Date: 11/2023 - 02/2024
TL;DR
Sellers were overwhelmed by questions, buyers couldn't get answers, we built a help center that could benefit everyone.
BACKGROUND
👩🏻⚖️ Who we are
• LiveAuctioneers is an online auction marketplace
• Our sellers are auction houses based in the US
• Our buyers are mostly art and antique collectors
• Our sellers are auction houses based in the US
• Our buyers are mostly art and antique collectors
😵💫 Problem: overwhelmed sellers
• The shipping experience is solely handled by LiveAuctioneers, not the sellers.
• Sellers receive many shipping questions but they don't know how to answers. Sellers had to tell buyers to contact LiveAuctioneers.
• Buyers who need help are frustrated and confused.
• Sellers receive many shipping questions but they don't know how to answers. Sellers had to tell buyers to contact LiveAuctioneers.
• Buyers who need help are frustrated and confused.
🎯 Goal
Make sure the LiveAuctioneers team handles all shipping-related questions.
RESEARCH
🔍 What went wrong?
1. Buyers don't know shipping is solely handled by LiveAuctioneers - But we don't plan to educate buyers about this because it would only add friction and confusion rather than any value.
2. It's one click away to message the seller, but buyers can only contact LiveAuctioneers via email - We had this flow because most questions from buyers are about the items, which only sellers can answer.
⛰️ Challenge: Limited data
• We can't filter out which messages are related to shipping
• We can't track where buyers contact sellers from
• We can't track where buyers contact sellers from
We learned from sellers that buyers mostly ask about order status or how to pay for shipping. Therefore, starting from the Won Items page is a safe bet.
DESIGN
☑️ Short-term solution: Split question types
The easiest solution is whenever buyers reach out for help, we ask if it's related to shipping:
• if it is, then send it to the LiveAuctioneers team
• if it's not, then send it to the auction house.
• if it is, then send it to the LiveAuctioneers team
• if it's not, then send it to the auction house.
(wireframe)
✅ Long-term solution: A self-help center
• Based on my industry research*, most sites show a list of FAQs before allowing users to send messages.
• I realized my initial idea can only fix a small problem, but what we really need is a robust problem-solving channel.
• I realized my initial idea can only fix a small problem, but what we really need is a robust problem-solving channel.
*According to Harvard Business Review, 81% of customers prefer to find answers themselves, and interactions with service reps are four times likelier to lead to customer disloyalty than loyalty.
Old experience: Buyers directly message sellers
New experience:
• Buyer sees a list of the most common questions
• Buyer's message will be sent to corresponding recipients based on the topic.
• Buyer sees a list of the most common questions
• Buyer's message will be sent to corresponding recipients based on the topic.
New version
❤️ Why this idea is better
Even though this idea will take longer to build, it has many advantages:
• Save time for buyers, sellers, and us
• Assign questions to the right person when needed
• Dynamic FAQs based on buyers' order status
• Easy for other teams to adapt and improve
• Assign questions to the right person when needed
• Dynamic FAQs based on buyers' order status
• Easy for other teams to adapt and improve
RESULT
🏆 Reduced 13% inquiries for sellers
All shipping related questions were redirected to LiveAuctioneers. Moreover, we observed a 2% uplift in the payment rate.
➡️ Next Step
We plan to build the experience on the item page as well and cover more types of questions.
📖 Takeaway
The most valuable lesson I learned from this project is to focus on what users want to achieve instead of what they do.