Why Etsy?

Etsy felt like a good candidate for this project because their app seemed like it has simple, clean design with room for improvement in their customer service area, leading me to see an opportunity for growth.

Current Consumer Journey Map
- Sellers Journey

This Infographic illustrates the overview of the majority of customer moral from the moment of finding Etsy to the point of starting up their business to making their first sale. Users overall feel under whelmed with the process and feel that they need more support from they Etsy team to more effectively manage their businesses.

A challenge for me here was that the Esty Sellers app is only available to active shop users, which pushed me to seek out users who could teach me about the app.

User Interviews

To gain some insight into the real relationships users had with the product, I interviewed 6 users that varied from casual buyers to long time sellers on the app.

From this data I was able to determine how loyal they are to Etsy and how much users feel they need the product.

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Interview transcript:

Round one

1. Do you use Etsy?

2. How often do you use Etsy?

3. What do you use Etsy for?

4. Have you ever sold on Esty? For how long?

Round 2

1. What are your current pains while using Esty?

2. Do you have difficulty posting images or listings? 

3. How do you access Esty? What OS do you use?

4. Do you find it difficult to find new customers on Esty? How do you advertise?

Who are the target market?

The Two user types that were the focus, were the sellers that have used the product as buyers and then found inspiration to start an Etsy shop, but for one reason or another decided to stop using the product.

As well as users that have a hard time navigating technology but want to utilize the product.

Similarly, both of the users would benefit from having a way to ask questions or reference material that can help the user complete their task.

SWOT Analysis

Once the pain points are identified, we looked at other direct competitors on the market to see how they lined up.

Here I identified that each of Etsy's direct consumers had a hold on their corner of the market.

• Amazon has variety and accessibility by fast shipping and low prices

• Ebay corners the market in variety and the lack of a pay to play feature to ensure all users get the most out of the app

• Bonanza is a direct competitor, but doesn't necessarily impact the market as greatly as Amazon and ebay do.

The competitors each fill a unique hole in the market, Etsy can rise above by offering some sort of Ai to assist sellers and buyers.

Market Matrix

This Matrix illustrates where I should focus most on finding a feature that would improve the user experience of Esty. Each of Etsy's direct competitors have a strong hold on a different edge of the market- Etsy included.

• Amazon corners the "has everything" corner of the market and their quick delivery service.

• Ebay corners the market on accessibility with variety- Ebay doesn't require users to have a membership to take advantage of deals and fast shipping. As well allowing users to bid and negotiate prices online.

• Bonanza has variety and usability- the platform is simple, visually appealing for older users and has higher customer satisfaction.

How Might We...

How might we improve Esty, based upon the research and user feed back we have and who are we designing for? 

We've decided to focus on the Esty seller who has had an Esty sellers account before but found it hard to communicate with tech support and found it cumbersome to run their businesses on Esty. This user type is common with Esty users since the Pandemic and many have found it stressful to keep up with the fees and finding support to accommodate them. 

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We are now able to focus on exploring the opportunities for finding the proper solution for users.

Opportunity Solution Tree

Our outcome is to ensure that sellers across all platforms , improve their experiences when operating their businesses on Esty by 10%. By improving the relationship with the user Etsy can improve their  customer rapport which will provide financial befit of all parties.

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The most promising opportunity explores how to improve the users understanding of the ecommerce platform so that they utilize the platform the most effectively.

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Of the solutions explored, we determined that the users need a way to ask for help that facilitates immediate feedback for frequently asked questions, tech support and Customer relations.

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From there, it was determined that developing an Ai to chat with users would provide the most benefit to consumers and to the people who usually field those calls from users. At this point, the user would only need to contact an agent under specific scenarios that would best be solved with human intervention.