Amazon Case Study
A UX Research & Design project aimed at understanding user behavior on Amazon India's shopping website and improving the overall experience
Case Study | September - October 2023
Introduction
This case study aims to improve the user experience of Amazon’s e-commerce website. Through careful research and design decisions, the goal is to improve the shopping experience for users by addressing key pain points and making the platform more intuitive.
Why Amazon?
Amazon, a global e-commerce giant, stands as a digital marketplace where millions converge for their shopping needs. With so many people shopping on Amazon and its reputation for good user experience, I still felt there was something missing in the way it works, especially compared to some new competitors. As a dedicated Amazon user, I felt the urge to dig into this and see how we could make the experience even better for the millions who use Amazon every day.
Big Picture
In this case study, I wish to perform the following:
Create design solutions that align with users' objectives
Minimize cognitive load through thoughtful design strategies
Enhance the user interface of Amazon's website for an improved user experience
User Research ↓
Understanding Amazon
Amazon started as an online marketplace for books, and over the past 28 years, they have moved into one sector over another and dominated the marketplace. The website's UI may come across as a bit old, but it is actually very far ahead in terms of user experience compared to its competitors. Amazon's load time was lower than any of its competitors due to its simple UI components, which also make it simpler to comprehend information. Amazon stands out in customer reviews, offering reliability that surpasses competitors. Leveraging psychological principles like herd mentality and the bandwagon effect, Amazon's recommendation algorithm strategically engages users.
Analyzing Amazon’s UX
I started with an in-depth analysis of the UX laws which will help me highlight strengths, identify areas for improvement and give insights for a better design. These are some UX laws which were detected to not been followed.
Ley de Hick's
We can see that there are many options, which makes it tough for the user to make a decision and may cause them to abandon the search for the relevant areas or products.
Will it be easier for the user to attain the goal they set if you give them fewer options?
Fitts’s Law
Amazon's website's design of buttons, links, and interactive elements is intended to facilitate user interaction, but the overwhelming options may hinder precise action targeting.
What if Information and options could be revealed by a drop down or better white spaces will ensure better interaction
Miller’s Law
It is well known that any navigation menu has less than 7 elements. The average person can only keep 7 items in their working memory. While amazon has 13 items in menu bar.
Can sub menus be added to present options more efficiently ?
Zeigarnik Effect
Uncompleted or interrupted tasks are more memorable, so providing clear, uninterrupted paths is crucial. Ads can distract users and compromise user experience.
Can ads positioned further down the search results page with clear and distinct labelling, improve the user experience?
User Interviews
Building on the insights gained from above, I sought a more personalized perspective through user interviews to better understand the actual user’s experience with the website.
I interviewed 5 users of varying fields and age groups to obtain diverse perspectives.
Focus
While interviewing the users, I mainly focused on-
Understanding the motivation and use cases of users who shop online
How memorable their experience was
Problems they faced/continue to face as they use the app
Below are the insights which are categorized and mapped out.
Archetypes
Based on these findings, I discovered that certain users had recurring habits or motives for using the website. So I decided to categorize these behavioural models and develop two clear archetypes.
Intent Centric
Interest Centric
Affinity Mapping
Affinity Mapping was used to synthesise and organise the entire study data set. This helped me in identifying my target user segments as well as separating the users' difficulties and requirements.
Insights
Below are some insights from the user interviews
Frequency
“There are too many options on the site”
Search options
“There should be better filters with search to be functional”
Distractions
“Overwhelming, Lot of information in a single frame; sale, offers, recommendations”
Organization
“Page has a lot of information cramped up, I’m confused”
Excess content
“Searching for products through categories is inefficient”
Feature absent
“Would like to compare selected product side by side”
Comparative Research
Let’s start by analyzing the user experience of some of Amazon’s competitors.
Empathy Mapping
Following with this, I created two Empathy maps too understand the behaviour and emotional quotient of these users. Because the two user groups have very different priorities, how they engage with the website also differs.
User Personas
I created personas in order to give a varied representation of all the data that was collected. It helped me in articulating the pain points, objectives and motivations of the user.
User Journeys
After designing personas, I had a good idea of what the consumer desired. To delve deeper into understanding the user's emotional quotient, I constructed customer journey maps to understand their emotional quotient while shopping.
Problem
After talking to users, finding common patterns, mapping out issues, and understanding their experiences, I have put together a list of key problems on Amazon India's shopping website.
Bad Organization, Unclear path
Too many offers and colors results in confusion
Personalized and offers need to be more defined
High volume of content
Too many offers and colors results in confusion
Personalized and offers need to be more defined
Search/Categories are inefficient
Too many offers and colors results in confusion
Personalized and offers need to be more defined
Objectives
To make Amazon India's shopping website more user-friendly, I have some goals in mind, which are born from understanding of the above problems for creating a website that's easy, helpful, and enjoyable for everyone.
Eliminate elements that create distractions
Removing unnecessary elements, ensuring a cleaner and focused interface.
Streamlined User Journeys
Clear, intuitive paths that guide users seamlessly through the website.
Improve customer satisfactions
Personalized recommendations and establishing a proper hierarchy of information
How Might We?
After defining the problem and objectives, I came up with HMW questions which helped to convert these problems into opportunities. These questions would later be used to ideate.
Ideation
HMW make the homepage a more manageable space?
Personalized sections: Curated product recommendations collapsible sections based on user history, browsing behaviour and saved interests.
Visual hierarchy: Users in this archetype are explorers. They enjoy discovering new content, products, or ideas and may not have a specific goal in mind.
HMW provide tailored recommendations and ads?
Feedback system: Users may provide short comments on whether the adverts are relevant to their interests or not.
Better placement: Ads can take up space where they will not interfere with the search results.
HMW design intuitive categories?
Card-based navigation: Display categories as visually distinct cards with clear labels and icons for easy exploration.
Search-driven navigation: Enable users to search directly for relevant categories within the navigation bar.
HMW improve product filtering?
Multiple filtering: Before the page reloads, the user can select numerous filters.
Faceted search: Implement multi-level filtering with visual cues like sliders, checkboxes, and tags for precise selection.
HMW enable seamless product comparison?
Side-by-side comparison: Allow users to select multiple products and compare key specifications and features in a single view.
Comparison list functionality: Enable users to save and share product comparisons for later reference.
HMW enhance visual appeal?
Modern and clean aesthetics: Using minimal design principles, high-quality visuals, and balanced whitespace for a modern and engaging look.
Interactive elements: Incorporate subtle animations, micro-interactions, and hover effects to enhance user engagement.
HMW improve product information navigation?
Accordion-style content: Organize product details into collapsible sections like specifications, reviews, and shipping information.
Tabbed navigation: Allow users to switch between different information sections like descriptions, images, and videos.
Conclusion
In this course of our Amazon UX research, we revealed key areas for improvement in the user experience. Through archetypes, interviews, and affinity mapping, we identified user needs and preferences. Pain points, goals, and objectives were documented, forming the basis for meaningful digital touchpoints. We also identified challenges and potential solutions, paving the way for ideation and redesign, which provides a roadmap for crafting a more intuitive, user-friendly, and engaging Amazon shopping website in the future.