K-JIP (집)

Role

Project Type

UX Researcher, UI Designer, Product Designer

Web based software

The Korean word "집" (jip) translates to "home" or "house."

At K-JIP (집), our mission is to offer you a premium K-pop experience. Here, you can savor the beauty of K-pop music while exploring an online marketplace. Moreover, you can forge new friendships and take part in events, both in the physical and virtual realms, fostering a vibrant K-pop community.

Goal

K-pop, an emerging global phenomenon, captivates millions with its mesmerizing music compositions and choreographic artistry. The sales of K-pop-related products, ranging from music CDs to various merchandise, have skyrocketed in response to this fervor.

Nevertheless, major K-pop websites today often inundate users with excessive information, from images to texts, creating an overwhelming user interface. This can potentially deter customers from pursuing their shopping desires.

As a response to this challenge, I embarked on the journey to design a modern and user-friendly website. The primary objective is to provide customers with easy access and a seamless purchasing experience, rekindling their shopping enthusiasm.

Pain Points

I have done some research on the current K-pop merch websites, and here are some findings:

The current K-pop merch websites are not very user friendly.

The current K-pop merch websites are full of unnecessary contents.

The current K-pop websites are not in the correct computer layout.

Persona

Two personas were created to represent the target users:

Age: 21

Occupation: Student

Location: Toronto

Background: Haechan is an exchange student from Seoul, Korea. He has been a K-pop fan since the age of 10. Coming to Toronto for his Bachelor's degree, he is excited about his new journey, but he also wonders if he can still get his hands on the latest K-pop products to support his favorite groups.

Goals: Pre-ordering CDs/ Signing up for fan meeting events.

HAECHAN

"I am so happy to study aboard, but I don't know where to buy K-pop products. I heard that some K-pop groups are coming to north America for fan meeting events, I wonder where can I sign up for those."

Age: 34

Occupation: Store Manager

Location: Toronto

Background: Tiffany is the manager of a local clothing store, she works with a lot of young generations and that is also how she was introduced to K-pop. After bingeing some Korean TV drama, Tiffany is inevitably attracted to some of the items that appeared on the show and wants to bring them to her store for sale.

Goals: Buying bulk items/ Getting reward points for purchases.

"Coming into the K-pop world makes me appreciating a different culture that carries so much unexpected but interesting stuffs, I want to share that with friends my age because I think they will love it."

TIFFANY

User Journey Map

The following user journey map aims to convey the simple flow of purchasing items at K-JIP:

Thoughts & Actions

Browsing

Seeing the wanted products

Adding items to cart

Typing personal info

Waiting for delivery

Experience

Steps

Home

Add to cart

Checkout

Order placed

Opportunities:

Based on the user journey map, we have located a few improvements we can bring forward for our app design.

1. Offering more features other than just purchasing products.

2. Including information on events and ways of attending them.

3. Providing a community where the users can bond and communicate.

4. Highlighting current trending music and artists who are making a comeback soon.

5. Displaying a clearer and more direct interface that is user-friendly.

Process

The overview of all individual navigational paths in K-Jip:

Select item

Add to cart

Checkout

View events

Enroll

Check for result

Create account

Personal info

Confirm

Enter

View home page

View results

Discover music

Trending

Explore

Community

Join fandom

Make friends

Low Fidelity Prototype

Based on the concept, the low fidelity prototype is showcasing a simple flow of purchasing items at K-JIP:

Usability research

After conducting a few interviews with potential users who have shared their interests in K-pop, here are some findings that may improve the website I am building:

1. Offering more features other than just purchasing products.

2. Including information on events and ways of attending them.

3. Providing a community where the users can bond and communicate.

4. Highlighting current trending music and artists who are making a comeback soon.

5. Displaying a clearer and more direct interface that is user-friendly.

High Fidelity Prototype

Below is a mockup video demonstrating the UI, interaction, and navigation while browsing K-Jip:

Multi-purpose Platform

Unlike other websites, K-JIP aims to provide a platform for new K-pop information and interactive space alongside merchandise purchasing services.

Here, the users don't necessarily feel the pressure to spend or be flooded with products and their prices. We want everyone who steps into our platform to feel welcomed and a part of the community.

Upon arriving at the HOME page, I included the trending topic - the MBTI test, this is a personality test that has gained so much popularity amongst K-pop lovers. Having this is going to resonate with the users, and create a more inviting space.

Under the MUSIC page, K-JIP is focusing on introducing an artist of the month, whose music videos will be played on a loop as a promotional purpose. The users can also access their merch, fandom, discography and learn more about them.

Those who wanna purchase their desired items, can navigate to the MERCH page, here they can view the trending items, best sellers, pre-order items and see the list of artists who are making a comeback soon.

At K-JIP, we also offer the opportunity for the users to learn and participate in events including fan signings, concerts and fan meetings, etc.

Last but not least, you can join the fandoms that you are interested in, and make friends from all around the world.

LOGO Exploration

Because he Korean word "집" (jip) translates to "home" or "house."

I wanted to incorporate the Korean word "집" and the English letter K into this logo.

Final LOGO

The Korean word "집" (jip) translates to "home" or "house."

Takeaway

In this modern age, customers are not only satisfied with single-purpose websites, they prefer a platform that offers everything where their needs can be fulfilled.

As a product designer, I realize that I need to put myself in the customer's shoes, as well as understand what the current market is offering.

K-JIP serves all of the above while providing users with a safe and friendly space, it is the ultimate destination for K-pop lovers.