Overview

What is Mechanical Keyboard and Artisan keycap?

⌨️ A mechanical keyboard is a type of keyboard that uses individual mechanical switches for each key, providing a more tactile and responsive typing experience compared to traditional membrane keyboards. These switches are designed to register keystrokes with greater precision and durability.

🧢 Artisan keycaps are unique and intricately crafted keycaps that are often used to customize mechanical keyboards. Artisan keycaps are typically handmade by skilled artisans and come in a wide variety of designs, materials, and themes. They add a personal touch and aesthetic appeal to mechanical keyboards, allowing users to showcase their individuality and style. Artisan keycaps are highly sought after by keyboard enthusiasts and collectors, often becoming collectible items due to their limited availability and artistic value.

What is XULU?

🥇 XULU is a new artisan keycap maker, targeting customers who want to experience artisan keycap at a low price.

XULU’s Goal

🥇 Here is a list of what XULU expects:

• Maintain the brand image

• Increase brand-customer interaction

• Forming the habit of checking the brand’s update

• Improve customers’ loyalty

• Boost sales and up-sales

Research - Discovery

Desk research

Research goals

• Gain insights into the behaviors of artisan keycap users.

• Gain insights into the preferences of artisan keycap users.

• Gain insights into the motivations of artisan keycap users.

Gathered insights

Insight #1: Collecting as a Form of Personal Expression Artisan keycap users are passionate collectors who see their keyboard setups as a canvas for self-expression. They meticulously curate their keycap collections, seeking unique and visually striking designs that align with their individual tastes and personalities. Artisan keycaps allow users to add a touch of personal flair to their keyboards, reflecting their creativity and attention to detail.

⇒ This helps us focus on enhancing product categorization

Insight #2: Community and Collaboration Artisan keycap users are active participants in a vibrant and tightly-knit community. They engage in forums, social media groups, and online marketplaces dedicated to artisan keycaps, sharing their experiences, discoveries, and creations with fellow enthusiasts. Collaboration is highly valued, with users often collaborating with artisans to bring their own keycap design ideas to life. This sense of community fosters a supportive environment where knowledge, tips, and tricks are shared, contributing to the growth and innovation of the artisan keycap ecosystem.

⇒ This helps us focus on fostering community engagement

Insight #3: Appreciation for Craftsmanship and Artistry Artisan keycap users have a deep appreciation for the craftsmanship and artistry that goes into creating these small yet intricate pieces. They value the meticulous attention to detail, high-quality materials, and unique designs offered by artisans. Users recognize the skill and dedication required to handcraft each keycap, often considering them as miniature works of art. The limited availability of artisan keycaps adds to their allure, with users eagerly anticipating new releases and actively participating in the competitive process of acquiring these coveted pieces.

⇒ This helps us focus on providing detailed product information

In-depth interview

Research goals

• Identify users’ pain points and challenge when experiencing artisan keycap

• Identify users’ pain points and challenge when purchasing artisan keycap

• Identify users’ pain points and challenge when participating with community

Gathered insights

Insight #1: Users often miss new release The lack of synchronized announcements across various platforms often results in artisan keycaps being sold out before users have a chance to become aware of their release.

⇒ This helps us focus on making sure users have equal opportunities to acquire the keycaps they desire

Insight #2: Some users treat keycap as an investment, but find it hard to estimate the resell price Artisan keycaps are frequently released in limited quantities, leading to some users purchasing them with the intention of reselling them for profit. However, these users often face uncertainty regarding the future price fluctuations, making it challenging for them to make informed investment decisions.

⇒ This helps us focus on helping these investors estimate the future price of the keycaps

Insight #3: Users often lost track of their collection Artisan keycap collectors, particularly those who possess over 20 pieces of artisan keycaps, struggle to effectively manage and remember their extensive collections.

⇒ This helps us focus on helping them manage their collection

Research - Define

Persona

The Artisan Keycap collector

The Artisan Keycap Investor

Based on the Interviews & Desk Research from Artisan Keycap communities, we discovered that there two types of users: Artisan Keycap Collector and Investor. Each has special characteristics, however, they also share a lot of common goals and frustrations. Hence, we can solve both types’ problems by our platform.

Customer Journey Map

Visit https://bit.ly/3MFqXrl for detailed CJM

Key problems

From users

• Users miss newest releases

• Users find it hard to find the keycap that matches their preferences

• Users find it hard to estimate the later price of artisan keycaps

• Users do not understand the stories and concepts behind the collection

• Users find it hard to be updated on news

• Users find it hard to manage their collection

From business

• Maintain a brand image

• Increase brand-customer interaction

• Forming the habit of checking the brand’s update

• Improve customers’ loyalty

• Boost sales and up-sales

Main objectives

• Improving the experience on the website

• Increasing the motivation to purchase more products

Design - Develop

Competitive analysis

Here is the list of our competitors, including domestic and foreign Artisan Keycap makers

1. Jelly Key

2. Dwarf Factory

3. Becky Bency

4. Craft Key

5. Creasi Workshop

Full version available here: Competitive Analysis

Mockup and Prototype

Customized preference suggestion

🚨 Users want personalization

🚨 Users find it hard to find the keycap that matches their preferences

⇒ Asking users basic question to understand their preference

Sorting and grouping criteria

🚨 Users find it hard to find the keycap that matches their preferences

⇒ Sorting criteria for release date

⇒ Grouping criteria of collection, color, profile and rarity

Base on users’ need found on the research phase.

Rarity indicator

🚨 Users find it hard to estimate the later price of artisan keycaps

⇒ Providing different rarity for keycap as an indicator of later resell price

Concept story

🚨 Users do not understand the stories and concepts behind the collection

⇒ Providing a storyboard to tell them the story

⇒ Incentivizing them to watch the story by offerring XUPoints

Blogs

🚨 Users find it hard to be updated on news

⇒ Constantly update blogs

⇒ Only announcing news on this page

Collection Tracker

🚨 Users find it hard to manage their collection

⇒ Using order history to:

• Providing summary of users’ collection

• Providing users’ whole collection

🚨 Boost sales and up-sales

⇒ Using Goal gradient Effect to motivate users to fulfill unfinished collection

Goal gradient Effect

The tendency to approach a goal increases with proximity to the goal.

XUPoint System

🚨 Improve customers’ loyalty

🚨 Boost sales and up-sales

⇒ Applying gamification to motivate users to climb up leaderboard as well as rank tiers by purchasing XULU products to gain more benefits

Missions and Challenges

🚨 Improve customers’ loyalty

🚨 Increase brand-customer interaction

🚨 Forming the habit of checking the brand’s update

⇒ Short-term solution: Creating daily mission with XUPoints earning as an incentives to motivate users to comeback regularly

⇒ Long-term solution: Creating a list of challenges to conquer, also with earning XUPoints as incentives

Writings

🚨 Maintain a brand image

🚨 Improve customers’ loyalty

⇒ Using an unique and funny tone of voice across the platform

Conclusion

Key Learning

The invaluable insights we have acquired during this project serve as a driving force, inspiring us to dive deeper into the realm of UX, constantly seeking new discoveries and honing our skills in the process.

Key learning #1: Implementing gamification can be a challenging endeavor since its effectiveness is not always guaranteed.

Key learning #2: Investing time in research not only steers us in the right direction but also helps us save time in the later stages of the project.

Key learning #3: It's important not to assume that every stakeholder is familiar with our field of expertise.

Key learning #4: Ensure accessibility for all users, regardless of their familiarity with the field, to provide an inclusive experience.