Finding Our Target Market with Research

This project consisted of building research processes and operations in order to define our target market. The team consisted of myself, a product manager, five engineers, and executives. This case study focuses on launching our very first user research project in order to gain more clear insights on our users’ behaviors.

My notes and reflections will go here.

The company had just launched a brand new platform that connects shoppers looking for new floors with local mom & pop shops. The first product launch had failed, and I was brought in to see how improvements can be made. I realized that no prior research had been done. In order to build a robust platform for users, we needed to find their pain points by first knowing who they are.

My notes and reflections will go here.

The site was built on the assumption that customers used pinterest as a means to find floors. Hence, the direction of the design was heavily focused on having users take a style quiz.

My notes and reflections will go here.

Previously, the main banner looked like this. In order for users to find the local stores, they must go through these limited style options.

My notes and reflections will go here.

The main question we wanted to answer was: What do consumers look for when shopping for floors?

The question we all love: and why?

I had a month to explore different research options to segment user groups and understand their pain points. I started by creating a detailed research document to present to the team, which included five different directions to collect user interviews. I kicked off the project by interviewing 12 customers outside of 4 local shops in order to understand their shopping experience. I asked questions such as: What type of floors are you looking for? How did you decide on that specific one? How many stores have you been to? How do you pick which one to go with? Here are some high level findings:

• Finding a store with the best price point was the most important. On average, people went through at least 3 or 4 stores to compare prices before making a decision.

• Style preferences varied depending on whether this is a first home, rental, or retirement home. Will these floors work with pets? Families? Whether through the storm?

• Most people come into the store already knowing what type of floor they want. When they are in the store, they are looking for texture and color, not category.

To summarize, we learned that there were more than one group of users, with each having their own specifications of the floor type, color, and durability. However, their biggest pain points were trying to finalize their top 2 or 3 choices at the best price point. Even though they would prefer to work with reliable stores, price point and color are their top priority.

We also created a mini sprint exercise so that the entire team can brainstorm ideas on a new user flow.

The question we all love: and why?

The question we all love: and why?

After the initial round of research findings, I created a User Journey that would serve as the framework for all our projects moving forward. This served as a starting point for all features we planned on creating.

The question we all love: and why?

The question we all love: and why?