Next-Generation Product Marketplace

Developing a one-stop-shop for educators and students to search, discover, adopt, and onboard new lines of digital Courseware.

Roles and Responsibilities

My Role

Senior UX Product Lead, Sole UX Interaction & Visual Design, User Testing, Wireframing, Prototyping.

The Agile Team

Product Manager, Lead UX Designer, User Research Specialists, Lead Web Dev Manager, Overseas Developers.

The Tools

  • Adobe Creative Suite (Diagrams, charts, wireframes, prototypes).

  • Dreamweaver, HTML, CSS, Javascript (Clickthroughs, testing).

The Timeline

Project start: March 2014

Release (V1): April 2015

Subsequent releases: April 2015 - December 2018

Scope & Constraints

  • A small budget was allocated to the project.

  • Resources for project management, research, and designers were not allocated.

Getting Started

Defining and exploring the common structure of basic eCommerce search engines.

 

Preliminary Research

  • Heuristic Analysis -

  • Analysis of common search engines and online catalogs including Google, Amazon, Barne & Nobel, and Chegg.

  • I acquired and studied Baymard Reports for reference: E-Commerce Search Usability and Best Practices.

  • I conducted a full audit of all current storefronts to determine the workforce, LEO, and the ROI to maintain the individual sites.

Results

  • All eCommerce platforms all shared the same basic page elements. These included a search bar, filtering, Search Results Pages (SERPs), Product Detail Pages (PDPs), and a distinct Call to Action (the big “buy” button).

  • Innovation thinking will lead the design, but we do not need to reinvent the wheel on the ubiquitous search experience users encounter daily.

 
UX-VENN-DIAGRAM-EXCHANGE.png

Rapid Ideation and Prototypes.

Getting a simulated live product experience in front of users for conducting interviews and task-based testing.

DRAWINGS-WIRES-MONTAGE.png

Creating a 30,000 ft view

  • I created system flow diagrams to illustrate the information architecture and the other systems needing to be incorporated.

  • I started with hand drawings and wireframes to gain a clear picture of the page elements, page sequencing, and user flows.

Putting it all together

  • I collaborated with the visual design team that was developing a new design library.

  • Design assets were delivered for use in the prototypes.

  • I rendered the rough wires and drawings into designs using real-time product imagery, titles, and metadata

  • All static page states were created and sequenced in preparation for test creation.

  • I created HTML click-throughs that simulated a live experience to be utilized in writing the final testing scripts with a research specialist.

 

Testing

Validating the design decisions and proving the hypothesis for a single educational marketplace.

Interviews and Task-Based Testing.

  • 5 Educators were presented with the basic page layouts.

  • Interview questions included:

    • What are the page elements that are most important in driving adoption confidence?

    • Does the experience meet their expectations for an educational marketplace?

  • Subjects were given the simple task of finding a specific product and asked to use the system to locate that product.

  • Observations included:

    • Basic search methods - Preference of using the search bar vs. navigation.

    • Search results display - Does the information in the display lists supply enough information to accurately locate the specific product?

    • Product Detail Page (PDP) - Does the Overview, Table of Contents, and Author details supply enough information to consider adoption of the product?

  • A System Usability Scale (SUS) rating was collected.

Results

  • The subjects unanimously voiced the system met their expectations and needs for search and discovery.

  • The three top areas of page element importance were Product titles, ISBN, and Student cost.

  • There were different opinions on the hierarchal stacking of the Product information as to Description, TOC, and Author bios.

  • 90% of instructors found the system simple, friendly, and familiar.

  • Seach vs. Navigation capabilities varied. Interestingly, Math and Science preferred the search bar, Humanities and Professional Trades preferred browsing.

  • Many voiced they didn’t know Pearson had such a wide variety of products.

  • The preferred stacking order of the Overview, Table of Contents, and Author details on the PDPs also varied.

  • Unanimously, the most important page elements to drive adoption were Product Image, Title, ISBN, and Student cost.

  • SUS ratings received an average of 9 (second highest) amongst all participants.

Challenges

  • The current system used legacy technology that would need to re-built from top to bottom.

  • All Product line owners were not on board with offering other content alongside their own. They felt it would affect their bottom line.

 
 

 The Outcome

  • Providing educators with an educational marketplace for their course content was well received and proved successful in testing.

  • Design and development of an Enterprise Solution Solution will move forward as the delivery mechanism for next-generation Courseware, eTexts, and Learning Apps.