Kicks Aligned

The sneaker resale industry will top $2 Billion in 2020 and is expected to grow to over $6 Billion in 2025. Bots run by resellers currently dominate the market. Kicks Aligned, an Auto Checkout Service and membership site, is making it easy for the average sneaker consumer to purchase hard to get releases.

INTRODUCTION

Purchasing limited release sneakers and streetwear the second they're available is like winning the lottery

Consumers end up buying these items on resale sites like eBay & StockX for up to 100X more, depending on the demand and supply of the item.
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The average consumer lacks the technical expertise to use bots , and even those that are capable, have to deal with unreliable software and third parties.

Deliverables

UX/UI Design
Strategy & Development
Product Marketing

THE CHALLENGE

Make it simple and hassle free to buy limited release sneakers and streetwear

Our goal was to create a tool, web or mobile app, to allow anyone to buy sneakers the second they are released, without a markup or high fees that other Auto Checkout Services (ACO) charge.

How do we scale the business from just hardcore sneakerheads to the larger market of sneaker and shoe buyers?

MY ROLE

I led strategy, design, development, and digital marketing

My client was open to a custom developed web/mobile app or a no-code/ low-code solution, as long as it delivered a great User Experience.
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I facilitated strategy sessions with the founding team to unpack their goals and get a deeper understanding of their target customer.

RESEARCH & DISCOVERY
To get started I conducted remote user interviews to better understand the target customer

I conducted five interviews and curated market research to drive the planning and execution of the entire project, but most importantly to learn more about the unmet needs and behaviors of the customer.

Learning about their online habits, how they research, find, and buy sneakers/streetwear, brands they follow, and their view of the sneaker buying experience.

Here are the key insights that defined the MVP.

KEY INSIGHTS

The Automated Check Out (ACO) process isn't awful but it gets frustrating over time

Entering checkout information for every purchase everytime becomes a hassle as some customers do it multiple times a day for different items.
Resubmitting sensitive personal information doesn't feel safe.

Lack of information and transparency is a major dissatisfier

Customers value the inside information shared in the members only Discord community, but they often struggle keeping track of new releases, resell information, and surprise drops.
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GOALS
How might we help consumers confidently purchase limited release sneakers

A seamless checkout flow

Remove roadblocks or steps that make the order form submission process hectic.

Revamp customer profiles

Storing payment info in customer accounts to speed up submitting purchase orders.

Build trust early

Present all necessary information early - make it prominent throughout the shopping experience.

Persona

Jaden

Male
17 Years old
Lives in Grand Rapids Michigan
High School Senior
Varsity basketball player
Very tech savvy

Goals & Needs

Collect rare sneakers and streetwear
Get limited releases as soon as they're available
Hold and resell sneakers for a profit
Establish a personal brand as a sneaker aficionado

Frustrations

Unsuccesful checkouts when trying to purchase sneakers
Sorting through multiple websites for up-to-date information
Unreliable resell predictions
Lack of tranparency of ACO services
High ACO fees

"It's a pain to fill out the slot submission form every single time"

Brands

NIKE
ADIDAS YEEZY
STOCKX
SUPREME
JORDAN BRAND
KITH

FEATURE PRIORITIZATION

User's needs should drive product features

Deciding what features to include in the proposed solution was driven by a combination of addressing the consumer's unmet needs and learning from exisiting digital solutions.

Some are very critical to improving the User Experience of our solution, and others are perks or "nice to haves" that might not be necessary for our MVP - based on the resources required to execute them.
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USERFLOW

Creating a seamless Experience

I decided that the product should be a mobile first web application instead of a native app. This will let us test and validate the solution without spending time and resources on a native mobile app.

One of the biggest challenges I encountered with this project was keeping the checkout experience as simple and familiar as possible.
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The proposed solution is an eCommerce product, but it does have a slightly different checkout process, and it's very important that anyone can easily complete the checkout process.

SKETCHES

I tested the sketches with a handful of users

Wireframes

FINAL DESIGN

The new Kicks Aligned, a premium Auto Checkout Service

The prototype was created with Figma which allowed us to easily collaborate and get feedback on strategy, low-fi sketches, wireframes. and the final design.

The working protoype was the first step in validating the solution. I setup and led usability tests to get feedback from customers, and to avoid major revisions after handing it off to the development team.

FINAL DESIGN

Key Screens

VALIDATION

Facilitating usability tests to validate design decisions

Like I mentioned earlier, one of the biggest challenges was carefully threading the line between creating a new checkout experience vs. making it as familiar as possible.

VALIDATION

A reimagined ACO checkout process

In order to address the customer pain point of filling out order submission forms everytime, I created Payment Profiles which include all the information a customer would need to make a purchase, credit card info, billing and shipping address, grouped together as one single item.
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Users can create and save multiple payment profiles and quickly choose which one to use for each ACO submission.

VALIDATION

Clear and transparent information to remove roadblocks

Transparency builds trust, especially with new customers who are taking a chance on a service that's slightly different from the what they're used to.

Feedback from usability tests

"This is so much easier than what I do right now"

This looks more trust worthy than the other ACOs out there. When will you update your website and when can we start using this instead.

"I like how this explains everything I need to know before paying for anything"

Showing resell predictions really help me decide if I want to buy or pass.

LAUNCHING
HOLIDAY SEASON 2020
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