Help users discover the catalogue offered inside Wallapop, through facilitating a browsing experience which is currently lacking in Wallapop.
✏️ Hard to discover new items:
without structured categories, Sophie relies on search terms instead of casually exploring trending or interesting tech deals.
✏️ Feels like a hunt instead of a shop:
instead of quickly navigating to what she needs, Sophie has to dig through random listings in the results, making it frustrating.
We have 3 main paths to explore content and they are the same, although these pages are supporting different objectives of the user.
The user should be able to smoothly move from a broader to a more detailed experience, as their behaviour evolves over time.
Users behaviors can evolve over time as they become more familiar with the platform, discover new features, or refine their preferences.
A user who starts as primarily curious may become more proactive and research-oriented as they gain experience and specific goals in mind.
At the point of transition between Search & Discovery, where the user can Browse and Explore content there is an opportunity to make the experience seamless and cohesive.
Since we currently focus on showing users items that are either directly sought (search) or potentially interesting (discovery).
Each type of page needs:
- its own structure
- to allow for progression
- to allow for navigation in both directions
Hybrid pages are not needed, as they can be Leaf pages.
Recommendations are intertwined with category navigation and results, to make the content more interesting and to redirect users.
There isn’t a set in stone way of doing things: which means there will be trial and error to get to a sweet spot.
Benchmark was used as above to understand key information architecture and page split and also to gauge specific user flows and kinds of pages used in the browse experience.
Below are the 7 main insights obtained when doing both and app and web benchmark of direct and indirect competitors.
The majority of players reach a L4 in category navigation (node 3).
1. Generally alphabetical is used for the dropdown of subcategories.
2. Focus is given to most clicked categories and on business needs
3. Semantic ordering is only used by verticalised marketplaces
In app, bottom navigation bar is the most common way to reach search & category navigation (browse).
Thus, all competitors allow for access to Browse on all screens.
The most common icon used is the Magnifying Glass or burger (the icon is linked to categories and exploration and is also present in the search bar).
The navigation to the results page from the search page is different from the one from the category tree.
The differences tend to be subtle, but it is clearly identified whether the user is in a hybrid landing or in a results page.
The most common way of showcasing categories is with a list using images + text or just text.
Only text is used once the user enters further into the category levels.
Often at least 2 ways of displaying categories, with the most common being list displays and then grids.
Most players offer deeper navigation of categories from the hybrid/category landing (some from search results page) — a few of those have it for mobile too.
Competitors with a medium to broad catalogue like Amazon or MediaMarkt use a category page.
Competitors like Temu use Parallel discovery pages which are similar to category landing pages but with a direct access from the wall.
We ran user interviews which were web based and we got insights relevant for both web & app.
We tested two ways of navigating categories & subcategories, surveying the browsing experience.
Based on the information gathered with the audit, benchmark, data and user research we defined key areas to work on and a path to get to the final objective of having a holistic browse experience that would allow users to navigate seamlessly in between browse and search.
The key driver in this broader initiative are the user needs and improving the user experience for them when discovering a product.
Although the goal of the topic team remains to bring a higher amount of Sold Items, this initiative was moved forward from UX and Product, as a leveller of the user experience, which could later be a "trampoline" for other initiatives and improvements which could have a more direct impact on our key metrics.
Below are the stepped initiatives done to tackle the two first parts of the path to a holistic navigation: depth and access to navigation.
Although some insights and hypothesis were common, solutions were adapted to each platform.
Initiatives were prioritised according to ICE scoring and plans adapted accordingly.
Once the right depth of navigation and the right accesses were tested and in place, we started to look at implementing the 3rd part of the plan in which we aim to provide a new flow to:
- support the synergy with search
- give an alternative flow to explore content
This was a second round developing and delivering on the browse experience strategy.
To develop the category pages and to be able to reuse this same page for root, node and leaf and also for other pages, we decided with FE & BE to create dynamic pages.
Creating a single parent page which includes all the “building blocks” which can be shown.
Depending on the call to backend, only certain “building blocks” will be shown to the user. This allows us to dynamically change a screen content based on different criteria.
- Users do not have a dedicated page to explore categories and understand the catalogue
- The current flow has high user interactions costs for navigating
- Subcategory navigation is not visual
- To navigate, in search, users must apply filters
- colours: consider whether to colour code categories
- images: consider the user of photos, icons or no visual cue (side initiative launched for this)
- title of page: understand the importance of the title & description
- collections: understand how to best differentiate them from the category itself
- item cards: test different ways of representing items based on their use & goal
- feed: dynamic and with filters
- chips: used in the leaf. understand if pertinent in broader pages too
- search bar: test if & where search bar should be in the page. currently it is not present as the user will be able to access it from the bottom tab bar
Unmoderated user tests:
- split audience in groups (based on designs)
- task: find a product in tech & electronics
Evaluate:
- usability of the experience
- key pain/gain points
- user preference in terms of different designs
- Back arrow + Close text
- Category name
- Subcategory navigation (root & nodes)
- Global search button
- Filter button redirection
- See all Results CTA
- Solution is scalable to accept ads
Primary:
Open Wallapop to Click item (from the cat nav flow)
Secondary:
- Adoption: Open wallapop to Browse Cat Nav
- Conversion to PI: Click item to PI
- Retention: Frequency of users coming back to the category navigation flow
⚡️ Easier to get an idea of the search space – sophie can browse specific sections like “Laptops” or “Smartphones” without wasting hours searching.
⚡️ Easier discovery – when sophies isn't clear on what she specifically want she doesn't need to type exact searches as she can click into a category and find hidden gems effortlessly.
⚡️ Faster shopping – this should allow her to quickly locate what she needs without scrolling through unrelated listings.
The new category pages and the explore access in the bottom navigation are currently being tested and we are awaiting results.
Next steps based on results will be:
- to iterate the category pages to include recommendations and other detour components
- to develop further the explore & search space, working on the navigation from the landing page and further with browsing
- implement and user feedback component to get direct feedback from users on their experience and satisfaction
