Using the Learning Launch tool and the help of the  customers to get insights for a e-commerce

The challenge

I work at a beauty e-commerce site as a designer and the team have the task to  increase the sales to keep the company running good and proﬁtable in the expected  ways the directos where planning.

We sell beauty products, only that. It`s not something that people (in this case, most  women) need to survive and it isn`t something people are willing to buy every  weekend. So, how could we sell more of those expensive products to the  customers?

We talked after the brieﬁng and we agreed that we could`t make people desire to  buy more, it could`t be done, we can`t change people behavior. But, maybe we could  make the site easier so our customers could buy faster, and maybe this way they  would buy more.

So for that task I review every screen of the system to see where we have room to  improve. I also looked and test other e-commerce sites to see how the navigation  and the cart goes, learning what is good and what is bad for our users.

The tools

After that study on my own I bring some hypothesis of why people aren’t buying  more from us:

1 - people didn’t understand of get confused somewhere in the cart, and don`t buy; 2 - people aren’t ﬁnd the products they want on the site, and because of that didn’t  buy anything; 3 - people simple ﬁnd the product for a lower price somewhere.

Having these hypothesis I decided to use the Learning Launch tool that we learn in  the module 4 of the course, because it could bring me to the true by conﬁrm or dis- conﬁrm my assumptions. Either way I would have evolved at this matter ate the end  of the process by the learning: if one of my hypothesis was true I would know where  to work to solve the matter, and if all was false I still have time to think and try  something else.

The Application

So for the ﬁrst step I create some very simple prototype of the site change some  information of how we present the products and making a new navigation at the cart  screen to be simpler and fast. I also write some questions to get to know how people  use and thinking about our site and how they use it. Some of the questions were  generic, just to get to know the person and her habits, but some of then were speciﬁc  to test my hypothesis, like:

- What other sites did you you use to buy online? Which one is easy to buy? Why?  How about ours? What we should improve? - What do you do when you don`t ﬁnd the product on ours website?  - What do you do to pay less in your shop? How important save money is to you?

After that part done I invite 5 customers that frequently buy from us and 5 customers  that bought only once in the last year, since Jakob Nielsen recommend that we uses  5 people to do usability tests to get a satisfactory status (https://www.nngroup.com/ articles/why-you-only-need-to-test-with-5-users/) and we want to test it fast. If the  result wasn’t conclusive enough we could get more participants.

Finally we invite each participant to the ofﬁce separately, we talked to them,  understand how they live, what they usually buy, how they buy, why and when. We  also show the prototype and get the feedback, some of them were happily to show  us the other sites and what features they like most in each one.

The Insights

At the end of the interviews, I analyzed the results and come back to my hypothesis  and the new status was:

1 - people didn’t understand of get confused somewhere in the cart, and don`t buy; Result: they do understand but it can be improved, the prototype was pretty positive  for everyone. We should implement that.

2 - people aren’t ﬁnd the products they want on the site, and because of that didn’t  buy anything; Result: they do found the products, no problem here. And when the product isn’t  available they know we can send an e-mail when it arrives at the site.

3 - people simple ﬁnd the product for a lower price somewhere. Result: they do search for a better price, but we are one of the most favorite places  to buy because we delivery very fast. And it is also important.

The tool worked for my hypothesis, but something else shows up naturally after we  talked to our customers: almost everyone said spontaneous to us that special offers  in special days, like valentines, christmas, and other dates is when they looked more  beauty products. They also liked when we have some special offers in ordinary days,  and even when they aren’t searching anything on those days there is always a friend  that talked about it.

So now, with the help of our customers we have a new response:

- To make more proﬁt, we should`t focus on selling more to each customer. We must  sell more ofter to them, using every holiday possible and creating new offer days.

The Approach

After all that we still talking to the marketing team to ﬁgure out how can we work that  new insight our customers give to us, but the learning launch tool combined with our

interview where great to give us a clear way to walk.

I liked the idea of test hypothesis as soon as possible, it gives us more room to fail  fast and learn soon. It was also extremely important the participation of the  customers, I`m sure we could`t see this path as easy as it was showed to us without  them.

I`m certainly will use it more in other problems, because I ﬁnd it perfect to test some  interaction, some part ou some process on websites. It`s easy and simple to use and  it brings us a great insight.


Using the Learning Launch tool and the help of the customers to get insights for a e - commerce The challenge I work at a beauty e - commerce site as a designer and the team have the task to increase the sales to keep the company running good and proﬁtable in the expected ways the directos where planning . We sell beauty products , only that . It`s not something that people ( in this case , most women ) need to survive and it isn`t something people are willing to buy every weekend . So , how could we sell more of those expensive products to the customers ? We talked after the brieﬁng and we agreed that we could`t make people desire to buy more , it could`t be done , we can`t change people behavior . But , maybe we could make the site easier so our customers could buy faster , and maybe this way they would buy more . So for that task I review every screen of the system to see where we have room to improve . I also looked and test other e - commerce sites to see how the navigation and the cart goes , learning what is good and what is bad for our users . The tools After that study on my own I bring some hypothesis of why people are n’t buying more from us : 1 - people did n’t understand of get confused somewhere in the cart , and don`t buy ; 2 - people are n’t ﬁnd the products they want on the site , and because of that did n’t buy anything ; 3 - people simple ﬁnd the product for a lower price somewhere . Having these hypothesis I decided to use the Learning Launch tool that we learn in the module 4 of the course , because it could bring me to the true by conﬁrm or dis- conﬁrm my assumptions . Either way I would have evolved at this matter ate the end of the process by the learning : if one of my hypothesis was true I would know where to work to solve the matter , and if all was false I still have time to think and try something else . The Application So for the ﬁrst step I create some very simple prototype of the site change some information of how we present the products and making a new navigation at the cart screen to be simpler and fast . I also write some questions to get to know how people use and thinking about our site and how they use it . Some of the questions were generic , just to get to know the person and her habits , but some of then were speciﬁc to test my hypothesis , like : - What other sites did you you use to buy online ? Which one is easy to buy ? Why ? How about ours ? What we should improve ? - What do you do when you don`t ﬁnd the product on ours website ? - What do you do to pay less in your shop ? How important save money is to you ? After that part done I invite 5 customers that frequently buy from us and 5 customers that bought only once in the last year , since Jakob Nielsen recommend that we uses 5 people to do usability tests to get a satisfactory status ( https://www.nngroup.com/ articles / why - you - only - need - to - test - with-5 - users/ ) and we want to test it fast . If the result was n’t conclusive enough we could get more participants . Finally we invite each participant to the ofﬁce separately , we talked to them , understand how they live , what they usually buy , how they buy , why and when . We also show the prototype and get the feedback , some of them were happily to show us the other sites and what features they like most in each one . The Insights At the end of the interviews , I analyzed the results and come back to my hypothesis and the new status was : 1 - people did n’t understand of get confused somewhere in the cart , and don`t buy ; Result : they do understand but it can be improved , the prototype was pretty positive for everyone . We should implement that . 2 - people are n’t ﬁnd the products they want on the site , and because of that did n’t buy anything ; Result : they do found the products , no problem here . And when the product is n’t available they know we can send an e - mail when it arrives at the site . 3 - people simple ﬁnd the product for a lower price somewhere . Result : they do search for a better price , but we are one of the most favorite places to buy because we delivery very fast . And it is also important . The tool worked for my hypothesis , but something else shows up naturally after we talked to our customers : almost everyone said spontaneous to us that special offers in special days , like valentines , christmas , and other dates is when they looked more beauty products . They also liked when we have some special offers in ordinary days , and even when they are n’t searching anything on those days there is always a friend that talked about it . So now , with the help of our customers we have a new response : - To make more proﬁt , we should`t focus on selling more to each customer . We must sell more ofter to them , using every holiday possible and creating new offer days . The Approach After all that we still talking to the marketing team to ﬁgure out how can we work that new insight our customers give to us , but the learning launch tool combined with our interview where great to give us a clear way to walk . I liked the idea of test hypothesis as soon as possible , it gives us more room to fail fast and learn soon . It was also extremely important the participation of the customers , I`m sure we could`t see this path as easy as it was showed to us without them . I`m certainly will use it more in other problems , because I ﬁnd it perfect to test some interaction , some part ou some process on websites . It`s easy and simple to use and it brings us a great insight .