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Inspiration that doesn’t
get in the way
In 2018, I was the Senior UX Designer on Argos’s Bespoke product team. Our mission was to address end-to-end user needs by creating innovative experiences and components that went beyond the standard user journey.
Lifestyle photography, showing products in real-life scenarios, can significantly lift engagement and sales. We wanted to explore how to make a shopping journey more informative and inspirational, without disrupting a user’s mission.
- Client
- Argos
- Platform
- Mobile, tablet + desktop
- Focus
- Shoppable lifestyle photography
- When
- 2018
At a glance
The problem
Traditional product images failed to inspire, while the catalogues were full of aspirational photography.
The idea
Lifestyle photography with points of interest, linking straight to the products in the shot.
The result
A cross-category, shoppable component, launched on the Argos website.
01: The problem
Great photography, stuck in the catalogue.
Traditional product images often fail to connect with customers emotionally, leading to lower engagement and higher abandonment. Yet Argos’s catalogues held a wealth of aspirational photography. How could we bridge the gap between inspiration higher up the funnel and purchase, with product information just a tap away?
User story
“As a user, I want to see products presented in real-life scenarios in an interactive and visually appealing way, so that I can be inspired by new products and directly access product information, making it easy to make an informed purchase decision.”
02: Approach
The Double Diamond
01 · Discover
Learn from the best
Competitor analysis, social shopping on Instagram and Pinterest, and our own photography process.
02 · Define
Find the gaps
User journey mapping to pinpoint where shoppers felt disconnected or uninspired.
03 · Develop
Design across devices
Wireframes and designs for mobile, tablet and desktop with the team’s UI designer.
04 · Deliver
Test, refine, ship
An HTML prototype tested in the usability lab, iterated, then built in sprints.
03: Discover
How others make photography shoppable
01
Competitor analysis
How other e-commerce sites successfully integrate lifestyle photography into their journeys.
02
Social shopping
How Instagram and Pinterest turned visual content into seamless shopping experiences.
03
Our own process
How Argos created product photography and its catalogues today.
04: Define
Mapping where inspiration was missing
Detailed user journey mapping pinpointed the stages where users felt disconnected or uninspired by traditional product images. With the business expressing the same need, we set a clear objective.
The objective
“To support and inspire customers in their browsing mission by surfacing lifestyle photography enriched with points of interest, showcasing relevant products in situ or as part of a complete look or set.”
05: Hypothesis
What we set out to prove
Due to
A purely functional browsing experience, and traditional product images that failed to inspire customers or connect with them emotionally
We believe
Surfacing lifestyle photography enriched with points of interest, showcasing relevant products in situ
Will result in
A more inspirational and intuitive shopping experience, where customers can envision products in real life and make informed purchase decisions
We'll know we're successful when
We see engagement with the new lifestyle images, more click-to-product and more add-to-basket
Success metrics
01
Engagement
Interaction with the new lifestyle images
02
Click-to-product
An increase in clicks from the images to products
03
Add to basket
An increase in products added to basket
06: Develop
One component, every category
The scope: a cross-category, customer-facing component mixing lifestyle photography, product images and editorial content to engage, inspire and educate users while they browse. With the Bespoke team’s UI designer, I wireframed and designed solutions for mobile, tablet and desktop, aligned with the brand guidelines and existing interactions.
07: Prototype & validate
Tested in context, not in isolation
01
HTML prototype
I built it to test the component’s discoverability and usability.
02
Usability lab
Tested as part of a wider journey, rather than on its own.
03
Iterated
Refined with feedback from UX research before writing Jira tickets.
08: Deliver
From brief to build
I wrote detailed Jira stories with acceptance criteria and visual designs for every device. Once in a sprint, I supported the developers with any questions or technical limitations.
09: The result
Launched on Argos
A working example of the shoppable lifestyle component we launched on the Argos website.
10: Reflections
Looking back
Next
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