WooExperts is a program that allows hand-selected, vetted agencies and freelancers to be listed on the WooCommerce.com Marketplace. I led the design effort to surface these agencies in a more intuitive way, connecting merchants to experts as a resource for helping them improve their store.
Defining the problem
Many of our WooCommerce store owners and merchants need custom solutions to their problems. The WooExperts program brings on agencies, developers, and freelancers to provide merchants a list of vetted partners. They know they can trust them because we trust them.
The list of experts sat outside the rest of the marketplace experience, requiring a user to restart exploration if there is a null result or need help. These hand-selected, vetted experts are a potentially huge resource for our merchants to have, yet there’s no easy path to find them.
I worked with the business leads and program managers to scope, plan, and identify goals. We came up with a detailed project brief outlining the project goals, key metrics, and constraints.
- Pulling WooExpert listings into the global search results will create a more streamlined connection between merchants and experts, and increase qualified leads to our partners.
- Surfacing these experts in other places where it makes sense will increase engagement and organic growth for the program.
Adding a new tab to global search results helped bring our partners to the merchants, rather than requiring merchants to seek them out. Users have a more robust searching experience to find the right partner to work with.
Agency listings
We iterated on many designs to find the right balance of information density for each agency listing. In the end we reduced as much as we could to improve usability. Because we learned that pricing is an important aspect of choosing an agency, it was pulled to the right to make it much easier to scan and compare results.
Global search results
If a user’s global search returns no extensions, we surface experts to help streamline the process of connecting a merchant with an expert.
Filters and sorting
New filters and sorting give merchants more control over connecting with the right expert for their project. We learned from research that many merchants are price conscious, so custom price ranges allow them to find an agency within their budget.
Agency profile page
To provide a consistent experience throughout the flow, we updated the old agency profile pages so merchants had all the right information. The content was aligned to a newly established grid, the page hierarchy and visuals were updated.
Outcome
While partners initially reported a drop in the number of leads, we learned the number of qualified leads has actually increased. Merchants and store owners are more easily able to identify the right agency for them to contact, resulting in a higher conversion rate for our partners.
We continue to iterate and test to find the right balance of information and algorithm-weighting for the results. Talking with our partners to learn about their experience and get their feedback has been invaluable throughout this process.