ZarinKala
Technology is growing fast, and the demand for hardware products grows too.
Since, It was hard for new companies to compete with the big player in the market. ZarinKala asked me to help figure out how to make customers happier, And my research showed that people in Iran weren’t satisfied with the products they were receiving.
In this case study I highlight the practices I used and result we gained.
Problem
After initial talks, I found that many local companies deliver damaged products, break their promises, and offer poor service. Also, it's hard to find places online that sell a big variety of products.
Solution
ZarinKala wanted to fit in the market by bringing value in the CX of the user, Where they know what they're buying and how they'll get it with an automated return policy.
Role
Product designer
Designs
App, Web, Admin
Date
Jan 2022 - Jul 2022
Tools
Figma, Figjam
With tons of coffee, long sessions, and hard work. I crafted the flows and designs for the product and here are the highlights of my achievements at Zarinkala:
As the only designer, I was responsible for both the design quality and making sure the product roadmap was completion.
Although it was a big challenge for me, I believe this was where I took a jump in my career to explore my limits and create my career upon it Where I took ajump in my career to explore my limits and create my design career upon it.
Researching the market revealed to me key pains like poor deliveries, customer service, and high prices on major players' websites.
This made me focus on filling the gap that possibly could turn into building users' trust in the market.
Below I'll outline a summary of challenges I identified and how my solutions addressed them.
As the biggest player claims to have conquered 90% of Irans' online market size, We found over the last 2 years their satisfaction rate dropped by 73% on social media and a growing number of negative comments on Twitter and LinkedIn showed a major dropdown of their market size.
Here is a report on ( DigiKala ) droped users:
Although, this competitor is the only player in the country with dedicated delivery automation but is losing customers due to scheduled delivery failures at times and even delivering broken or used items to users.
These kinds of problems made people start campaigns against the brand for their poor experience and the brand monopoly.
This issue made an opening for new brands such as ZarinKala to enter the market for gaining users, building trust, and showcase new ideas into the market.
Online shopping became essential in the Iran market too after the coronavirus breakdown.
Besides this major player ( Digikala ) poor customer service, extensive research showed poor service is happening in other parties too.
While the delivery of products was getting affected and one of the reasons was due to some shops reselling the products of their partners
These kinds of problems made people start campaigns against the brand for their poor experience and the brand monopoly.
At first, this might seem ok, but on second look we found out that there are too many problems in orders such as:
At Zarinkala we addressed this issue by customer satisfaction and trust by only listing available products and Strict admin panel rules to prevent out-of-stock goods.
We have compared the product prices in both local and online markets. The result showed us that major players are tagging the price at a higher rate.
Due to ZarinKala strategic location and the discussion I had with the employer, they got aware of the issue and they can offer competitive prices for most of their items with their resources
An screenshot of price difference in two stores
When shopping for digital hardware online, people often spend a lot of time searching for reviews by actual buyers. But most online stores don’t have any as they (Digikala) were the first online store within the country (Like Amazon) and it hasbecome a major reference for people's reviews leaving others with no conversion rate.
On the other hand, My interviews showed a majority of people use it as reference only and buy the product at other stores
After a long discussion with the developers and employer, They agreed to use Amazon comment APIs and regenerate it under-credited copyright with a Persian automatics translation.
An screenshot of comment difference in DigiKala and other stores
After resolving the issues I found above, I made the ZarinKala website's overall design and prototypes as well as flows for Sale rewards, automated return requests, Follow-up purchases directly, and Product comparison in addition to other regular flows such as blog and purchase flow.
Desktop design prototype video
Native applications are required to be under a different brand called Lumex.
I had to redesign all the components but maintain the same mentality and experience for the application, On the other hand, I designed the flow to keep the dynamic changes different than the website based on the engagements of the users to products.
On the admin side, I ensured the synchronization of the website, app, and physical sales to product quantity, and sale channel reports.
Mobile design prototype video
The admin panel needed to connect inventory data from the website, app, and physical store. It also required a flexible design to accommodate future changes.
I created a detailed workflow in Figjam to outline all the necessary features, including analytics, product creation, and sales management. One of the main challenges was designing a dynamic landing page that could be easily customized.
I overcame this by creating a page builder tool that our developers could use to create and modify the landing page. For product creation, I designed a step-by-step process with auto-save features to streamline the process and allow admins to save their progress at any time. Thanks to these workflows, we were able to build a visually appealing admin panel that covered all the features of the website and application.
Desktop design prototype video
Admin - Add product stepper sample
As the project required pixel-perfect design and involved a sensitive client, I collaborated closely with the front-end developer to ensure that the product met the client's expectations and satisfaction.
The project showed great promise with initial sales exceeding expectations in the market.
However, inflations on prices in Iran made budget issues for stakeholders to have steady supply of quality products.
As a result, They decided to pull the plug after a while, leaving the project empty handed.
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