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The Problem
The Problem
While collecting customer feedback for various projects, we noticed a small but passionate concern: some site visitors did not feel represented when shopping on Jane.com. Not only in the products we sold, but also in the models we were using to advertise.
At the time, Jane's product models were predominately young, Caucasian, and slim. They did not, however, reflect our customers true identities and as such they were feeling left out.
Our team took on the task to explore these concerns and make recommendations about how we could re-align the Jane brand with our customers' actual profiles.
Process
Process
Exploratory surveys
Competitive analysis
User interviews
Summative research after the launch of Jane Curve
Findings
Findings
Over half of surveyed customers reported having difficulties finding larger sizes on Jane. Two-thirds believed that Jane did not sell plus-size clothing at all due to the home page's product imagery choices.
When first-time Jane visitors were tested and asked to share their impressions of the homepage, comments received included:
"Nothing but skinny girl clothes."
"I didn't see anything that would look good on a plus size woman."
"The lack of diversity. Women of all shades and sizes would make this page more appealing."
"I wish that I saw more women of color with dark skin tones. I am a dark skinned woman and I would like to know how the shirts would look on my skin tone. Showing a picture of a dark skin model would help me choose what to buy."
Results
Results
The creation of a plus-size feed & marketing campaigns
A holiday campaign featuring models that better represented the various ethnicities of our customers
Messaging to encourage sellers to stock more inventory in larger sizes to meet demand (sizes 12+)
Establishment of an internal photography service that provided easier access to diverse models
Launch of internal and external charity initiatives supporting diversity and representation
A significant increase in satisfied, positive feedback when surveyed about Jane's size availability
Customer feedback illustrated how plus-size women had felt underrepresented by Jane's product photography and inventory. Seeing products worn by models was how customers chose sizes for purchase, but Jane focused primarily on slim, young models which did not align with their majority user base's profile.
Holiday 2020's marketing materials featured a mixed ethnicity family as lead models. Data analysis revealed a significant portion of Jane customers were not Caucasian and lived in diverse regions of the US, such as the deep south. Until this point, Jane primarily utilized Utah-based Caucasian models.
Jane site pages began to include ethnically and body diverse models in the rotation of their banner promotions and product imagery.
My Role
My Role
I assisted in writing and analyzing user tests, compiling user stories into synthesis presentation decks, and personally advocated for exploring a business case that supported increasing minority and plus-size representation for several years prior to the implementation of this study and strategy change.
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