Free People Retail 2009
The recently launched FreePeople.com represents a major generational shift for the retail eCommerce site. The previous site served the brand very well in expressing the Free People idea, but lacked some of the modern execution that shoppers currently expect. The new site focused on several key areas for this top-to-bottom re-envisioning of the site.
The user experience needed to embrace the most recent developments in thinking about how someone shops online. How do shoppers find products? How do they move through the site and engage with both the products and the company itself?
It also needed to be a strong communicator of the Free People brand; not just by the products it sells but by weaving the Free People values into the fabric of the site. Free People shoppers aren't simply buying clothes, they are using them as raw materials in the expression of their personality.
Additional phases of development expanding the functionality even more are currently underway.
Responsibilities
Design Challenges
Create a framework that allows for dramatic stylistic changes while retaining a consistent structure.
Free People is all about creativity and expression. They are a design-driven clothier making expressive, colorful, and tactile garments. They also change and evolve faster than other brands. In order to embody this philosophy, the website experience had to allow for the same type of freedom and flexibility. A structural framework established a method that allows Free People's in-house designers to change the aesthetics of the site while retaining a consistent layout and user-experience. Shoppers coming back to the site get the impression that the site has changed dramatically but have a sense of familiarity with how to use it.
Create an optimum shopping experience across all screen types.
Understanding that shoppers are viewing the website on different types of screens and devices, we wanted to be sure each person was having an optimum experience that allowed them to view the site how they want. Depending on the monitor size of the shopper, the site contents are displayed differently, making the most of the screen real estate.
When viewing products, there is the traditional grid mode as well as an innovative collage mode which presents a more visual experience. In grid mode, shoppers can also choose to see fewer products with bigger photos or more products with smaller photos. At the product detail level, shoppers are given everything they need to make a well-informed decision — huge photos, reviews, similar products, other items the model is wearing — but in a way that does not detract from the garment itself or drown the shopper in text.
We were careful to make sure these dynamic elements were gracefully added; understanding they should add value and not complicate the shopping experience for people who don't make use of them. Mobile shoppers have a different, more streamlined experience that manages to express Free People style while understanding the unique context of a mobile device. The mobile experience will be launching soon.
Accommodate a growing brand family.
Free People is the fastest growing brand within the Urban Outfitters family. Recently, this growth has led to the spin-off of two new Free People brands, beside the main Free People Collection. We The Free and FP Intimates focus on two different areas under the Free People umbrella. Since these are product lines that had previously been available exclusively through Free People — and thus closely aligned to the main brand — we needed to establish their separate identities while still connecting to larger FP family.
Utilizing the framework structure explained above, we have established separate aesthetic experiences while retaining a consistent user experience. Shoppers can jump between stores easily. They share a single Free People account, Shopping Basket and search results. The layout, functionality and organization of the sites are the same; but each brand is framed in a style that reinforces the differences between the brands.