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Lessons Learned in e-Commerce

UX and TaxonomySeattle IA/UX Meetup 5.13.14

Some of our e-Commerce engagements...

Here are the lessons we’ll be talking about:

Lesson 1: Taxonomy is a key element of your brand promise.

Lesson 2: Your customers don’t care about your merchandising taxonomy. Don’t force them to.

Lesson 3: Techniques used to optimize the post-cart funnel usually don’t work for the pre-cart experience.

Lesson 4: Pre-cart findability requires organizational alignment.

Lesson 5: Analytics can be used to answer complex questions -- if you know what to ask and have the tools.

Lesson 6: There’s often a lot of work to do before you can measure ROI.

Lesson 1: Taxonomy is a key instrument of your brand promise.

You know your UX is a key instrument of your brand promise. So is your taxonomy.

● It can express brand attributes ● It can expose expertise ● It can demonstrate understanding ● It can articulate a style !When customers use your taxonomy, it’s an act of trust.

Flatware...?

Or Silverware?

Lesson 2: Your customers don’t care about your merchandising taxonomy. Don’t force them to.

Merchandising vs. Sales

● Same products ● Very different user needs and goals ● User-centered design techniques can

lead to better taxonomies

Before: navigation reflects merchandising taxonomy

After: navigation reflects customer needs, goals, and mental models

Lesson 3: Techniques used to optimize the post-cart funnel usually don’t work for the pre-cart experience.

Pre vs. Post Cart

● Pre = less well understood ● Post = well understood, mature

Why?

● Pre-cart experiences feature many different styles of shopping: research, inspirational, aspirational, known item, serendipity, etc.

● In post-cart experiences there is goal alignment between seller and buyer.

How does the means of understanding differ between pre- and post-cart experiences?

Research techniques and conclusions: ● Pre - cart

○ More generative and strategic ○ Qualitative AND quantitative

● Post - cart ○ More evaluative and tactical ○ Mostly quantitative.

It’s harder than it seems to get customers to a product page.

Lesson 4: Pre-cart findability requires organizational alignment.

Pre-cart Findability Requires Organizational Alignment

Organizational alignment is vital.

Experience factors: ● Item groupings ● Ability to zoom in/out ● Teleporting, not pogo-sticking ● Guided nav style (conversational, curated, etc.) ● Must be well-attributed ● Must be well-supported by navigation aids.

(How can I be sure I’m)Seeing All The Things?

Lesson 5: Analytics can be used to answer complex questions -- if you know what to ask and have the tools.

How analytics considerations can drive design and taxonomy management

The Basics: ● Examining Search Logs can tell you a lot.

Beyond the Basics: ● What does it tell us when customers abandon

browse for search? or the reverse? ● Where do guided navigation experiences impact

conversion the most? ● Instrument your site to support the questions your

business is driving you to ask.

Un-Guided Navigation

Home

Browse

ProductSort Filter

Search

Guided Navigation

Much less likely to see product page.

Sub-CategoryHome Category

Category Sub-category

Category Sub-category Search Results

Search Results

Search Results Product

Product

NOISE

Much more likely to see product page, and thus convert.

Lesson 6: There’s a lot of work to do before you can measure ROI.

What to do before you can measure ROI

● Can you plug into standard marketing metrics? ● How do you establish a baseline? ● Conversions vs. CSAT vs. operational efficiency.

DESIGN AND MODELING OF INFORMATION AND EXPERIENCES

813.702.3331 info@factorfirm.com

@factofirm factorfirm.com

THANK YOU!