent layout and remove pop-ups
retrospective
During this project, I learned the importance of proper onboarding and the effects of a value gap. In addition, I stumbled upon an accessibility challenge I did not expect, but looking into adjusting the existing design to be more accessible made me become more aware and learned that making it accessible increases the value.
I was also able to personally takeaway from this project the importance of familiarizing myself with Webflow. Before this project, I was intimidated and was tempted to take the route of using a template for my portfolio, however this was the push I needed to learn and be able to redesign and create my current website on Webflow from scratch.