Fender, a pioneering guitar manufacturer since 1946, offered an exciting challenge to transform their online shopping environment for female musicians. The project focused on designing an inclusive platform that empowers women to discover and select their ideal instruments with confidence.
Many female customers feel overwhelmed and underrepresented in traditional guitar retail environments, leading them to opt for online shopping. We prioritized improving on or building news features for the website.
Product demonstrations and content primarily feature male musicians, making it difficult for female guitarists to envision themselves with the instruments.
The current product pages lack essential features for size comparison and ergonomic information, creating uncertainty during purchase decisions.
Develop a platform that celebrates female musicians and provides relatable content.
Improve the purchase journey with clear information and personalized recommendations.
Create intuitive tools for size comparison and product selection, making technical specifications more accessible.
Through competitive analysis of major guitar retailers, we identified a significant gap in female-focused shopping experiences. Research revealed that while 45% of new guitar buyers are women, most platforms maintain traditional, male-centric approaches to instrument retail. Key Competitors' Approaches:
Our research uncovered two critical insights:
This industry-wide gap presents an opportunity for Fender to differentiate by creating an inclusive digital space specifically supporting female musicians.
“HOW MIGHT WE create an inclusive online shopping experience that empowers female guitarists to confidently select and purchase instruments that match their needs?”
I conducted the user survey with 8 female musician participants. This is what the survey looks like. It's easily shareable via a link.
Here are the results!
From our survey results, we discovered that half of participants were unfamiliar with Fender's website, revealing a significant opportunity to strengthen brand visibility. While price emerged as the leading decision factor (3/8), users heavily relied on online reviews and in-store experiences to evaluate guitars, suggesting the need for enhanced digital product experiences that reflect Fender's premium brand positioning.
We kicked off a design sprint with our team, focusing on the key insights from our user survey where half of users were unfamiliar with Fender's website. Using FigJam as our collaborative workspace, we analyzed successful e-commerce platforms that excel in product visualization and user engagement. Our focus was particularly on brands that effectively bridge the gap between physical and digital shopping experiences.
Then, we conducted rapid sketching sessions addressing our main challenges: improving product information accessibility (3/8 users struggle) and replicating in-store experiences online (3/8 users desire). The sprint was condensed into focused sessions due to academic project constraints. We started sketching some crazy ideas on our minds. Our focus at this stage is to diverge first, converge later.
This is how the early wireframes looked like. The early wireframes mapped user journeys with emphasis on two critical touchpoints: product exploration and purchase decision-making. We focused on creating an experience that would serve both online shoppers and those who prefer physical stores.
We then turn these early ideas into high fidelity designs. We experimented with different colors, shapes, layouts. While not final, these designs provided a solid foundation for user testing and rapid iteration.
By providing clear, relevant product information and personalized recommendations, we help female guitarists navigate Fender's extensive catalog and make informed purchasing decisions that match their playing style and preferences.
We strive to create a welcoming environment where female musicians feel represented and supported in their musical journey, ultimately expanding Fender's market reach and brand loyalty.
Offering women-focused product information and recommendations that match their style, skill level, and physical comfort needs.
Reimagining product discovery with visual guides that make guitar specifications more engaging and less intimidating for women buyers.
Breaking down the project allowed us to test and validate each design decision along the way. This approach helped us identify and fix usability issues early, preventing them from becoming larger problems later in development.