Why it’s worth checking out: A multi-method qualitative study digging into the bigger questions about users and their discovery experiences in Cloud marketplaces (2020)
The Cloud marketplace is a top stop for someone looking to discover and buy resources for their Cloud environment. However, we weren’t sure what the deeper motivations or goals were for users to go to the marketplace, rather than somewhere else.
As I’d recently joined the team and had minimal domain knowledge, I collaborated with senior design and research to plan a study focused on: 1) the biggest questions stakeholders had about our users and their overarching discover and buy journey, and 2) allowed me to dig deep and learn about the product from a functional, user-centered perspective
I began research by combing through previous studies surrounding IBM Catalog and competitor marketplaces. I interviewed key cross-disciplinary partners to gather a holistic view of where the product stands today, what their hopes for the future of the product are, and what critical questions they still had unanswered in order to get there.
With the foundation and objectives established, I executed a competitive audit to document how IBM Catalog features align with 2 top competitors and 1 peer competitor, with an emphasis on search and filtering functionalities. I conducted contextual inquiries at the same time to better understand how participants navigated their own marketplaces and learn what discovery features were most critical to them and why.
Now that the user’s deeper motivations were defined, I moved onto competitive usability testing to observe how users of one cloud would perform in a marketplace that is completely new to them. How easily could they navigate the novel interface? What features did they lean on to accomplish their tasks? What differences between marketplaces were most difficult for them to reconcile?
Both the contextual inquiry and competitive usability tests involved a similar prompt: Tell me about your most recent discover + buy experience in your marketplace and mimic the process using X marketplace, thinking aloud as you go.
Through in-depth inquiries, we identified 2 main reasons users chose to visit cloud marketplaces. Usability testing outlined how and to what degree participants rely on filtering and manual searching for discovery, as well as the minimum expectations they have for these critical features. The competitive lens highlighted where IBM Catalog succeeds or needs improvement in supporting our users through their greater discovery journey, and what needs to be implemented to do so.
Next Steps: Results from this study were used to guide product roadmapping for expanding and improving upon feature capabilities. New insight on the user’s journey surrounding the marketplace has helped reframe team perceptions on the role our product plays for the people that use it.