Timeline
Aug 2019 - Jun 2021
Team
Entrepreneurship
My Role
Business Manager
Product Lead
Responsibilities
Product Research, User Research, Product Design, Wireframing & Prototyping, Marketing, Data Analysis
Introduction //
In 2019, my journey into the world of UX and product design began with an entrepreneurial vision - Boneear, a brand pioneering headphones equipped with bone conduction technology. This journey, fueled by hard work, would ultimately lead me to discover the power of user-centric design.
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From Noise to Clarity //
I started Boneear with the guidance of a few YouTube videos and courses on the topics of online business. However, with little experience in UX, marketing, and business management, I launched Boneear with great expectations.
But, as the months passed, it became clear that reality was far from my dreams. The product didn't take off as anticipated. The year 2020 arrived, and I faced a critical decision – give up on my dream or find a way to make it work.
I talked to my cousin who works as a PM at Amazon, and she told me something that forever changed my perspective on business.
Key Findings
Focus on your customers, your users, who are they? Understand them. We are all emotional creatures; Without a human-centered approach, the end-user might not perceive a practical product as what they want.
The very essence of Boneear underwent a redefinition. Instead of focusing on myself, I decided to put the end-user at the center of my business. I realized that my previous failure was not because of the product; it was because I barely knew my target demographic.
Design Thinking in Action //
My perspective shifted, guided by the 4W1H Framework to realign with user needs: What do they want? Why do they need it? Who are they? Where will they use it? How can we help? It was astounding how this simple change illuminated the flaws in my business strategy and allowed me to prioritize the customers' needs.
The Quest for Insights //
To fully understand my target demographics and their pain points, research became paramount.
This was also a step that many including myself tend to overlook. However, I realized that just like sales, identifying the most qualified prospects and target demographic, while also finding out their pain points and being able to provide them with a solution would be one of the most valuable pieces for any product.
But there's a small challenge…
Challenges
To tackle the challenge, I managed to come up with 2 solutions to conduct primary research on my target users, and they turned out to be extremely effective.
Survey (Quantitative) //
I started by conducting online surveys as my first research method. This allowed me to address two important areas:
Identifying my target demographics.
Understanding their pain points and what matters to them.
To engage participants, I ran a retargeting ad featuring a brief 2-minute survey. As an incentive, I offered a giveaway to those who had previously viewed my ad, clicked the link, added items to their cart, or made a purchase.
I believe this strategy was highly effective because this particular group of individuals has already expressed interest in my product before. This suggests that they must have their own motivations for stepping away from social media in order to gather more information or make a purchase.
Key Findings
People would mainly use these headphones for exercising, Office work, and biking. Moreover, they consider the concept of being aware of one's surroundings to be a game-changer.
Interviews (Qualitative) //
In-depth interviews with users and manufacturers further honed our understanding of user needs.
I interviewed my uncle, the person who showed me this technology about his thoughts
I interviewed 3/4 giveaway winners
I interviewed a manufacturer of bone conduction headphones about this technology, the user reviews, and the potential pricing
Key Findings
With 80% of interviewees commenting on loving the feeling of being fully aware when wearing these headphones, it's clear that this is going to be Boneear's unique value proposition.
Areas of Improvement
Because bone conduction technology is relatively new, I needed to address many questions regarding its potential impact on the human body. This can be enhanced by providing answers to these questions in the product description or by incorporating a FAQ section.
With primary pain points identified and target customers better understood, I categorized my demographic into targeted and broad segments. I knew that targeting too narrowly could pose future scalability challenges.
Understanding the Competition //
Now knowing my target customers, I needed to look at the fierce competition in the headphones industry.
Competitive analysis opened my eyes to the selling points of major headphone brands. Instead of competing head-on, I focused on their weaknesses, turning them into my brand's strengths.
Crafting Boneear V2.0 //
Taking all the research and feedback into account, and over two months of rigorous collaboration with manufacturers, Boneear V2.0 was born. This version incorporated newer bone conduction technology, affordability, lightweight design, sweat resistance, and improved aesthetics.
But of course, there are always going to be tradeoffs; In this case, I prioritized keeping the price affordable, meaning I had to give up on certain sound technologies, newer battery technology, or even full waterproof capabilities.
My decision was made based on 3 factors:
Beyond my target customers' needs as shown through UX research
Lower price point = More potential customers
Limited capital for R&D
Designing the User Experience //
With the product ready, I opted to design the entire eCommerce website from scratch. This allowed me to create wireframes for two distinct designs: a traditional home page to product page model and a streamlined one-page funnel for an efficient buying process.
Design, Test, Iterate... //
The UX journey didn't end with design; it was a continuous process of optimization. Through A/B testing and customer feedback implementation, I boosted the conversion rate by an impressive 148%.
Hero Section Design Optimizations //
Captivation Headline to better grab customers’ attention right away
Improved business branding and design esthetics to increase perceived value of products and build credibility
Color swatches of product that incentivizes engagement
Customer testimonials above the fold to build initial trust and social proof
Description Design Optimizations //
Sticky Header
Lifestyle images > Product-only images
Improved branding and design esthetics
Use of customer pain points and empathized with customers throughout
Broke apart sections with color change to counter reading fatigue
FAQ section to answer most received customer questions
Product Page Design Optimizations //
Professional & cohesive product Images
Included lifestyle images for relatability
Improved branding and design esthetics
Call to action button above the fold
Live chat feature to give customers a better experience and answer any unanswered questions they may have
UX in Marketing //
The good thing about online advertising is that you get live questions, feedback, and reviews from your customers that everyone gets to see. Therefore, instead of trying to promote my business and my product to every customer who commented on my ads (Image 1), I tried to answer their question and have a conversation with them instead.
In short, I used my ads’ comment sections as a place where my customers can share information, reviews, and have conversations, like a community forum.
it's always more important to focus on the person behind the sale rather than the sale itself.
Now what this did was that it built great engagement under my ads, which in turn lowered my CPM because platforms love it when their users engage with ads, it lowered my CPC, and I was able to build better relationships with my customers which greatly increased the user experience and the CTR.
Final Results //
Revenue:
$300,000+
Customers:
4000+
Return on Ad Spend:
3.2
Key Learnings and Takeaways //
Running an entire business operation was an immense challenge, but it offered me lessons that no classroom could ever provide. For the first time, I realized that UX wasn't just a design tool; it was a philosophy that could be applied universally.
Even though the numbers were not extraordinary, the experiences and learnings were, and I'm going to continue applying a user-centric approach to all my future endeavors.