How to influence stakeholders on design decisions
Conducted research that resulted in a significant change of opinion among the stakeholders.
Overview
Initially, the enrolment process was outside the Ankorstore platform, resulting in two distinct experiences and duplication of effort.
Current features used by Brands to add products:
- During enrolment, Brands can add products with any CSV file or manually.
- Once Brands are live, products can be added using Google sheets or manually.
With these two different systems, the user must learn two very different ways of doing the same thing: add products. While onboarding, users must create a file to upload their products which will be irrelevant once live as it's a different system. It brings frustration and confusion to users.
Business goals
- Reduce technical debt and improve development speed.
- Decrease bounce rate during onboarding.
- Better resource allocation to avoid effort duplication.
Product goals
- Harmonised flow to improve users' experience.
- Educate the user during onboarding to use the platform to its full potential later on.
- Encourage brands to upload their entire catalogue directly during their onboarding.
How the result looked like... but first, how did we get here?
Discovery
For this case study, I focus on product upload. We identified that Product upload was the step most users dropped during the onboarding process (84 % Conversion Rate) and the most dreaded by users, especially if they have a large catalogue.
When I joined the project, a Google Sheets feature was the only way to upload inventory. To expand the platform's capabilities, the proposal was made to add a new button that would allow users to upload inventory using any CSV file. Initially, this was seen as a quick, straightforward solution to help move things forward. However, there were concerns about whether users would understand how to use the new feature. Despite these concerns, stakeholders were convinced that the new button would be easy for users to understand.
Hypotheses that need to be tested
We had the following hypotheses when starting the project.
We believe that...
A complete catalogue will be achieved if brands can upload their catalogue in different ways. (´Any CSV´, Google Sheets template)
The reduction of calls to the support team will be achieved if Brands have more options to upload their catalogue.
The Google Sheet template will be well understood if Brands need some guidance to upload their products in bulk.
More Brands will be willing to provide their entire catalogue directly at onboarding.
10 users interviews
We conducted 10 user interviews with two different iterations to check if users could understand the flow with two features
- Upload ´Any CSV´ file (CSV/XLS).
- Ankorstore template (Google sheet).
Tested ideas
Initially, we attempted to work within the squad's resources and made some minor design changes (such as UI and content). However, it quickly became apparent that these changes were not sufficient. Users were struggling much more than we had anticipated, and they seemed uncertain about what was expected of them at each step of the process. Despite our best efforts to make small adjustments, it was clear that a more significant overhaul was necessary to improve the user experience.
Findings
From the first contact with the platform, users are easily overwhelmed with deciding between options for adding their catalogue.
Good to know
Problems
- Users have very different maturity when it comes to using spreadsheets.
- Many brands have a homemade CSV/XLS, but are scared that the fields will not match Ankorstore fields.
- Brands are more familiar with excel than with Google Sheets.
- Users are looking for a downloadable Ankorstore template.
How to help?
Needs
- Guiding users to choose appropriate options when adding products.
- Educate them on how to upload products.
- Avoid forcing them to make a non-informed choice among too many options.
- Use language that makes sense to them.
Problems
Needs
Share findings
To help illustrate the extent of the user's difficulties with the proposed design, we compiled a video showing users struggling to add products. This presentation was a powerful tool for demonstrating the urgent need for change.
By showing the video to stakeholders, we communicated that the quick fix was insufficient to meet our users' needs.
Need for design changes
We allocated some time for feedback and alignment between two squads with devs, product managers, and designers (around 30 people). We talked to devs about tech feasibility, highlighting potential blockers/difficult points and covered open questions. We managed to agree on the direction the design was heading off.
Final design
After conducting multiple rounds of testing and gathering feedback, we took a step back from our initial approach and developed a new flow that is more aligned with the user's needs. The results were clear - users could easily understand and navigate the new design.
Products page to add products
The user is provided with a personalised experience and guided to easily add products based on their answers.
How will you add your products?
A step-by-step process that brings users clarity. Additional informational displayed to better guiding users.
Select a template
Users can download a template or select an online template.
Last prototype created to upload 'any CSV' file
How the solution improve the current flow?
Based on the final user testing we have done:
- Step by step process reduces the confusion.
- The preview increases the confidence that their file would match the Ankorstore column.
- The guidance during onboarding allowed users to learn about the tools.
- Downloadable XLS template reassures users.
Decision tree showing value added in delivery phases (MVP/V1/V2)
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Conclusion
Through conversations with our users and gaining a better understanding of their needs, we realised that the initial solution would have been difficult to use. To further convey our users' struggles with adding products in bulk, we created a video that effectively communicates their frustrations. As a result of sharing our findings, resources have been allocated to develop a new functionality with appropriate design.
Key learnings:
Adapt your narrative to your audience. That was paramount in driving this project and prioritising a user-centred design in a packed roadmap.
