ChannelActive - Multichannel Management E-commerce Platform

ChannelActive is a comprehensive e-commerce platform designed to help sellers sell their products on any channel.

Addressing churn by improving the product listing workflow

OVERARCHING PROBLEM

ChannelActive experienced churn at a rate of 8% monthly. Users must be able to execute tasks effectively without issues or trip-ups in their workflow. 

My Contribution

UX Design

UI Design

Usability Testing

Heuristic Evaluation

PROJECT-SPECIFIC PROBLEM

Users are not able to effectively meet listing requirements. Users should be alerted to requirements for creating listings and provided with the necessary guidance to ensure they can effectively meet them.

Methods

Internal stakeholder interviews

User interviews

User testing (A/B)

DISCOVERY

Understanding core issues

During our bi-weekly product team meeting, we uncovered a significant issue: our churn rate was alarmingly high. Further investigation revealed a lack of visibility into the leading indicators of churn, which directly relate to UX metrics.

To address this, I spearheaded a heuristic evaluation of our current listing workflow, reviewed customer feedback, conducted usability tests of the current listing workflow, and analyzed support tickets.

One key takeaway from our meetings and subsequent research is that the product listing workflow is the primary cause of user frustration, impacting a core feature we offer to our customers.

Evaluating Current Listing Workflow
 

Heuristic Evaluation: I conducted a heuristic evaluation of the listing workflow to gain a comprehensive overview of the product listing experience. The existing flow diagram revealed several pain points and areas for improvement.
 

The main areas of concern were the visibility of the system, error prevention, user control, error recovery, and recognition of errors.

User Feedback and Support Tickets:

• Usability Surveys: 65% of users expressed dissatisfaction with the listing workspace.
• HubSpot Customer Feedback Exit Surveys: 76% of users desired more granular control and were confused by the "One input to many" approach in the listing workflow.
  
• Moderated Usability Testing: The lead PM and I tested the current experience with two customers who matched our ideal user profile by at least 75%. We wanted to establish a baseline for the current UX. This revealed several needs that correlated with issues found during the heuristic evaluation of the listing workflow.
  Canny Feature Requests: Users frequently requested improvements and features related to the listing workflow, specifically listing property editing.

Overall, users are facing challenges with the current listing workflow. They encounter errors when inputting listing property data, are unsure which fields correspond to each channel, and cannot go back or view all channel requirements. Additionally, the user is not notified of errors and would like a color system to indicate channel success or errors. The user also requests segregation of channel listing property fields, a back button, and a way to view and modify requirements by channel.

I consolidated findings into two artifacts that capture the overall workflow experience for our users and map out the listing UX flow. 

After discussing the findings with the Product leadership and the CTO, I realized that ChannelActive's UX philosophy of "one input to many" was being applied in situations that weren't necessary. This was an attempt to simplify workflows, leading to confusion and not meeting user expectations. Users wanted more precise control and greater channel segregation for listing properties.

DESIGN

Revamping Information Architecture: Prioritizing User-Critical Content

I prioritized the most critical content for users, while also challenging the minimalistic workflow philosophy that was causing confusion. The new IA focused on channel segmentation, which was paramount for the user's success in listing property inputs.

"Global" properties were considered common across all channels based on reading listing requirements and API documentation of each channel and was an aggregate "view" of all listing properties. This aggregate view maintained the "one input to many" product philosophy. However, you will notice that channels were also brought to the top of the IA to provide detailed control for users.

Optimizing UX Flow: Flexible Product Property Editing

Designed a new UX flow for product property editing, allowing users to choose between the old method or edit by channel. This provided flexibility and clarity for the channel property management workflow.

Bringing it to life with UI

I designed the UI based on the new IA and feedback from engineering and product managers.

High impact features

Visibility of System: Channel Segregation

We enabled users to modify listing properties by channel, providing channel-specific control and allowing fine-tuning of properties based on channel recommendations. Because of the prominent position and styling of the channel navigation, users can easily identify the channel listing properties they are focusing on.

Error Prevention: Multi Select or Free-text

Users now have the opportunity to have more than one value for most listing properties. Using ChannelActive’s proprietary system, the best input value will be sent to the appropriate channel. Users will also be presented with a pre-determined set of values that will be accepted by all channels.

Error Recongintion: Color-coded Channel Icons

Users will now be notified of four different states through color coded channel icons. Error type 1 (orange) indicates that the user's input needs to be modified, while error type 2 (red) shows that the values provided are not accepted by the channel(s). In addition, we have two input states: an empty state, represented by the color gray, and a complete/success state, represented by the color blue.

Relevant Feedback: Detailed Helper Text

Users will now reivive detailed helper text for input fields that will deliver relevant information such as error details, hints, or links to helpful resources.

Error Recovery and Greater Control

Users can edit property values by channel for greater control if they desire to do so. This feature was implemented to reduce workflow interruption and bring crucial functionality to the point of need.

TESTING

We tested the new design with a 3 users who were an 80% match to our ideal user profile. The feedback was positive:

The user appreciated the ability to navigate to a channel-specific view.
He noted that the new design allowed him to narrow down listing requirements and minimize errors when publishing listings.

Results:

• Improved Listing Success Rate (LSR): Post-implementation, the LSR increased from 40% to 75%.
• Enhanced Customer Satisfaction: Users reported a more intuitive and less frustrating experience.
  
• Reduced Churn: The improved usability and user experience led to a significant reduction in churn.
  

Conclusion:

This project underscored the importance of identifying and addressing leading indicators of churn through a combination of heuristic evaluation, user feedback analysis, and data-driven insights. Implementing a user-centric solution significantly improved key metrics and user satisfaction, ultimately reducing churn.