Drew Phillips eBay Redesign

“My eBay” RedesignGetting the message

Created by Drew Phillips

(An)Drew John Phillips

The current user satisfaction curve for navigating to eBay messages shows My eBay and Messages

need improvement. The overall ex-perience can be improved by mak-ing user interface improvements to

the home page, My eBay, and mes-sage pages.Overview

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Home Page Inbox MessageMy eBay

Customer Expectations

The Ghosts in the Machine


Because eBay is one of the world’s great economic forces, creating the opportunity for anyone with ac-

cess to the internet to sell or find rare items, the design must be in-tuitive across cultures. The design

must communicate to the customer quickly through its layout and navi-gation options.

Key ElementsDesign Philosophy

Features at a Glance

Give it to ‘em Fast

Give ‘em What They Want

Read Their Minds

Features should communicate with users how to click through at no more than a glance. Scrolling is acceptable, but layouts should encourage more than just scrolling to find more information. They should inspire clicks.

It is possible to give users the navigation and enrollment features quickly without overwhelming them with widgets. eBay needs to be accessible to everyone, not just people who are good at navigating websites.

It is possible to provide information quickly and concisely without simply stacking different data points on top of each other. If information is divided vertically as well as horizontally, users can find their info faster.

Know what users want before they do. Designers have the luxury of know-ing what information is available to users before users themselves do. Take advantage of this knowledge to surprise and delight.


eBay’s home page provides a good jumping off point for new and expe-rienced eBay users alike. However,

eBay can enhance the experience of both user types by increasing visibility of crucial links, expanding

product highlights, and enabling faster sign-ups for new users.Home Page

Good, not great

My eBay

Add a “My eBay” link to the navigation bar to increase visibility. “My eBay” is a staple to any regular “eBayer.”

Register from Home Page

Why not let users begin the registration process on the home page? Registration is a simple proc-ess that can be completed within three pages.Features

There are three feature tables on the eBay home page. They provide an opportunity to advertise relavent product according to seasons and trends.


The My eBay section features a series of stacked horizontal cat-egories. A nice touch is the ability

to customize the order in which the categories appear. The layout fails to summarize the user’s experience

at a quick glance. Horizontal stack-ing forces the user to scroll through the categories.

My eBayScrolling & searching

Summary List

The list view provides information organized in an intuitive format. This can create exces-sive scrolling, as the different areas can feature several items of information that push other sections below the page break.

Left Navigation

This is intuitive placement. However it is redun-dant to the information currently displayed on the Summary Page. Changing the horizontal listing in the body of the page allows room for niavigation to other category pages.

Tabbed Browsing

Tabs provide another navigation option for us-ers. Current tabs are not intuitive to where users typically find different category pages.


eBay’s inbox provides a quick view of current messages, differentiates between read and unread messag-

es, allows users to sort their mes-sages, and has most features that users expect from an inbox. The

execution is clean and intuitive. It even allows users to sort by item; an excellent feature for eBay.

InboxPretty Good


While the navigation on the right hand side of the message is remi-niscent of other popular email serv-

ices, the message execution lacks the navigation options that users have come to expect. There is no

option to go to the next or previ-ous message and internal links fre-quenly do not work.

MessageFacilitate Navigation

Message Options

The message view provides some of the stand-ard options available in most email services. One important piece is missing: the ability to move to the previous or next message.

Left Navigation

This feature is adequate and meets expectations. This area will remain somewhat similar, with a few added features, including navigation to other sections of My eBay.

Message Links

Links within messages themselves do not work. This is a must fix.


eBay is part of some people’s eve-ry day life, just as much as a car, or the music they listen to. Using

similar navigation layout to things they interact with everyday will help create harmony for users as they

move more seemlessly from one compartment of their life to another. Navigation

Moving through life


Amazon, Overstock.com, and Backcountry.com, inspired the re-design. However, eBay differs from

these sites as it is eBay’s users that are the vendors. eBay doesn’t carry any inventory, there are no eBay

private lable brands. eBay needs to feature similar navigation, with po-tential sellers in mind.

Home PageInspirations


A more centralized feature, high-lighting specific categories, gives the browser a quick view of the dif-

ferent shopping options available. It keeps the browser’s eyes focused on a central location. The current

design moves the eye from upper right to lower left, away from other key navigation widgets.

Home PageQuicker Browsing

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Changes

(1) Category Features: A centralized location gives users a quick glimpse of what is available.

(2) Sell Your Item(s): Just as there is a text field available to search for items quickly, a text field to start selling quick-er will allow users who are less familiar with the eBay selling process to get in on the action.

(3) Sign Up Today: Adding the first step of the sign-up process to the home page eases the process for users who want to start selling or buying.

(4) Deal of the Day: Moving the Deal of the Day and Classifieds is an effec-tive use of space, as both categories are targeted to browsers. This will make navigating easy for first time users and provide effective graphic space for indi-viduals browsing. A featured store link will allow eBay to sell advertising space to eBay stores. This is a win for stores looking to boost bidders and for eBay as another revenue stream.

(5) My eBay: Placing the My eBay link on the top navigation bar puts a greater emphasis on My eBay as a primary por-tal for all eBay users.


Features are inspired by the objects that users interact with on a daily basis. The arrangement is quickly

viewed and easy to understand. It also features a variety of categories to appeal to a wider audience, it

can also be customized according to entrance paths or signed in user information.

Home pageFeatures

Deal of the Day, Classifieds, and Fea-tured stores are located directly be-low the featured categories as users primarily visit eBay to browse catego-ries, but the forementioned are added benefits to their visit.


Navigation across major online re-tailers is fairly standard. Category navigation along the top, or left side

(or both) and search at the top of the page. Doesn’t make sense to change what users are used to,

especially if it is a good solution. It provides a quick view of options and the ability to search.

Home pageNavigation


My eBay should be easy to navi-gate at a glance. By listing a Buy and Sell summary with the user’s

activity in a central location, the us-er’s eye will find what they are look-ing for quicker and in fewer steps.

If necessary, the user can click on the item links to connect with the desired page.

My eBayEvery eBayers Portal

Changes

(1) Buy and Sell Summary: Users can see their buying and selling activity at a glance and click on links to indi-vidual auction pages for more details.

(2) Account Navigation: Links to the different account pages will always be available for the user. This allows quick access from any point if the eBayer has to pay an invoice, change address, or provide any other account information.

(3) Recently Viewed: This section allows users to come back on a later visit and check in on items that they may have been interested in, but did not add to their watch list.

(4) eBay Seller Specials: eBay frequently has specials run-ning for sellers. This section provides eBay an area to keep sellers up to date, and provides users a central location to view any incentives that apply to them.

(5) Standard Links: Placing links to buying, selling, ac-count, and other importnat pages lower on the page al-lows users constant access to information they are looking for without scrolling all the way back up the page.

(6) Message Center: This is not a replacement for the in-box. The message center will give users a quick view of any recent messages from other buyers or from eBay. This gives eBay and other users a place to alert the user of any-thing urgent.

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Let’s start with the basic expecta-tions. Users don’t want to go back to the inbox every time they navi-

gate between messages. As for ex-ceeding expectations, let’s provide the option to see what the message

is all about. Adding a link to the item that users are exchanging messag-es about can ease any transaction.Next Please

MessageChanges

(1) Previous | Next: The ability to navigate between messages without returning to the inbox is not a “surprise and delight” fea-ture. It is expected. Placement in the upper and lower right corners is intuitive, as the eye naturally tracks left to right. The text in the message will naturally lead the user to those locations once they complete reading the message.

(2) Related Messages: While other email services provide conver-sation tracking, eBay users will find related messages, beyond the current conversation, useful. If a seller is comparing messages from different buyers, or if a buyer is comparing messages from sellers that are selling similar products, they will find the related messag-es to the right without having to place the messages into folders, which is still an option.

(3) Related Items: Navigating to the item related to the message will be easier, as there are not always links to the item page within the text. It is also useful to see a summary of information related to the sale of the item without having to go to the item page itself.

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A layout that can be taken in at a glance, provides information that users want quickly, and antici-

pates user’s needs and wants will increase the number of new sign-ups, the number of browsers for

products for sale, and increase user engagement through the My eBay portal.

SummaryHow it all turns out

Drew Phillips eBay Redesign

Design

Transcript of Drew Phillips eBay Redesign