AVEDA GLOBAL NAVIGATION
Aveda is an Ayurvedic hair and scalp health brand, part of Estée Lauder's global portfolio. They offer specialized products for various hair and scalp needs, as well as educational tools to help customers identify their specific requirements.
OKRs
Objective 1: Elevate Aveda's online presence to become the premier digital destination for hair care expertise and product discovery
Key Result: Increase AV US wide CVR from 6% to 6.3%
Objective 2: Transform Aveda's website into a go-to resource for hair care education and inspiration
Key Result: Increase time on site for AV US from 4:50 minutes to 5:50 minutes
TEAM
Myself as Design Lead
UX Researcher
Product Manager
Group Product Manager
Marketing team
Example of Aveda’s prior global navigation
Problem
Aveda's global navigation faced several challenges:
Year-over-year navigation clicks decreased dramatically by approximately 25%.
The menu contained an excessive number of items, causing decision fatigue among customers.
There were nearly 200 items, while Baymard recommended limiting mega menus to 80 items or fewer.
The menu included all proprietary product names, which were unfamiliar to customers.
New customers struggled to identify which products suited their individual needs.
Research, Discovery and Problem Definition
Stakeholder interviews
The researcher and I conducted several interviews with stakeholders across Aveda leadership and Estée Lauder to uncover their primary concerns.
Most stakeholders expressed concern about the global navigation appearing cluttered and confusing to users.
Card sorting research
As an initial step, the senior researcher conducted card sorting research. She employed an open card sort method, utilizing all available menu items from the live menu.
Her findings revealed that users experienced overwhelm and fatigue after sorting approximately 100 items. Most participants were also unsure how to categorize cards displaying proprietary product names
Baymard research
Estée Lauder had commissioned Baymard audits for all of their 30 brands. This allowed us to use the audit findings to determine necessary next steps, which complemented our research findings.
Although the audit revealed some positive aspects, it identified several significant issues, including:
Unnecessary menu items taking precedence over essential ones
Too many navigation items
Lack of visual distinction between different category levels
Category pages lacked actual filters; instead, filtering options were indirectly presented within the mega menu
Design recommendations based on initial research
Change the full collection list to "Featured Collections"
Create an "All Collections" category page to facilitate easier product browsing
Remove proprietary brand names, and focus search/browse behavior on hair need
Update navigation level font weights to enhance visual hierarchy and improve readability
Consolidate specific top-level navigation items to align with Baymard's recommended number of menu options
Current vs Proposed design changes from initial research
SEO Research
Myself and the product manager analyzed the performance of pages slated for removal using Google Search Console data, including:
Evaluating and emphasizing the potential consequences of modifying or eliminating existing navigation links
Working with the the marketing team as the lead to determine which pages from the cut list would be permanently removed
Navigation Item Removal
I utilized a collaborative spreadsheet to collectively decide which items to remove or relocate. Design, product management, marketing, and leadership teams had access and contributed.
We successfully reduced the overall number of items to approximately 120, moving significantly closer to Baymard's recommendation of 80.
Visual Design
I developed a visual design incorporating Baymard recommendations and synthesized research feedback
Additionally, we used the taxonomy spreadsheet to effectively organize the new list of menu items
We also designed a new "All Collections" page template, which would be implemented across all Estée Lauder brands
Impact
Extended user sessions, with increased engagement in educational tools
Decreased abandonment rate due to users having a stronger understanding of what they personally needed
Higher purchase conversion
Higher Baymard ratings