Quickcycle Research & Tactics

Problem

QuickCycle is an online bike retailer. They are building a new website in which they need to reach a wide audience of buyers and help them determine which bike is right for them.

Concerns

Users will be at varying familiarities with bike culture and will need visual cues to navigate to which type of bike is right for them.
Language and visuals will need to be accessible to all users, but with more custom and detailed information available if need be.

My Solution Ideas

QuickCycle's homepage will operate in a somewhat similar manner to Mongoose's site, in that there will be a featured section of bikes, as well as bike collections that users can view. Like REI and Raleigh, there will be a nav bar that expands upon rollover for filtering and categories of information. Filters will include categories such as terrain, price, gender, color, etc. After choosing a category or collection, users will choose a specific model. There will be multiple photos to cycle through, as well as descriptions and customization features within this page. I would also like to address the ecommerce and buying process too.

Bike Seller Precedents

Mongoose

Homepage is clean and allows user to browse a limited range of thumbnails or select from collections.
Subsequent views of individual bikes are helpful zoomed out, but when the detail shots are clicked on they take over the screen.












Raleigh

Top nav bar drops down to divide bikes into Road or Mountain terrain, with further sub-categories based on purpose, size and age.
Subsequent views of individual bikes operate under a tab system that displays various features under a large image.










Electra

Electra's gender toggle button system allows users to easily see bike model differences in a thumbnail template scheme.








Schwinn

The most exciting and helpful part of the Schwinn site is the Bike Finder that breaks down where and how users will be riding their bikes.

Customization Examples

Women's NIKEiD

Offers a sidebar of custom tools as well as a thumbnail menu of the most popular options.








Converse Chuck Taylor Custom

Displays product with compelling rollover labels of customizable features along with custom toolbar.