NICOLE PAPP
PROJECT SUMMARY
TEAM
MY CONTRIBUTION
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Google Docs, Books, Blogs
Team of 50+ MSMs,
Launch Engineers and
various product and
marketing managers
UX Research: Buyer personas, landing pages/ sidte redirects, google analytics views, eye tracking, heat mapping, usability testing, Augmented Reality
Report Writing: Writing my section, editing and formatting for presentation
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TOOLS
THE PROJECT
Overview
Previously, the merchant success team had a randomized approach to providing our merchants with strategic advice to help them grow their businesses. MGM, in simple terms, is a maturity model that has been developed as a guide to help a merchant build a successful business. By utilizing the model, a merchant will be able to assess where their business is currently performing in key business areas as well as see the path to where they need and want to go. The MGM Playbook consists of 6 phases: Acquisition, Conversion, Retention, Brand Strategy, Technology Solutions / Integrations, Business Operations / Management. Each playbook consists of checklists, recommendations, suggestions, best practices, etc. to help MSMs level up merchants according to the model.
Our specific project component focused on User Experience as a part of the Conversion playbook.
My Role
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My role focused on Level 3 which was the expanding level of the MGM growth model; where the merchant's business is growing into different regions
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I was responsible for researching, explaining and writing about the following topics:
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buyer personas
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how to optimize landing pages/ site redirects for optimal user flow
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the proper way to set up google analytics views to get the proper data to make informed insights about the user experience of your website
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What heat mapping is and how it can give valuable insights into what is and isn't working on your website
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How to set up and run eye tracking tests and the data it can provide you with
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How to successfully start and run a usability test
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Became a substitute leader for our team while the lead of the UX team was away; managed the team to finalize each section of the playbook and finalize its edits for release to the team
Objectives
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As a result of the Merchant Success team having variability in the type of services and topics of conversation offered, the MGM project's aim is to standardize the types of information shared with our clients
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The specific objective of myself and my team was to create a user experience playbook that outlines the what, and the how to of several user experience research strategies that applied to various stages of a merchant's business
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The user experience playbook was intended for Merchant Success Managers (MSM) to use when consulting with their clients, to set up testing and data gathering methods that will help inform any iterative design changes required on the merchant's website
Challenges
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Determining which user experience methods fit into which growth stage of the Merchant's business was a challenging feat that took a lot of research, brainstorming and determining several criteria to help us narrow down where the research methods belonged
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Originally, as a team, we struggled to figure out what UX research or design strategies would apply to a business that is operating at level 5 (mature) of the business growth model; we determined that we didn't need strategies but rather needed examples of the cutting edge use of technology (example - Augmented Reality) by businesses that were very established
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THE PROCESS
1) As a team we got together to discuss and brainstorm different tactics (in the form of user experience research methods and user experience strategies) that improve the user experience of our client's sites. We then decided which stages of the MGM maturity model made sense for each tactic.
MGM MATURITY MODEL
Malia Mills - My evaluation of a possible user path when making a purchase decision
Our final arrangement of where each tactic would be applicable was based on the merchant's stage in their business growth, the resources they had available to them and what their current goals were. Tactics included a focus on the buyer persona, buyer journey, page hierarchy, website UI, a/b testing, landing pages and redirects etc. We conducted several google hangout meetings to discuss our direction and to finalize each of our section's components.
2) For my specific section (Level 3- Expanding), I focused on merchants who were expanding their stores to several different regions in addition to their current store. I researched into these topics:
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Buyer Personas - Using another team member's written out guide and my own research, I explored how to build buyer personas for multiple online stores under one brand. building these personas would allow the MSM and the merchant to truly understand the target audiences of each region; leading to a greater understanding of the UX requirements for each website
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Landing pages - using the built out buyer personas from the tactic above, I researched into best practices for landing pages, and how to build out an effective user flow based on the buyer persona requirements
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Site redirects - I explored best practices to establish site redirects between a web of multiple sites in a way that was effective and not confusing to the user flow of the website
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Google Analytics Views: I researched into different google analytics views that can be set up to showcase several pieces of data about who is visiting your site, where they are spending their time on your site and where on the site there is drop off; exposing what is working on your site and what isn't
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Eye Tracking: diving into what eye tracking is, what technology is needed for it to be conducted and how to actually conduct an eye tracking test were the key components of what I researched into for this section
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Heat mapping: I outlined the key components of heat mapping, including mouse clicks, mouse movement, scroll reach, the tools used for heat mapping, and how to analyze the data that comes out of using this strategy
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Usability testing: In this section, I explored how to ask a client the right questions to determine what components of their website (or app) need to be tested and with who. I also explored the correct process to conduct a usability test including the format (remote or in person), a test plan, running a dry run and many other steps.
3) Once my section was completed, I reached out to my team mates to figure out if there was anything else that needed to be completed in our User Experience playbook. Resources were required on level 1 - Emerging to help with site page hierarchy and homepage UX best practices. We used slack to communicate about what additional sections need to be completed.
We had a google hangout to discuss what areas needed focus and attention. Once things were clarified via the meeting, I began researching site hierarchy best practices including flat hierarchy versus deep site hierarchy, primary, secondary and additional shop pages, and how to conduct an audit of the current page hierarchy of a site and what changes needed to be implemented.
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Once this section was completed, I reached out to another team member to help with the homepage UX best practices.
3) Upon the completion of all four of our sections, I began to organize the playbook to include a clickable table of contents, ensure the content was formatted consistently throughout the document, and grammar and spelling mistakes were edited.
3) The final step was for me to bring the team together to collaborate and brainstorm different strategies that could be used by a level 5- mature merchant. Our primary focus ended up being Augmented Reality
KEY LESSONS
What did I learn?
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There are several different tactics that can be used based on the maturity level of a merchant, simply because of the use case that the merchant is in, which includes their focus within the stage, and their resources available to them
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Eye tracking requires a huge investment in both equipment, expertise and time to conduct the eye tracking tests but the tactic yields in depth data
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Various google analytics views can yield a very solid data resource for identifying how users are interacting with a site at no extra charge
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The virutal page tracking view in Google Analytics can show the interaction on a page, rather then only seeing entry and exit pages
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Goal funnels are able to show the activity of each step required to achieve a goal, which gives in depth data to help identify where design changes need to be made
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Anything that blends both the digital realm and real life (ex. Augmented reality) is out of the box thinking for a creative user experience at the level 5- Mature.
What would I have done differently?
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Including the UX team earlier in the process could have provided confirmation and resources that may have taken a lot longer to find ourselves - in the next phase of the project, the user experience team is being heavily involved
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The amount of content required to fill out the UX playbook was extensive; had we been able to add more team members to split up the work, we could have fleshed out each section a bit more
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If I had the chance to start this project over again, I would discuss user experience topics with my clients to gain a better perspective into how they approach their user experience research activities and user interface designs.
FINAL PRODUCTS
IMPACT MADE
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The entire user experience playbook, which is a part of the larger MGM Playbook series is going to help the Merchant Success team at large with any user experience discussions they have with their clients
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The playbook will ultimately help merchants improve their website user experience which will help improve their conversion rates