POND5

Item Detail Page

Project Overview

According to the quantitative data, the number of users visiting Pond5 organically (through Google) land on an item page first. We want to help users explore more content on Pond5 to find what they are looking for, instead of going back to Google. Through usability testing and user interviews, I was able to work towards user-centered design solutions that will improve a user’s quest for finding the perfect clip.

My Role

UI/UX Design

User Research

UX Strategy

Usability Testing & User Interviews

With this project, I wanted to gather more data and understand what our users were experiencing on the item page. I started with usability testing on usertesting.com.

I set up a different test with 3 different starting points for every 5 users

  • Bring users to Pond5 organically through Google

  • Have users who have Pond5 accounts navigate from the homepage

  • Have new users navigate from the homepage

Key takeaways from the research

  • Similar to the search results research, 9/10 users tested were either not able to find the search bar at all or were only drawn to the pink icon and became confused and frustrated

  • 100% of users tested and interviewed mentioned 2 or 3 out of 12 metadata listed were important

  • Users mentioned they had trouble finding where to add to collections and download previews on the item page.

“I think that with less ads on the Pond5 page the site would look more legitimate and trustworthy.”
— Annoyed User, usertesting.com

Our Goals

  • Provide a seamless experience for both organic and non-organic users

  • Encourage organic users to explore and continue their search, instead of going back to Google

  • Improve the search bar visibility on the item page

  • Allow more content to be seen above the fold on desktop

The Before: Diving Deeper Into The Problem

Original Visitor Modal

Many were alarmed and annoyed with the pop-up modal appearing as they were trying to see the content.

With the video playing in the background, the user wants to get to the clip as soon as possible, so they completely disregard the modal.

 Original Item Page on Desktop

This is a screenshot of a 15-inch Macbook pro screen. As you can see, there is no indication that there is more content below the fold.

A lot of users don’t scroll down to see if there is more content below, instead, they journey elsewhere (Either back to Google or another page)

Too Much Marketing Messaging

Almost all of the users were overwhelmed with the amount of “advertising” on the item page.

We were overloading new users with a bunch of messaging and promotional offers and this caused confusion and users as they don’t know what to look at.

Item Page Painpoints

  • Almost all of our users didn’t know where to conduct a new search.

  • From the user interviews, it made more sense for users if they could see the price next to the resolution.

  • We historically have a “dark” vibe throughout the site and want to address areas in which we can bring a lighter approach to the design.

  • More Videos From artists and Related Results are way below the fold, which makes it harder for users to find similar clips.

 The After: Solutions & Designs

From the user research, these were the areas I focused on on the item page:

  • Clean up the current global navigation in order to create space for the emphasis to be on the search bar primarily, with all other actions being secondary.

  • Move More From Artist above the fold so that users are fully aware those categories exist and they are discoverable from landing on this page initially.

  • There are still users coming to our site that will occasionally need the metadata information - we should be able to bring out the useful information and have the section collapsed on default - still be accessible for the users who need it but hidden for those who find this information irrelevant and/or overwhelming.

  • Reorganize the item page to make the functions and actions on this page stand out for the users who need them without distracting the user from making a purchase.

  • Add the capability to Add to Collection on Mobile.

  • Validate the UI color decision before any development work is put toward this

  • Create a UX that relays information without overwhelming the user or giving a distracting experience.

In Conclusion 

Key Takeaways

  • We should focus on both organic and non-organic users, not just on the non-organic.

  • Mobile visitors have been growing on Pond5. For best practices, we should always be thinking about mobile. “Mobile first” doesn’t quite apply to Pond5, however, the number of organic visitors on mobile has increased over the past year, and continues to grow.

Learnings

  • Take into consideration future cases where we want to include specific segmentations and make sure any redesign will account for the future projects on the roadmap.

Next Steps

  • Rethink how we display license upgrade options and the pricing information associated with those options.

  • After a user adds an item to their cart on the item page, we currently have an added-to-cart modal. We should consider testing and look into the option of taking them to the cart that has a continue shopping button that would drive back to a results page or item page depending on where they came from initially - this would accommodate both user types we’ve been trying to solve for.

  • Test the option of white background or dark in the designs in front of users.