UCX: masthead unification
The Problem
The Unified Customer Experience (UCX) initiative is a company-wide initiative aimed at converging disparity and unifying four different sites: Dell.com, Dell Technologies, eSupport, and Dell Premier. Unifying the Dell ecosystem into a common language and taxonomy began with the masthead navigation.
The Process
I began working on the Unified Masthead Team several months after the UCX project formally kicked off. As the only UX writer on the team, I worked alongside a dedicated researcher, group of designers, and project lead. I also worked with the team’s taxonomist to identify existing problems with navigation labels. Unifying Dell’s mastheads into a single navigation included: converging four sites into one, a zero-segmentation project that required removal of segmented navigation (“for home” and “for work”), and finally, unifying various affordances into a seamless experience that included multiple demographics. Our discovery process included identifying stakeholders, user problems, competitive analysis, and specific areas to optimize.
Bi-Weekly Share Outs
Partnering with the team’s taxonomist, I began dissecting each product branch. Every two weeks we presented our final recommendations based on competitive analysis and benchmarking, UX best practices, and business requirements.
I launched, reviewed, and reported on tree tests as well as hybrid and closed card sorting user tests to validate all recommendations.
UX Best Practices and Principles
During our share-out presentations to stakeholders, I carefully examined inconsistencies that needed to be addressed in order to achieve more effective navigation. I shared these findings out to stakeholders during our bi-weekly presentations.
These meetings also served as learning sessions for business stakeholders, and established invaluable cross-team rapport. The UCX team (and the Unified Navigation team) gained the trust of decision makers.
Competitive Analysis
Benchmarking is a critical component of mental modeling. As a best practice, my team reviewed and analyzed what competitors as well as similar purchase platforms had as far as masthead menu systems. I frequently presented our observations to stakeholders to share our point of view and gain consensus.
The example shown here demonstrates minimal clicks for a large product portfolio. A deeper dive also reveals the use of sidebar filters to drill into specific product variations.
Data-Driven Alignment
I conducted thorough data analysis using internal and external metric tools to ensure all recommendations for groupings, as well as product lines that could potentially benefit from new labels.
Phased Approach
Working with the team’s taxonomist, I created a new masthead with a global, level 1 (L1) label assortment that incorporates global navigation components from Dell Technologies, Dell.com, eSupport, and Dell Premier.
We also constructed level 2 and 3 taxonomies (not shown) that includes the entire product and service stack. The Deals global navigation link is designed to rotate on a weekly basis, and I’m currently working with the Corporate Team on the About Us section. All segmented controls and level 4 navigation were removed to provide an easier navigation experience.
North Star Design
Simplifying a robust product and service stack like Dell’s requires careful exploration. After competitive analysis, data research, customer interviews, and user testing, it was clear that the purchase and wayfinding paths used by Dell presented considerable challenges. In addition to converging and unifying disparate mastheads, our team was also tasked with modernizing the site.
The global masthead shown on the right is our north star menu (Computer and Accessories, Enterprise, Solutions, and Support).
Usage-Based Navigation
Leveraging optimized end points, the rough wireframe on the right demonstrates a more useful landing page for Enterprise users. A grid layout presents options on the same screen to mitigate lengthy navigation.
The bottom section demonstrates usage-based navigation. A more seamless approach to segmented controls, this affordance provides valuable information at a glance, and aligns with key observations from research videos.
Faceted Filters in Sidebar
The use of a sidebar ANAV (alternate navigation) to filter specific product facets is shown on the rough wireframe to the right. The sidebar would only appear for product categories, and presents a much faster and easier navigation method than the current catalog page full of product variations.
This navigation method is also being explored for Unified Search, and also presents an easier method than the current search card returns.
The Solution
Phased rollout of the global unified masthead is in its second stage, with final consolidation and north star design implementations set to occur later this year. In addition to the unified masthead, I followed a similar process to unify the footer across the Dell ecosystem, gaining stakeholder approval during the same time frame. The entire process took several months, and relied on extensive analytics, user testing, cross-team meetings, and stakeholder presentations. Initial metrics indicate an increase in engagement, conversion, and overall CSAT scores.