Introduction
I had a project where I had to redesign an existing website. So I chose eBay as my site. It is such a widely used platform but the UI design is very poor. So as a team of four, we started doing research and completed a case study. With 5 Months of time we were able to complete the whole project. We concentrated on the buying sector of the site. So the website we redesigned is for a user who is a buyer. Let me know if we could change anything or add few more!!
DESK RESEARCH
Introduction:
- eBay is a global e-commerce website that has revolutionized the way we buy items online for the past two decades. 159 million Users
- Their online catalog consists of various goods of limited edition or quantity and at cheap prices.
- It is best known for its auctions and consumer to consumer sales. It’s also extremely popular for online merchants to use as a sales channel. eBay’s available in many different countries. However, you can search for products available in your local area by entering the zip code. Alternatively, you can search for products available nationally or internationally.
Literature Review
Inconsistent with E-commerce Site Standards
- Dynamic auto-fill for Sell search bar — enters a different page to enforce instead of staying on the same page
- Item names keep changing, list moving to different categories, list not appearing.
Lengthy Information
- Excessive buyer information for viewing under a seller’s profile — what, when, how much, and at what price a buyer purchased from a particular seller.
- Endless text with several external links and no clear organization on the Sell’s Help articles and FAQ’s
Inconsistent Visual Design
- No consistent theme across the site — lack of efficient use and choice of color, unusually large text, inefficient use of negative space, no separation indicators
- Different item descriptions between all sellers — makes the product page appear messy and cluttered
Inefficient Display of Features
- Repetitive help links which redirect to the same Help page — unnecessary
- No description for Auction vs. Buy It Now features — According to our user tasks, 4/6 participants were confused between their difference.
For a user who’s interested in finding a specific brand that they don’t see listed, the inability to find a full list of brands right away may cause frustration
This may make them feel like they don’t have control, pushing the situation toward one of a bad user experience. Ebay could possibly add the “All Filters” option to this main page as part of the navigable categories down the left-hand side of the page, instead of users’ only being able to find it once they click on something else
(Source):
Design Critique: Ebay.com (Desktop Website) — IXD@Pratt (prattsi.org)
https://medium.com/uci-inf132-ux-project-spring-2020/ebay-a-ux-case-study-a0d861d169a5
Competitor Analysis
- Amazon: largest online retailer and a prominent cloud service provider
- Bonanza: online marketplace that permits its users to sell everything from antiques to electronics
- Alibaba: online B2B marketplace where buyers and sellers from around the world can connect and carry out transactions
Stakeholder Analysis
- Primary stakeholders
include shareholders, customers, suppliers, lenders etc
- Secondary stakeholders
include the environment,NGOs
- Tertiary stakeholders
include employees, management, government, local government
Power Matrix
Heuristic Evaluation
1)Visibility of system status
- No information is given on how much has been completed or how much remains to be completed.
- The money cost is only shown at the end.
2)Match between system and the real world
- Shipping address — hard to recognize your own address if it’s just the postal code
- The prices were still being displayed in default setting, even after changing the address(Country)
3) control and freedom
- Most pages allows to return to previous categories
- Control through menus
4)Consistency and standards
- Review system — Follow real-world conventions, making information appear in a natural and logical order.
- Flat Design, No Gradients and Depth.
5)Error prevention
Telling users which input information is wrong, by using red error messages, to prevent errors from happening.
6)Recognition rather than recall
The user should not have to remember information from one part of the dialogue to another.
7)Flexibility and efficiency of use
- Ebay allows to its user to go beyond the classic search bar and execute really detailed researches.
- Choose the specific market section to research.
- Quick access to specific products, sales and categories.
- But the categories are not properly organized.
- Category Path is clearly shown
8)Aesthetic and minimalist design
- No proper shadows and depth in border which makes it hard to distinguish.
- Inconsistent design choices
9)Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors
- Classic login error
- Email format?
- Empty field?
User has no information about what is wrong.
10) Help and documentation
Help and support is fine.
PRIMARY RESEARCH
Affinity Mapping
Survey Graphs and Analysis
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS:
- Personal Information
- Have you used Ebay before.
- Tell me about your experience using the EBAY website.
- How satisfied are you with the design of the website?
- How do you feel about navigating through the website?
- Tell me how you feel about sign up/ log in process.
- What do you feel about the colors used in the website?
- Do you feel EBAY is well categorise and easy to explore?
- What do you feel about the checkout process?
- Do you find your solutions for the errors you get in website?
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FWmMD6e8qlI3kZeeoJPgQSHqvosv3bZd-Lgrb-bPszg/edit?usp=sharing
Thematic Analysis of Primary Research
User Segmentation
User Persona
Customer Journey Map
Empathy Map
POV Statements
How might we Questions
Ideation
Brainstorming/Mind mapping
Worst Possible Idea
Reverse Brainstorming
Evaluating ideas and converting into practical ones
Affinity Mapping
Task flows (To Be)
Start → Home Page → LogIn → Select Category → Select Clothing Category → Select Women Clothing → Women Clothing Page → Select a Dress →
Click Buy Now → Payment Page → Enters Shipping Address →
Selects Payment Method → Click Place Order
END
Information Architecture
Wireframes
Redesign
