User Research
UX Design
UI Design
In HKTDC marketplace, it is important to raise Request for quotation (RFQ) between buyer and supplier user to maintain supplier to keep using our platform for expanding their business. As a product designer,I worked closely with business development team to improve conversion rate optimization(CRO) to boost business performance through website.
In this project, I purposed to revamp our home page which is the very first touch point with our customer. To redesign for homepage, we followed the 3 main steps including – problem definition, design, and evaluation.
HKTDC Marketplace is to connect buyers and suppliers from around the world through an online trading platform. The platform is run by the Hong KongTrade Development Council (HKTDC), which is a statutory body established in 1966 to promote, develop, and facilitate trade between Hong Kong and the rest of the world. HKTDC Marketplace provides a wide range of services and features that enable buyers and suppliers to connect and do business with each other. These include product sourcing and trade matching.
HKTDC Marketplace
For most of the HKTDC user, most of them would be the buyer or supplier. For buyer, they may need to find a specific product for their company. For supplier, they want to connect with more potential customer.
Unconscious way to reach RFQ page
There are no indicator or content help user to reach RFQ page. When buyer enter to our website, they don’t know how to reach RFQ page.
Unrelated product suggestion
In homepage, there are trending product suggested to users. However, these products may not relate to user’s business, which may mislead our users to irrelevant pages. This makes user difficult to match with their potential business partner.
Searching engine with unclear category
In the original design, user need to search with the product keywords to find reach their needs. However, it is difficult for them to link them to specific product with accurate wordings.
To address the issues mentioned above, my suggestion is to revamp the homepage design with the aim of facilitating user navigation (for both buyers and suppliers) towards the RFQ page and to streamline the search for desired products.
To align with the resource constraints of our department, I have broken down my design approach into two stages - MVP version and Ideal version.
MVP version is a lean and streamlined version of the homepage design that can be created within the resource constraints of our department. It involves identifying the most crucial features that are required for a functional homepage, with the goal of achieving the desired results while minimizing the involvement of our team.This version will involve prioritizing and focusing on the most essential components of the homepage.
Ideal version, on the other hand, is a more comprehensive and ambitious version of the homepage design that considers all potential features and requirements for the long-term usage of the homepage. This version will include additional features such as advanced search functionalities, and form suggestions. While this version may require more significant involvement from our team, the result will be a comprehensive and optimized homepage design that meets all the needs of our users for long-term usage.
We have considered the allocation of our team resources (such as the number of developers and the number of man-days we have available) and have decided not to revamp the product search engine. Instead, our focus will be on adding two buttons - "Request of Quotation" & "View Request for Quotation".
This solution allows both buyers and suppliers to submit and view their quotations and requests without having to access the RFQ page through their dashboard.
By clicking on the buttons, users can directly submit and view their requests without any additional steps, thereby streamlining the process and improving user experience. Although we may not be revamping the product search engine in this version, the addition of these buttons will still provide significant benefits to our users.
In the Ideal version of the homepage design, there are 3 main features that are aimed at enhancing the business matching purpose:
Expanding category section
Displaying the category section can certainly aid in guiding users to their intended product. This can facilitate easier navigation to the relevant product page and reduce the likelihood of users becoming disoriented during their search.
Making the product search engine sticky on the top
By transforming the search engine into a sticky bar, users can easily conduct searches and apply filters while remaining on the current page.
Simplifying the RFQ form
Incorporating a straightforward RFQ (Request for Quotation) form on the homepage can encourage users to complete the entire form and increase the RFQ rate.
In addition to these solutions, we have also suggested the inclusion of interactive banners that promote seasonal promotions, new updates, and platform features. This feature will improve our conversion rate and expand our business to potential users over the long term. The inclusion of interactive banners will help to promote our seasonal promotions, new updates, and platform features, which will not only improve the user experience but also attract potential users to the platform. With these features, we can ensure that our homepage design is comprehensive, optimized, and geared towards improving business matching and expanding our business over the long term.
To address the issue of users getting lost between the landing page and the RFQ page due to unfamiliarity with our platform features, we suggest implementing a simple and direct flow to guide them through the process.
Asks simple questions or provides guidance on which section is most appropriate for their needs. This will help users understand the platform better and find the right category to fill in the RFQ form.
To expand the category section on the top of the homepage. This will enable users to filter out irrelevant content and easily find potential business partners, thereby improving their experience and increasing the chances of successful business matching.
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