The Strand

A case study on information architecture

The Strand, the famous NYC bookstore, opened in 1927. Since then it's become an institution, known for its vast selection of new and used books as well as for hosting signings with authors. The physical store is set up in a way that encourages browsing by genre while also allowing customers to find specific titles. However, the navigation on the store's website is cumbersome and cluttered and definitely in need of a good redesign.

Introduction

Challenge

Improve the primary navigation for the famous brick and mortar bookstore's website

Resources

Type: Case Study

Timeline: 1 week

Tools

Contextual inquiry

Heuristic analysis

Competitive/comparative feature analysis

Open & closed card sorting

Site mapping

User flows

01 RESEARCH

Heuristic Analysis

At the start of my evaluation, I performed a heuristic analysis using the Abbey Method. From this, I got 3 main insights.

Findability

The Search function did not usually show the most relevant results first. There were also some problems with inconsistent breadcrumbs and broken or misdirected links.

Communication

The site is informative, but the language used is impersonal, and the error messages took on a harsh tone.

Credibility

Some parts of the site could definitely stand to be updated. For example, the categories in Books still included collections and best-ofs from 2018.

Competitive/Comparative Features Analysis

Next, in order to show what competitors were doing feature-wise, I put together a competitive analysis of The Strand, Amazon.com, Powell's Books, and Barnes and Noble. I used the Essex County Public Library system as the comparator, since they both provide books to customers, although their business model is not the same.

User Flow

I created a user flow that illustrated the process by which a customer would purchase a book from The Strand's website. The flow showed that, once a customer managed to find the book they wanted to purchase, the actual steps they needed to take to complete the task were not overly complicated.

Site Map

I made a site map of the existing primary and secondary navigation on The Strand website as a basis for card sorting and proposed changes.

Card Sorting

In order to figure out the best changes to make to the site's navigation, I conducted 7 open and 5 closed card sorts on people who bought books online.

OPEN CARD SORT INSIGHTS

• No one understood what Books By Style, Color, or Subject were when they were taken out of the context of Books By The Foot. All subjects placed those subcategories into a main category of Books.

• Three people created a Kids/YA category.

• People felt that Books and Media should be two separate categories.

• People were confused about what Media Archive was and two people put it in with CDs in a Media category.

CLOSED CARD SORT INSIGHTS

• People were very confused about Books By The Foot. Almost everyone placed the Books By Style, Color, and Subject cards under Books By The Foot, but no one had any idea what it might mean.

• People were unclear about what The Author's Bookshelf meant.

• Two people put Used Books in with Rare & Collectible.