We never launch anything without first getting customer insights.
For Mervé Celikadam, UX Research acts as a critical insurance policy against user experience degradation.A look back at a year of partnership.
Profile: Bridging UX Design and Business Performance
After roles at TUI France and Maisons du Monde, Mervé Celikadam joined Petit Bateau 3 years ago as Lead UX & CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization). Her dual background enables her to effectively balance design goals with business metrics:
- UX Design: She ensures user journeys are intuitive, immersive, and engaging.
- Performance: She leverages experimentation (A/B testing) to validate the concrete business impact of optimizations.
In this effort, she collaborates closely with the Product, Design, Data Analyst, E-shop, Tech teams, and external partners.
A 5/5 Maturity: Shifting from Tools to Methodology
Mervé rates Petit Bateau's UX culture maturity as 5/5. While the necessary tools were already in place when she arrived, she established the robust methodology needed to make them actionable. Today, UX Research is systematically integrated into every continuous improvement and platform redesign cycle.
We simply cannot launch major projects without consulting our customers; the business risk is far too significant
Mervé emphasizes.
This customer-centric approach safeguards conversion rates and aligns teams around empirical evidence rather than subjective opinions.
A Continuous Loop of Research and Experimentation
User research informs every phase of the design process:
- Exploration (Discovery): An in-depth site and competitor audit to identify genuine user friction points and potential avenues for improvement.
- Evaluation (Validation): Testing new features using wireframes and prototypes to validate solution relevance before committing to development.
Beyond these two stages, A/B testing takes the lead: "Qualitative research provides us with hypotheses, and A/B testing measures the incremental gain." This cycle helps de-risk optimizations under live conditions. Far from being a "one-off," user test feedback continuously informs the experimentation roadmap well after a feature has gone live.
This commitment to systematic documentation ensures buy-in from all stakeholders (Product, E-shop, CRM, Tech) by transforming identified friction points into concrete tests for ongoing site enhancement.
Transitioning from the "All-in-One" to a Bespoke Ecosystem
Petit Bateau previously relied on an all-in-one platform. However, as the UX Research team matured and the volume of testing increased, Mervé felt the need for more specialized tools.
The new UX testing platform presented a steeper learning curve. At the same time, we aimed to increase our focus on quantitative research and better structure our user knowledge through a dedicated Research Repository.
In this new setup, BilendiUX was chosen based on three critical factors:
- Velocity: Absolute speed was necessary to avoid bottlenecking sprints. "From the moment we finalize prototypes to the moment we request recruitment, things must move fast."
- Simplicity: An intuitive platform for launching recruitment without technical friction, integrating seamlessly with their new tool ecosystem (Maze).
- Panel Quality: Mervé notes that there is "a difference between panels." She sought a partner capable of meeting very precise screening criteria, especially for moderated studies, while guaranteeing the perfect representation of the brand's customers and prospects.
Behind the Scenes: The PDP Redesign
The Product Detail Page (PDP) is the heart of the business. To reimagine it, Mervé brought together the product, tech, and e-shop teams for co-creation workshops: Crazy 8, Crazy 4, and finally, One Big Idea. This collaborative model formed the foundation for the new page prototypes.
To validate these design directions, the team tested the mockups in real-world scenarios. The most critical test focused on the size selection interface, which was initially a suboptimal dropdown menu.
- The Test: Three versions were quantitatively tested with a sample of 50 people (the current live site, a "radio button" version, and a "sidebar/panel" version).
- The Verdict: The results confirmed the team's hypothesis: the sidebar/panel version offered superior accessibility and readability, particularly on mobile devices.
Integrating this evaluation phase allowed the team to adapt the design based on actual user behavior, de-risking changes early in the design stage, well before development and deployment.
"The faster we recruit, the faster I can drive the project forward."
The primary benefit is speed. By delegating the logistics of recruitment, Mervé reclaims entire workdays for strategic analysis instead of operational tasks. She estimates that, for an unmoderated study, the time saved between launch and completion represents 10 working days, allowing her to proceed confidently with her projects.
The partnership is smooth, and the team is responsive—that's key for us. Being able to delegate recruitment is a huge relief; we gain both in panel quality and user insights, which allows us to confidently advance our product development.
Mervé's Key Takeaways
- Amplify the Voice of the Customer: "It's essential to maintain an evaluation phase, even under tight deadlines. To truly resonate with internal stakeholders, make sure to include compelling video clips and verbatim quotes in your reports. Nothing is more effective than hearing directly from the customer to legitimize our approach and embed it long-term in our processes."
- The Technical Pre-Test: "This is crucial: always conduct a technical pre-test of your animated prototypes before the actual user test to prevent any technical issues on the day."
- Incorporate Business Expertise: "Don't forget to include key stakeholders (Product, Tech & Eshop) in the design process. Their deep knowledge of the business and customers is indispensable to ensure the final design aligns with the strategic vision."
