Overview of Website and User Profile
Lancasterarchery.com, shown in Figure 1, is a shopping portal specifically for archery equipment and supplies. In 2021, eHouse Studio redesigned the site due to previously poor usability and an aging theme (Maas, 2021)(Lancaster Archery Supply Case Study, 2022). Similar to Amazon, Lancaster Archery Supply earns margin on sales by selling and shipping products. Also, educational media and tournaments at their headquarters are provided as a service. In the sport community, the company is considered the leading website to buy archery equipment within the United States.
Lancaster Archery’s site was selected to contrast usability opinion of a novice user with someone like myself as an expert user that practices target archery and bought equipment there. The site was presented virtually through a desktop web browser to a novice user pseudonym named “Jess,” who is female (identified as she/her), 35 years old, White-Caucasian, married with children, and resides in Florida. Jess understood the idea of archery and considered it as a hobby for her daughter, but never attempted the sport or shopped for equipment. She is educated as a UX/UI Designer through a professional bootcamp, which did aid in describing the website design elements. Ideally, Jess represents a Guardian User Persona of a parent looking to buy equipment for their child as a beginner archer.
Task and Action Observations – Finding a Bow
Jess as a novice user was asked to view the homepage to gather initial opinion and then complete a task to find a bow to purchase for her 7-year old daughter. Reflecting on the homepage, she commented how the site content itself felt oversized, intimidating, and did not provide any articles on starting the sport. Jess hovered over the top left menu and noted a hamburger menu for “Shop” but no content to see what “Brands,” “Deals,” and “Blog” sections offer to help learn more about the sport. Generally, she noticed that many of the products showcased were for bowhunting and that there was very little diversity of the people pictured. As an expert user, I normally ignore the homepage unless there are upcoming events or podcasts in the center, which are very infrequent throughout the year. Confirmed in a 2012 survey by the Archery Trade Association reported by Archery360, 55% of archers ages 18 or older in the United States practiced both target archery and bowhunting or bowhunting exclusively, making up the largest demographic of consumers. (18.9 million Americans participate in archery, 2013).
To find a bow for her daughter, Jess began the task by typing in “kid’s bows” into the homepage search bar. As an expert user, I first generally define the type of bow, like “Compound” or “Recurve” and then browse through the “Shop” Hamburger menu to navigate to Bows and then Youth Bows or the more specific bow type categories. When Jess viewed the search results, only two products displayed with only one being a bow based on SEO interpreting product titles with the word “kid.” Since both seemed undesirable, she selected the “Youth Bows” Category in the Hamburger menu, which offered more results. Looking at results page, shown in Figure 2, the left filter menu seemed well organized but lacked any context its attributes like “Draw Weight” and “Speed.” As a previous user, the site filters are a utility if the context is known, but less desirable in practice since sometimes filters hide products that are not configured properly for metadata. When Jess selected “Galaxy Bullseye 54 Takedown Recurve Bow,” the product page included configuration items, some she assumed correctly like handedness with others like Limb Weight and “Nok Set” unknown.
Finishing the purchase when the bow was configured and added to cart, Jess noticed how the bundled items were separated but equaled the total, showing a gray warning about removing them, as shown in Figure 3. As an expert user, I also found this behavior confusing especially if the exact individualized products are added from the catalog as spare parts. Jess was generally uncertain about the checkout process and did not feel confident in buying a bow based on these culminating issues. Overtime her experience was less desirable as a guest user when she kept being prompted a 10% Off Button for an email sign-up and a pop-up to donate to the Lancaster Archery Foundation non-profit, as shown in Figures 4 and 5.
UX Considerations: Expert v. Novice
Evidently, lancasterarchery.com, even with its 2021 redesign, favors more experienced users but has the potential to make enhancements by observing novice users like Jess. Despite a slim-majority consumer demographic, the company has an incentive to attract new and younger generations to archery. In comparing to my experience as the expert user, prior knowledge of filter terms and understanding the site’s disjointed queries led to multiple attempts with browsing, chaining, and differentiating akin to the Ellis Model of Information Behavior (Case & Given, 2016, p. 151). While this model is robust, a more linear approach may be better suited for novice users that need a directed interface. This can be accomplished by developing a guide or questionnaire that aids in deciding a bow, perhaps displaying it on the homepage. Jess also suggested adding YouTube Videos of product category guides similar to reviews on product records already created by Lancaster staff. Likewise, tooltips with definitions in the filter menu or more curated filters per category can help define attributes. In general, SEO and the product metadata need improvements to include more accurate search results.
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References
18.9 million Americans participate in archery. Archery 360. (2013, August 9). Retrieved September 6, 2022, from https://archery360.com/2013/08/09/18-9-million-americans-participate-in-archery/#:~:text=Of 235 million total Americans,participated in archery and bowhunting
Case, D. O., & Given, L. M. (2016). Looking for information : A survey of research on information seeking, needs, and behavior. Emerald Publishing Limited.
Lancaster Archery Supply Case Study. eHouse Studio. (2022). Retrieved September 5, 2022, from https://www.ehousestudio.com/work/lancaster-archery-supply-1
Lancaster Archery Supply. (2022). Homepage. Lancaster Archery Supply. Retrieved September 6, 2022, from https://lancasterarchery.com/
Lancaster Archery Supply. (2022). Your Shopping Cart. Lancaster Archery Supply. Retrieved September 6, 2022, from https://lancasterarchery.com/collections/youth-bows
Lancaster Archery Supply. (2022). Youth bows. Lancaster Archery Supply. Retrieved September 6, 2022, from https://lancasterarchery.com/collections/youth-bows
Maas, D. (2021, November 24). Lancaster archery supply launches New Dealer Website. Archery Business. Retrieved September 5, 2022, from https://www.archerybusiness.com/lancaster-archery-supply-launches-new-dealer-website