Searching for a product is the initial step for online shopping experience. The challenges for search in E-commerce platform are: dropping use rate and conversion rate for purchasing product. This project aims to increase the usage and conversion rate for Search page.
While traffic of visit and product order raise, however, the conversion rate didn't catch up with the growth. Which indicated that shoppers couldn't browse and found out matched products through on-site search.
The company: As Rakuten Taiwan's core business was e-commerce, our goal for this project was redesign the legacy Search web page and enhancing Search function.
Responsibilities: I was a senior UX designer, conducting the user research, usability testing and redesign the Search page base on users needs and requirements from Business Department. I also shared the insights from research to cross-functional teams and helped the teams to plan the enhancement in users feet.
PC website search page:
RSR increase 12% ⬆︎
Bounce rate slightly decrease 0.06% ⬇︎
Mobile website search page:
Enter shop section increase 1% ⬆︎ (significant, 95% confidence)
Bounce rate decrease 2% ⬇︎
At the start of the project we had some requirements for the new search feature. Without pre-exist user behavior data, I interviewed 12 existing shoppers to understood how they explore to search in the platform.
Distract From Efficient Products Scanning
Users were less concentrate on scanning product list and checking if results relevant to their searching. Variety color for product information, font size and image size made users harder for efficient scanning.
Out of Focus Product Information
Hard to scan through long product title and check if results matched. Product title in long description made shoppers confused about what the actual product was.
Trustworthy Brings Repurchase
When comparing product items in search results, shoppers more likely to choose those from their trusted shops or items with higher reviews.
Recreation Searching
Require for variety of choices and on trend recommends at a glance.
Goal-oriented Searching
Accurately match to user inquiry.
After the main wireframe validated, an interactive prototype was created. I led 20 user tests to evaluate the redesign. The user test resulted valuable information, including ideas and insights to solve users' problems.
Prototype Flow Analysis
Collect data for complete rate, time consuming between current product and new design.
Understand which step blocked shoppers from task completion.
Prototype Heatmap Analysis
Tracking what shoppers use and how they complete given search task.
Verify if given new design able to help shoppers for searching.
New Design:
Before Redesign:
Collect usability issues and user feedbacks from prototype testing. Conclude several action items need to be solve in next design iteration.
Users scan through product list to check if these results matched what in their mind. And compare between products for a good deal. Depending on preference of recreation or goal-oriented search behavior.
Moving search filters to upper area and help users add advanced search filters easier and enlarge space for displaying product list.
Combine filters into one place.
No need to scroll downward for more filter options.
Help users screening for expecting results.
Advance search filters at hand on mobile device
Variety of search results brings recreation search type shoppers dive into exploring. With Advance filters near their side and take shoppers one step closer to purchase.
Category Restructure with Logic Data Team
Beside the page redesign, the category structure couldn't fulfill needs from merchants, consumers and marketing strategy for searching products. The challenges for UX were:
How to display new category within new search filter structure
How to indicate data retrieve status if necessary
Responsive Design