AliExpress

UX Research

The purpose of this project was to determine how to increase customers' trust of AliExpress by synthesizing user data and creating UX deliverables.

Role: UX Researcher

Tools: Figma, Miro

Timeline: 3.5 weeks

Background

AliExpress, a subsidiary of Alibaba Group, is a B2C e-commerce platform. Third party individuals and companies sell products directly to consumers, allowing AliExpress to sell products at competitive prices.

Problem

Customers report a lack of trust when shopping online at AliExpress.

Audience

American consumers who prefer online shopping to in-store shopping and shop online at Amazon, Target, Walmart, and eBay.

Goal

Increase customers’ trust of AliExpress to increase sales and revenue.

Objectives

Conduct user research to understand customers’ distrust of AliExpress
Create data-driven deliverables that represent the users and the process of shopping on AliExpress

Competitive research

I conducted secondary research on AliExpress and other e-commerce sites to better understand the market and AliExpress’ competitors. I found that AliExpress has over 150 million buyers in 220 countries and territories around the world, with the U.S. ranking 4th in the number of buyers. AliExpress accounted for ~1.2% of the e-commerce market in the U.S. in 2018 (behind Amazon, eBay, Walmart, Target, Etsy, and Costco).

Sources: Alibaba Group, AliExpress, eBay, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, SimilarWeb, Statista

User research

I reviewed user interview transcripts to understand 1) reasons users trust a website, 2) elements of a website that make the user hesitant, 3) aspects of e-commerce sites that are most important to the users.

Users valued:

Intuitive navigation
Easy checkout and PayPal option
Informative product photos
Organized visuals
Responsive seller communication

Users don’t trust AliExpress because:

Homepage is cluttered
Third-party sellers may be unreliable
Brand is unfamiliar

Users are influenced by:

Recommendations from peers
Competitive pricing
Social media
Seller and product reviews
Brand familiarity

I compared features that are important to users between AliExpress and its top competitors to identify opportunities for improving the user experience and increasing user trust.

Persona

Based on the user interviews, I created a persona to represent a potential AliExpress customer. I defined the user’s online shopping goals and their frustrations with the current AliExpress interface.

Journey map

I developed a journey map to understand the user’s feelings while purchasing a product from AliExpress. This helped me identify specific pain points in the process and opportunities to improve the users’ experience when purchasing a product.

User flow

I created a user flow of the same scenario to map out the steps required to purchase a product.

Sitemap

Because efficient navigation was one of the most important features for users, I created a sitemap of AliExpress to understand the current structure of the site.

Proposed sitemap

Using the sitemap, I identified redundancy among webpages and product categories. I proposed a new sitemap to increase navigation efficiency by 1) using hierarchical structure to remove 10 overlapping website pages, 2) removing and combining product categories to reduce overlap by 50%, and 3) alphabetizing the product category list.

Recommendations & conclusions

Conducting user research and creating deliverables allowed me to identify opportunities for AliExpress to increase trust among users and compete with other e-commerce websites. I recommend that AliExpress:

Improve webpage navigation & efficiency
- Reduce redundancy on the homepage by combining similar pages (e.g., Super Deals, Top Selection, Featured, For You)
- Alphabetize the category list
- Use hierarchical structure to organize website pages and product categories

Organize and simplify the homepage
- Remove animations and pop-ups to minimize distractions

Increase shopping & checkout efficiency
- Add product filters for color, brand, style
- Allow users to compare prices between 2+ items
- Require sellers to post a minimum number of high-quality product photos
- Add a section for customer questions and seller answers
- Enable a guest checkout option
- Offer secure payment options (e.g., PayPal)

Next steps

During this project, I empathized with the users to understand their needs and frustrations, defined the problem and goal, and ideated ways that AliExpress could increase trust among its users. My next steps are to implement my recommended changes by creating prototypes of the AliExpress homepage, product pages, and checkout pages and test them with users. Through user testing, I will learn whether the changes meet the users’ needs and increase their trust of AliExpress. Based on my findings, I will continue to iterate and test the product with users.

Learning outcomes

Throughout this process, I learned to separate myself from the user and to conduct research to understand the users’ needs, frustrations, and goals – not to confirm my initial beliefs or biases. Because I shop online and have questioned the reliability of e-commerce websites, it would have been easy to propose recommendations based on my personal experiences and preferences. Recognizing this challenge helped me empathize with the user while creating data-driven UX deliverables and recommendations.