Overview
Packrat Comics is a local comic book and merchandise store that has operated in Central Ohio since 1993. This project is a redesign concept of their website experience.
Year
2022
Deliverables
Website Design
UX Research
The navigation on the site isn't organized in a way that makes it easy to find what you are looking for. The "More" tab only has one option underneath it while the majority of the options are all under the "Products" tab.
Using the search functionality on the site returns lots of results without offering a way to filter them further. For example, searching for "Spiderman", results in 73 pages of options. There is no real hierarchy in these search results as comics, toys, and apparel are all grouped together.
Comic book grading is the process of determining the condition of a book, which impacts its value. On the Packrat site, these grades are often abbreviated without any further context on what they actually mean. This makes it confusing for users who aren't avid comic book buyers.
I reorganized the navigation bar to feel less cluttered, separating comics, toys, and apparel. The homepage is also laid out to highlight the highest rated comic each week. I also added the option to filter by characters and reviews to make searching for comics simpler.
Previously, searching for your favorite characters felt like an overwhelming experience. In order to make this process easier, I designed a “Featured Characters” section on the site. This allows users to search for characters alphabetically, and view a custom page featuring information about each character.
The current grading scale provides no context and is difficult to understand. Not everyone is familiar with how comic books are graded, so I redesigned the grading scale to be intuitive for all readers.
