Ella Rabiei
Product Design Portfolio
Search Experience
Search, Explore and Purchase Journey
Standard Organization Store
Role: Project Lead and Design Lead
October 2024- Dec 2024
Overview:
The product search user experience is a critical component of any organization's website, facilitating users in efficiently locating and accessing the products or services they require. A well-designed search interface would enhances user satisfaction and supports the organization's objectives by driving engagement, conversions, and retention. During June 2023 to August 2023, the user research team conducted a through research on the search user experience among all of the products within the CSA Store. During this research they identified multiple pain points that users had to deal with during they purchase, some would leave the journey in the beginning and some would continue while being overwhelmed with it.
The existing webpage for training products description page
Key Insights:
The following points highlight key challenges observed in the current product search experience during the user search:

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Confusion Regarding Product Types:
Users reported difficulty distinguishing between different product types, leading to uncertainty in navigating the available options.

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Complexity of the Filter Menu:
The filter menu was perceived as overwhelming and unintuitive, causing users to feel lost during the search process.

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Inefficient Search Process:
Users were required to take additional steps to locate their desired products, resulting in a less streamlined experience.

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Lack of Real-Time Input Suggestions:
The absence of predictive input features hindered users’ ability to receive immediate suggestions, increasing the effort needed to refine their searches accurately.

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Limited Tools for Refining Results:
The search functionality did not provide efficient mechanisms for narrowing results based on attributes such as category or availability, reducing its effectiveness.

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Absence of Personalized Recommendations:
Users did not receive tailored suggestions based on their behaviour or preferences, limiting the relevance of the results presented to them.
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These challenges underscore the need for a more user-centred approach to product search design, focusing on simplification, guidance, and personalization to improve the overall experience.
Divergent ideation to Convergent thinking
The transition from divergent ideation to convergent thinking is a critical process in problem-solving and creative decision-making. Divergent ideation involves generating a wide range of ideas, exploring multiple possibilities, and encouraging unrestricted creativity without immediate judgment or evaluation. This phase aims to maximize the breadth of potential solutions and foster innovative thinking. Once a comprehensive pool of ideas is established, the process shifts to convergent thinking, where these ideas are analyzed, refined, and systematically narrowed down. Convergent thinking focuses on critical evaluation, feasibility assessment, and alignment with the project’s objectives to identify the most viable solutions. This iterative process ensures a balance between creativity and practicality, enabling teams to progress from expansive brainstorming to focused decision-making effectively.
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During this process we collaborated closely with designated project manager
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Key Ideas that visualized in wireframes
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Start the search journey with a category page
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Adding Highlighted Products
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Showing the most recently updated/published products
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Specifying different types of products (Supplemental , Bundles, Codes and Standards, Collections, Personnel Certification, Support Material and Training)
User Journey
The user journey was developed considering the feasibility of the ideas during the current sprint and future sprints,
Wireframing
Visualizing the ideas using wireframes for product listing page
Analyzing the Wireframes
After evaluating the ideas and wireframes with PM and Dev team to access the feasibility of implementing new features within the current sprint or in the future, we selected two designs to move forward with, one for the current timeline and one for future iterations.
Current timeline:
Organized layout and using product carts
Showing the different product type using badges on top.
Organized filter menu for better navigation and sorting experience
Future Iteration
Adding Categories or the highlighted products to the top of the page
Finalized Design for the Current sprint
Next Steps
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Discuss the designs with stakeholders and get their feedback
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Apply the feedbacks on the designs.
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Create the Mobile Designs and prepare the designs for the development
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Evaluate the customers experience with the new updates using Full Story platform and customer service calls.
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Schedule a follow up call/email with the interviewed users to ask for their feedback on the new design
Please don't hesitate to reach out; I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have.
in the meantime I would encourage you to visit the CSA Store yourself and further explore the design.