What was the solution?
Once built, we'd have a GeekMarket for ThinkGeek managed buyer/seller community, complete with social media integration, communication and purchasing tools. But the unanswered question was, could we build this into the existing site per the company request, or did it have to be a new site?
What was the problem?
During our second UXDI7 project, we were tasked with coming up with a way for ThinkGeek to build an online marketplace into the existing website where users could connect with fellow geeks, buy and sell items, and create more of a geek community to drive customer interest and loyalty.
How to build it
The ThinkGeek site would need a new button, navigation and IA to support a new marketplace site, where we could get a clean start and include all the features we dreamed up, including messaging/email, seller/buyer profiles, and chat rooms.
Research
During the initial phases of our brainstorming and research, we sketched out the current website and contents, thinking about where a marketplace could fit, and what it might contain, including a rather detailed sitemap, and potential GeekMarket sitemap (GeekMarket is the name we gave the ThinkGeek marketplace).
Cardsorting
We use a practice called card-sorting to take all the pieces of a given app or website, de-arrange them, and then with little non-leading prompting, arrange them however a human would want to naturally. Jim did this with the ThinkGeek site below, leading me to the realization that we didn't need to re-organize the site or make a whole new marketplace. Everything was already well arranged. All we needed to do was integrate it into the existing UI.
Jim doing cardsorting for ThinkGeek.
Moving onto the user flows and storyboarding
Storyboarding - How do I find a seller and buy my stuff?
We drew up some stories after interviewing a number of potential users, including live geeks, and found that they seemed most interested in buying their items direct from people like them, but they also expressed a strong desire to connect with those humans first. Our humans are geeks like us.
The user flow / storyboard to the right shows someone clicking on a product they like, but then wanting to buy it from a fellow geek at the marketplace.
But where would that navigation go, how would it look?
How would it work?
Competitive analysis
To answer the above I performed a competitive analysis of seller/marketplace competitors. Sellers of only one kind of geek product (just Star Trek, etc,) were left out.
ThinkGeek is the only one that offers a trustworthy organization of products by "Interest", or as one of our users himself called it "Imaginary Worlds".
Sketching the initial Geek Market
I sketched out a first landing page for the GeekMarket/Marketplace.
After interviewing at least 3 users, I found that people wanted to see the original/current site.
Once they saw that, they asked why I had to reinvent or recreate the site at all.
User Research 1
I interviewed about 5 users, showing them the initial sketches and asking them how it all looked, and what functions they might instantly want to click on.
Initially, users wondered how they would share items via social media, and where the "GeekMarket" home page was, but I already knew my timeline wouldn't allow for building out those features.
Therefore, I focused on getting the consumer straight to their product.
User testing my paper protoype with Mina Farzad
“Why can’t I just filter and buy right from the current site?”
Second round prototyping
After interviewing the first users, sketches of a marketplace within the current ThinkGeek site started to seem like the more elegant solution.
Initially I thought it would be a whole new site and landing page, full of sellers and buyers, but for now, users expressed a desire to "just find and buy their starship enterprise".
I just added "filtahs" (filters) to the current ThinkGeek layout!
The Geek Market starts taking shape.
Later, after interviewing users on our first and second prototypes, we honed in on a design that allowed simple filters (All, New, Market) to zoom in on products sold on GeekMarket.
From there, users would be able to easily connect with the seller community or move through to buying the product.
Summary
I found that the ThinkGeek site had great navigation and usability, but a page for products, buyers and sellers should be built out (GeekMarket landing page) with full social media integration. However, for this project, I had to limit it to showing a basic, elegant solution to users finding what they want within ThinkGeek, meeting a GeekMarket seller, contacting them, and checking out.
Live long and prosper.
I am a true Star Trek geek.