A journey into Product Discovery: digital case studies that improved conversion rates and defined new business opportunities through UX and UI
"Product discovery" is the process of identifying and validating opportunities to create or improve digital products, focusing on user needs, market trends, and tech possibilities. It aims to align products with user expectations and business goals, contributing to company success. Continuously run, it's the lifeblood of competitive digital products.
During the 36# UX TALK, we investigated such a process with the case studies brought by Subito.it (a product company) and Belka (a design studio).
SPEAKERS:
Subito.it
- Christian Di Paola, UX Product Designer
- Gianluca Lacedonio, Senior Product Manager
Belka
- Sara Fazzini, Design Manager
- Giulio Michelon, CEO & CO-founder
Watch the full video to discover more
Product Discovery in a Product Company: An Overview — Christian Di Paola & Gianluca Lacedonio
Through Product discovery, businesses aim to enhance user experiences, which is reflected in the Conversion Rate — the percentage of visitors who take a desired action on a site, such as making a purchase. An increase in this rate indicates that the site is effectively converting visits into actions.
In Italy, Subito.it leads in digital marketplaces, they continuously explores new revenue streams and value additions for sellers (users) through its Premium Features squad. This team focuses on innovating and enhancing features to better monetize content.
Matching business and users’ needs explained by Case Studies:
Case Study 1: “Urgente” Visibility Option
- Business Problem: Visibility Options product offering was outdated
- User Problem: Sellers needed to convey urgency in their sales
- Solution: iIntroduced the “Urgente” tag allowing for better ad searchability for Sellers and for buyers to filter items by urgency
- Process: Launched a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), conducted A/B testing, and analyzed impacts post-launch
- Outcome: Results showed a +3% increase in conversion rates and a +5% rise in revenue from Premium Features
Case Study 2: Simplifying Visibility Option Purchases
- User Problem: Overly complex and broad visibility options causing confusion
- Solution: Simplified product offering’s UI for sellers, focusing on its understanding and UX’s ease of use
- Outcome: Improved CR (+30% on average) and revenues (+10%)
Key Takeaways from case studies:
- Product discovery is crucial for adapting and innovating within companies.
- Balancing user needs with financial sustainability is essential.
- Innovations can be achieved by enhancing existing products, not just creating new ones.
How to find the next Product Opportunity? — Sara Fazzini & Giulio Michelon
In the competitive landscape of modern business, leveraging design systems can catalyze growth by making operations more efficient and enhancing product discoverability.
These systems provide a structured framework that aids companies in learning more swiftly and keeping ahead of competition. They guide product development effectively, enabling businesses to transform their strategic ambitions into tangible achievements.
This integration not only streamlines product development but also sharpens the focus on evolving market demands and customer needs, crucial for sustained growth and innovation. So… How to find the next product opportunity?
A Case Study exploration by Belka
FattureinCloud.it — Online invoicing software
- Focus: One of the major players in Italy, stable during COVID, but app downloads were not increasing.
- Exploration Approach: Data point analysis — Customer support requests and emails, focusing on complaints and questions. Reviewed feedback from app and play store reviews.
- Outcome: Identified problem clusters to pinpoint opportunities, followed by targeted user interviews.
Idea Clustering Method:
- Small Fixes (“Ants” Ideas): Minor adjustments to existing product components.
- Major Innovations (“Dinos” Ideas): Significant, effort-intensive improvements with the potential for substantial impact.
- Outcome: Identify new opportunities for the service mixing “Ants” and “Dinos” idea, for a balanced innovation in the product to puch people downloading the app.
Case Study: Walliance, rental estate investments app
- Focus: Low conversion rates despite successful user onboarding.
- Exploration Approach: Conducted a “think aloud” user test of the onboarding process, divided into four sections.
- Outcome: Mapped user actions and success rates in each section to diagnose issues.
Case Study: Toscano, app to sale & rent properties throughout Italy.
- Focus: Understanding how users make key changes within the product.
- Exploration Approach: Combination of interviews for qualitative insights and user tests with a prototype to refine features.
- Outcome: Post-implementation feedback showed higher usage and less negative feedback compared to the original feature.
Case Study: Belka, Design Studio focused in Design Systems
- Focus: Better understand external Design Systems to stay updated to the new trends and approach.
- Exploration Approach: Conducted 25 interviews across different companies with experts of the field and practitioners.
- Outcome: Developed two new services and hosted six webinars, producing articles to summarize newfound insights.
Key Takeaways
- Beyond User Interviews
Product discovery involves utilizing existing data from sales, marketing, customer support, and online feedback, not just user interviews. - Predicting Behavior
While people are good at highlighting problems and needs, they are less effective at proposing viable solutions. That is the designer’s mission.
Watch the full video to discover more
These lectures were held during the 36th UX Talk organized by POLI.design’s Experience Design Academy. Follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram to be updated about the upcoming UX Talks, which are always open to the public.
Curated by Alice Paracolli
