Redesigning legacy detail pages to help customers evaluate products better towards a purchase decision

The problem

Product detail pages on Amazon, in 2017, had relevant information but our customers found them overwhelming and intimidating which made it difficult for them to arrive at a purchase decision. Detail pages, being a shared asset, various product category teams had a stake in evolving the experience to adapt to category context based on customer insights. Being a core part of a customer’s evaluation experience detail pages housed features from 100+ teams resulting in a cluttered and verbose layout. In 2018, we set a goal to invest in de-cluttering the detail pages’ customer experience through logical information grouping and crisp, visual communication. A monolithic page structure with legacy code made it difficult to create truly adaptive experiences across category contexts and different cohorts of shoppers.

Users & audience

New to Amazon (N2A) young adult online shoppers from tier 2 cities in India.

Team & role

In 2018, In my new role as design manager for the ShopX design pod, I led a cross-pod team of 3 designers to redesign the offers and discounts CX as part of the end-to-end “Affordability” CX product initiative. The project aimed to not only redesign the offers & discounts widget on the detail page but also design affordability touch-points across the entire shopping funnel.

Design process & insights

To address the three issues we identified with details pages; first, how can we adapt the detail page experience to adapt to a given category context, second, do away with the monolithic structure and make it modular and third, declutter and make it less verbose and more visual.

We hypothesised that working backwards from customer needs, mapping product evaluation journeys across different categories will allow us to reimagine detail pages and help us understand what are important considerations to not only create truly adaptive experiences across categories but also define core tenets for detail pages, irrespective of category context.

During the discovery phase of the design sprint, we conducted a “How Might We” (HMW) exercise. We came up with key themes around how detail pages could help customers evaluate a product and get them closer to a purchase decision. These became our design goals:

1. Aid product comprehension
2. Provide contextual guidance when needed
3. Help customers acquire products at the best value
4. Instil and communicate trust
5. Adapt and personalise product evaluation based on intent
6. Encourage purchase completion

With the HMWs and design goals articulated, the team then got down to generating ideas for possible solutions. We did this through a couple of rapid crazy 8 sessions followed by voting and converging on the ones with the most potential from a feasibility, viability and desirability standpoint. We then created solution sketches.

Next, we mapped out a fashion customer journey based on an archetype shopper representing an upwardly mobile young adult Indian shopper from a tier 2 city in India.

Once we mapped the fashion customer journey, it became clear to the team how the product/feature ideas can come together as a cohesive whole. It would later help us pivot the ideas for contexts other than fashion. Apart from customer context, the design goals began to inform the team’s thinking around structure, and a framework for detail pages that would make them truly modular and adaptive.

Richa Sen

New to Amazon, 34 years, Married, B.A

Works as a private school teacher in Lucknow. Has 2 kids and lives in a joint family with her in-laws. Spends 45 mins of her time every day practising Yoga.

Uses a Samsung J9 smartphone. While commuting to school and back, she watches Youtube videos, chats with friends and school groups over WhatsApp views study videos on Byju’s and browses for products online on Flipkart, Amazon etc. Not a frequent buyer on these apps as she finds it easy to shop in physical stores nearby.

Scenario

Richa is excited and slightly nervous about a big annual festival coming in 2 weeks. Richa is looking for a Red Lehenga (a three-piece attire) for this festive occasion.

With her busy schedule and limited variety available at the nearby shops, she is not able to find something good. One of her friends at school suggests she buy it online as it would be fast and easy with several options.

While coming back from school she starts browsing the Amazon app for ‘Lehenga’ options and finds one which grabs her attention.

1. Aid Product Comprehension

Summarising all the information present on a detail page would help N2A customers to explore the product in a more structured way, which might result in better conversions

The product detail page has a lot of information for a new customer to consume. Presenting that incrementally and progressively would not only help her in making a better decision but also evaluate the product better.

2. Provide contextual guidance when needed

Voice-based assistance can help reduce cognitive load by allowing customers to avoid navigating through a large amount of content and find answers without reading text. A documented shopper's frustration was that customers find Amazon detail pages verbose.

3. Help customers acquire products at the best value

A gamified interaction would engage customers to see all the offers presented and get the best value for any product. They are informed about the impact on final price with each offer selection

4. Instil and communicate trust

Presenting concerns from other customers to see what didn’t go well for them. This information could be pulled from reviews/Q&As and presented upfront. Showing what other customers didn’t find right would not only bring transparency but also build trust among shoppers. Customers often back out or delay purchases because they are not sure if returns are available or assess the product after/while delivery or know whether it would be delivered on time. Displaying these messages prominently could build trust for the brand

5. Adapt and personalise product evaluation based on intent

Populating content based on the saved data in the customer’s profile and past activity. Allowing customers to customise & personalise the content to make the selection more relevant.

Customers look for updates and details of the products they have ordered. consolidating all relevant post-purchase information might help in building trust.

6. Encourage purchase completion

To increase conversion rates and assist shoppers, it’s important to bring them back, if they tend to abandon the detail page midway for any reason. This information could be presented in small cards across the shopping funnel.

Design solution

The above design output from the discovery sprint gave the team a good perspective on modularisation and a standardised structure. I guided my team to come up with an adaptive framework for detail pages that we called DP signposts.

Outcome & learnings

The DP signposts proposal went through several rounds of leadership reviews after driving alignment with category teams. This was followed by collaborations with the detail pages product team, design systems and core shopping design teams in Seattle to start planning execution. Our learnings, similar to past north start projects, was that we needed to plan incremental development and phased feature launches based on the vision that the team created. With the launch of the new offers experience, we were able to inch closer to the vision of defining a clear modular framework for product evaluation. This would now allow teams to build truly adaptive experiences based on customer intent.