Project Overview

Define Phase:

In the Define Phase, understanding how Puffy's competitors address similar customer pain points played a pivotal role in framing the problem with greater clarity. By analyzing the design and UX strategies of leading mattress brands like Saatva, Dream Cloud Sleep, Helix Sleep, and Nectar Sleep, I gained insights into industry best practices and common pitfalls that helped shape the solution for Puffy. Here’s a detailed breakdown of each competitor and how they informed my understanding of Puffy’s challenges:

1. Saatva:

Saatva is recognized for its clean, minimalist design that emphasizes luxury and trust. One of their standout features is the use of high-resolution images that focus on the texture and craftsmanship of the mattress, offering customers a virtual feel of the product. Their design ethos is rooted in whitespace utilization—decluttering the interface to make navigation intuitive and information digestible, which aligns with the psychological need for simplicity.

However, despite Saatva’s emphasis on visual appeal, I observed a key missed opportunity: the "Add to Cart" option is placed below the fold. This placement requires additional scrolling, which can cause decision friction for some users. For Puffy, I positioned critical CTAs like “Add to Cart” above the fold, allowing customers to quickly make purchase decisions without unnecessary scrolling. This decision directly addressed cognitive load theory, which posits that reducing the number of actions required to complete a task improves user experience​.

2. Dream Cloud Sleep:

Dream Cloud Sleep adopts a similar luxury-first design approach but differentiates itself by offering bundled product options such as mattresses combined with pillows, sheets, and mattress protectors. This simplifies the decision-making process by offering pre-packaged solutions that feel comprehensive and convenient.

This bundling strategy inspired a key feature in my design for Puffy: providing users with pre-curated product bundles. By offering users a simplified path to purchase (i.e., a mattress along with complementary products), I aimed to reduce the decision fatigue that often arises when customers are forced to evaluate too many individual options. According to choice overload theory, too many options can overwhelm users, reducing their satisfaction and likelihood of making a purchase. This insight helped me define a clearer path toward making Puffy’s product selection more seamless.

3. Helix Sleep:

Helix Sleep excels in customization and personalized shopping experiences. Their website offers users a mattress quiz, which helps them find the right product based on their specific sleep preferences. This level of personalization can be seen as a response to the problem of users feeling overwhelmed by choices.

While Helix’s interactive quiz provides value, it can also contribute to longer interaction times and may feel cumbersome for users who just want to make a quick purchase. For Puffy, I sought to balance customization with simplicity. Instead of implementing a lengthy quiz, I streamlined the Product Detail Page (PDP), making the most essential features (e.g., comfort, durability, and health benefits) immediately visible without requiring additional user input. This approach not only simplified the selection process but also catered to Puffy’s demographic—users who prioritize quick yet informed decisions​.

4. Nectar Sleep:

Nectar Sleep stands out by emphasizing value and affordability, offering features such as long trial periods and lifetime warranties. These aspects are communicated clearly on their website, which builds customer trust and reduces purchase hesitation. Nectar’s approach to presenting essential information in clear, concise language further reduces the cognitive load on the customer, a principle I integrated into Puffy’s redesign.

Inspired by Nectar’s focus on straightforward communication, I incorporated concise, easy-to-read descriptions into Puffy’s design. I avoided using jargon and instead focused on highlighting the most relevant benefits for users, such as health advantages, durability, and premium comfort. This approach is supported by research in cognitive psychology, which suggests that users are more likely to engage with content that is simple and directly addresses their needs.

5. Casper:

Casper is known for its highly visual, minimalistic design and extensive use of lifestyle imagery to convey the emotional appeal of its products. Their design aims to evoke feelings of comfort and peace of mind, which resonates with users who are seeking both aesthetic beauty and functional quality in their products.

Casper’s success in balancing visual appeal with user-centered content prompted me to apply similar strategies in the redesign for Puffy. I focused on creating a luxury brand experience through the use of stunning, high-quality images, ensuring the product's details (such as the stitching and fabric) were prominently displayed. By doing so, I ensured that users could visually experience the quality of the Puffy mattress without needing to read extensive descriptions, reducing decision fatigue while elevating the brand’s premium perception.

Defining the Customer's Problem:

By examining these competitors though A/B Testing, it became clear that while they excel in different areas—such as minimalism, customization, bundling, and trust-building—none of them fully address the overwhelming experience some users have when selecting a mattress. The recurring issue across the board is the feeling of overwhelm caused by either too many options or unclear presentation of product features. For Puffy, the problem I defined was to simplify the user journey by reducing unnecessary friction, offering clear and concise information, and balancing visual hierarchy with emotional appeal.