The challenge 🏔️

Marketing leadership noticed the North American iRobot “Deals” page was underperforming. In preparation for the upcoming holiday season, they wanted to understand why and ensure it was optimized to better convert for Black Friday.

I was asked to work with the North American web team to identify problems with the UX and issue guidance for quick but effective optimizations.

Due to interdepartmental politics over site ownership and organizational skepticism of UX standards, I knew the real challenge would be effectively advocating for my content design.

The solutions 💡

From my previous experience introducing organizational content standards, I knew three critical tenets would be well-researched recommendations, well-defined, actionable changes, and proper socialization. So, I started by auditing the existing “Deals” page content through a UX lense then did competitive and marketing UX research. Finally, I clearly outlined my research and issued recommendations.

However, I knew I must hone my interpersonal skills to address ownership issues and illicit buy-in. So, I researched and reflected on design thinking questions around UX stakeholder management and consensus gathering. I then applied my findings to the project.

Examples of the questions, answers, and applications are below.

In what ways might I engage stakeholders and subject experts in the content design process? 

• Educational workshops
• Co-creating

In what ways might I make a case for UX content standards— particularly for those incentivized by sales performance? 

• UX reduces friction to shorten the path to purchase
• UX expands market share by being more inclusive
• UX improves conversion rates by giving users the information and context they need to convert

In what ways might I approach a stakeholder who is unhappy about their content being changed? 

• Discover and listen to the stakeholder’s painpoints and needs
• Frame UX changes as solutions to stakeholder’s painpoints and needs
• Include the stakeholder’s feedback

The results ✅

The products featured on “Deals” page met or exceeded sales benchmarks during the holiday sales season. Analytics showed users moved further down the page than ever before—something the North American team had not seen in the past.

My “Talk softly but dangle a big carrot” strategy built trust and confidence in the UX team. Regular co-creating sessions between the North American and my UX teams became the standard for all initiatives origniating from our department. My efforts led to further success when the North American team asked my UX team to meet with them regularly to advise on UX optimizations for their content initiatives, too.