The Road to Research

I began the project by drafting a research plan that would include a comprehensive analysis of our competitors and an in-depth evaluation of the iPhone shopping experience offered by Apple. The research plan involved part contextual observation and part benchmarking of current iPhone shopping experiences through testing against competitor’s websites. For the first phase of my research I visited a variety of brick and mortar competitors who sold both prepaid and post-paid iPhone plans.

3rd party iPhone seller observations

• Wireless provider offers were either device-centric, plan-centric, or bundle-centric (i.e. receive 6 months of disney+ when you sign up)

  • 6 of the 8 vendors I visited sold iPhones as part of a larger offer and did not allow options outside of these existing offers. Walmart and Best Buy did sell post-paid plans which allowed the purchase of an iPhone outside of a contract but neither allowed the purchasing of an unlocked device. This would be a clear advantage to amazon as we had both.

• Overall quality of experience was greatly dependent on knowledge, professionalism, and enthusiasm of the sales representative.

  • The customer experience at all retail locations varied wildly based on the sales person who helped me. On two separate occasions I received incorrect information from the sales person (Sprint & Walmart) and it was clear which salespeople worked on commission.

• Most wireless stores hid device prices or only showed monthly (lease) pricing.

  • Trying to find the fully landed price on any device was nearly impossible for prepaid 3rd party stores. Post-paid devices showed fully landed price always.

• Post-paid plans are frequently paid for in cash (unverified).

  • A manager at Walmart mentioned this to me when browsing their selection, stating that customers who purchase post-paid plans do so more out of necessity than choice.

Apple Store observations

• The home screen for in-store iPhones is a list of trade-in offers for existing iPhone models.

  • 94% of customers purchasing an iPhone in 2018 had owned at least one iPhone previously so Apple can reasonably assume that the majority of customers looking at iPhones in their store would be looking to trade-in their existing iPhone first. By leading with the exchange value, Apple can discuss prices with this applied discount.

• Customers are frequently left alone, adjacent to devices and accessories, while waiting for sales representatives to come assist.

  • In all 3 of my Apple Store visits I was made to wait for a representative to assist me in purchasing the device. Regardless of how busy the store was at the time, it took the sales representative ~3 minutes to greet me leaving me ample time to interact with the devices on the table.

• The iPhone table is situated in the front center of the store, forming an obstacle that forces customer engagement.

  • The iPhone table is the first object encountered in the Apple Store and frequently customers and their family members would interact with the devices when waiting on support for another device.

• iPhone sales representatives always start with the question “what brings you in today?” even though the intent to buy an iPhone was already stated.

  • The sales experience is a conversation where the Apple Store sales representative is trying to acquire information on the customer before moving forward with the purchase process.

• Customers are encouraged to hold multiple devices while browsing and iPhones are intentionally positioned close enough to be held simultaneously.

  • Device comparison is the most significant iPhone sales tool allowing customers to understand the differences between the devices. On two different occasions I observed a customer pull their own device from their pocket to compare it in their hand against the device on the table.

Generative Research Findings

Following the competitive and observational research phase, I conducted interviews with 18 participants who met the criteria of being both an Amazon Prime customer and currently searching for a new iPhone. In testing I observed two fundamental methods of searching for iPhone on Amazon. The first was a brand level query in which the customer would search for “apple” and then attempt to navigate to an iPhone detail page to continue their journey from there. The second was the product or product+brand level query in which customers would type in the. Only 2 of 18 participants conducted a brand+product+model query (e.g. “Apple iPhone 8 Plus”).

Additional Notes

5 out of 18 participants cited amazon.com as a space in which they would conduct research.

“I’m still in the preliminary stages of deciding which iPhone model I want to purchase. I have been reviewing cnet and amazon and some other reviewer sites on what each model brings to the table.”

10 out of 18 participants stated they would consider purchasing an iPhone on amazon.com.

“Yes, I would. Amazon has an excellent return policy and they make comparison easy.”

“No. I just don't see them as a good place for cell phones. Easier to get it from the manufacturer or your provider.”

5 out of 18 participants were shopping for an iPhone to replace a non-iPhone device.

“I currently have a Samsung Galaxy, but I have become increasingly unhappy with it. For my next phone, I am considering looking into other brands, such as the iPhone or Pixel.”

6 out of 18 participants cited price as the most important factor in choosing where to buy their iPhone.

“I have visited MetroPCS as well as Best Buy and I have also looked at Groupon for refurbished iPhones. My son recently got one at Apple so I was thinking of looking there next.”

Next Steps

I immediately began translating my research findings into designs which incorporated my research. I tapped UX Designer Julie Tra to help with aesthetics and prototyping to accelerate the design process and provide a second set of eyes on the design work. Through our collaboration we were able to move from concept to prototype in 3 weeks and I ran an evaluative research test through usertesting.com.

During the research and testing phase I worked closely with Boris Rozenshteyn and Ashok Jagathrakshakan to create a development timeline and discuss an appropriate scope of work. We decided on an iterative design approach in which we would make incremental improvements towards our ultimate goal. I worked with UX Designer Julie Tra and product manager Sanjeev Goluguri to translate the research findings into data-driven design improvements.

Outcomes

The design updates above (fig. 1, fig. 2, and fig. 3) were completed over the following year (Q2 2019 - Q2 2020) and resulted in an incremental GMS of $125M for Apple iPhone sales on amazon (a 350% increase). Additionally, the success of the design work and my approach to research caught the attention of our senior vice president Russ Grandinetti, who worked with Sr. UX Manager Meghan Borsic to arrange a series of design presentations to him and members of his team on the future development of Apple shopping pages. The following roadmap document was created under my design leadership with help from UX Designer Julie Tra.