Redesign Real Gem’s Website into a Guided, Personalized Experience
Client
Real Gem Inc.
Industries
B2C E-Commerce
Role
UI & UX Design
UX Research
Time
Jan - May 2024
Real Gem is an e-commerce platform for purchasing gemstones. The business aims to build trust and increase conversions by improving how users evaluate and compare products online.
Problem
Sales reps struggled with paper-based sales processes that led to inefficiencies and lost data.
Solution
A scalable B2B consignment system that streamlines order creation, tracking, and data reuse.
Impact
Reduced new order creation time by ~40%, 100% of trainees completed their first draft order in 30 minutes.
CLIENT
Real Gem’s has its unique positioning and sales goals.
Position
Emerald-Only Focus
Unlike many other jewelry studios that offer a variety of gem stones and diamonds, Real Gems Sells only emeralds from in-house sourcing.
Strength
Flexible In-Store Customization
Customers can customize raw stones into jewelry with support from theirlocal factory at a lower price.
Competitive Pricing & Variety
Real Gem offers a wider range and better pricing for emeralds than multi-gem retailers.
Client Goal
Guide Buyers from Online to In-Store
Revamp the website to build trust, educates first-time visitors, and encourages in-store appointments, while supporting future online purchases.
“We don’t expect people to buy right away. We just want them to come in knowing what they want.”
— Real Gem team
PROBLEMS
We identified 3 key challenges that Real Gem currently faced.
Decision Complexity
Users struggled to understand gemstone attributes and make confident purchase decisions.
Poor Brand Value
Limited transparency and inconsistent information reduced user confidence.
Poor Comparability
Users found it difficult to compare gemstones across multiple dimensions.
RESEARCH & ANALYSIS
To better understand user behavior and market gaps, I conducted targeted research across users, competitors, and existing experiences.
01
User Segmentation
Who are Real Gem’s target customers, what do they need from the website?
Real Gem’s internal marketing research helped identify two user groups with distinct behaviors:
The two user types revealed a need for balancing education and comparison tools in the core experience.
02
Competitive Analysis
What UX patterns work well in the industry?
What We Learned
Strong filters & sorting
Comparison tools
Virtual try-ons
What We Stand Out
Most competitors don’t focus on emeralds or in-store customization
The analysis showed that combining proven UX patterns like filters and comparisons with Real Gem’s strengths, education and customization, may create a standout experience.
03
UX Audit
Why the Existing Site Wasn’t Working?
After understanding target users and learn from competitors, I start to evaluate Real Gem’s original site to find pain points that caused drop-off or confusion.
The audit revealed that Real Gem’s site lacked clarity, guidance, and visual structure needed to support confident decision-making, especially for first-time buyers.
04
Workflow Analysis
Why functions do we need to improve?
SOLUTION
The solution focuses on simplifying decision-making, building trust, and enabling efficient comparison across gemstones.
1
Simplifying Decision-Making
2
Enabling Comparison
3
Building Trust & Clarity
TAKEAWAYS