OVERVIEW:

About Company: 

Amazon is one of the world's largest e-commerce platforms, which has become a household name when it comes to online shopping. It also focuses on cloud computing, digital streaming and artificial intelligence. 

MY ROLE:

Carried out secondary research, remotely conducted user interviews and UX sessions with the target audience, Collaborated with a UX Consultant and a UX Researcher, analyzed findings, prepared the final report and delivered research-driven design recommendations.

PROJECT BACKGROUND:

UX Research project for understanding users online buying behavior during the end-of-season sale and why they were buying from Amazon's competitor in terms of fashion. Though Amazon was offering more discounts and varieties, users were still not buying from its sale. Through user interviews and UX sessions, we identified the pain points of the users on the Amazon app, motivations to buy from its competitor and how Amazon can provide a successful user experience when it comes to online shopping.

OBJECTIVES:

• Understanding the perception of the users around the sale on the Amazon app Vs its competitor.

• Understanding what is working and not working w.r.t fashion sales, how it is impacting user's shopping behavior and the perception around the sale.

RESEARCH PROCESS:

1 - Secondary Research 

• I did a competitive analysis between Amazon and its competitor to gain insights into what Amazon has/has not to offer that is being offered/not offered by its competitor. 

• I tapped into how Amazon's competitor is interacting and engaging with users on different social media platforms and ultimately make them buy from its own platform. 

• I found that the competitor is making better use of features in different social media platforms to interact live and engage with users.

2 - User Interviews and UX Sessions

• After having all the information about Amazon's competitor, I moved forward to prepare a discussion guide, recruited participants and conducted 8 user interviews and UX sessions on Google Meet to know if users were aware of the sale on both platforms and how they felt about it. 

• I also looked for need gaps if there were any to determine how Amazon can fulfill that and I then asked about users' expectations from the sale on both platforms. During each session, I asked users to share their screens to tap into in-app communication where drivers for sale and their manifestations were discussed and to see how users compared the two sales. 

• I observed the user's screen throughout, which gave me more clarity about the exact moments of struggle for the user while interacting with the Amazon app.

3 - Analysis and Reporting

• I collated all the data in the Excel sheet using the Voice In (speech-to-text) typing tool (Chrome extension for data entry), collaborated with a UX Consultant & a UX Researcher and analyzed the data to identify the behavior patterns of users and major reasons why they were exhibiting a particular behavior. 

• On the basis of our analysis, I then moved forward to prepare a final report in which design recommendations were discussed as to how Amazon can improve the user's buying experience on its platform.

KEY INSIGHTS:

• While the sale page showcased multiple brands, many felt that it still lacked a branded variety quotient → lack of premium / popular brands & layout of the page.  

• Shoppers complained about the lower/no discounts on the brands they wanted to purchase.

• Despite the targeted search, the product page showcased unfamiliar brands, which led to the perception of a lack of variety.

• Many mentioned that such heavy discounts won't come from any good brand. Premium / popular brands are generally in the 20%-40% range. 

RECOMMENDATIONS:

• Showcasing the range of brands along with discounts on the brand might help get traction among fashion shoppers.

• The result should be aligned with the search and only relevant products should be shown on top of the page. The alternate options can come at the bottom of the page. 

• The seamless use of trendy visuals is very critical, as one non-trendy visual catches more attention than the trendy ones and leads to a poor impression of the sale. 

KEY LEARNINGS FOR ME:

• Optimize based on timelines (Avoiding procrastination of the tasks helped me deliver the report before the deadline) 

• Conducting remote UX sessions (Conducted UX Sessions for the first time)

• Coordinate with users one day in advance (A user didn't show up on the day of the session)

• Check logistics before each session (A user struggled for quite a time adjusting his system)