WavebidAuction Technology Group · 2023
100+ pages.
No hierarchy.
Three clicks deep.
So we sorted it the way auctioneers think.
Seven areas. One click away.
Scroll
01The problem
The most-used page took three clicks to reach.
- 1My Links
- 2Company
- 3Customers
- →Create/Edit Customer
27,072 views in March 2023. More than any other page.
02Research
Three rounds, before a single pixel.
I partnered with our UX researcher to test the structure with the people who'd use it, first inside ATG, then with auctioneers.
Round 1
Internal card sort
PMs, designers, researchers and Client Success sorted every page. They grouped work as Accounting, Customers and Auctions, not as the nav did.
Round 2
Card sort with auctioneers
Where auctioneers agreed, we found the backbone of the structure. Where they didn't, we found naming problems.
Round 3
Usability testing
Auctioneers did everyday tasks on our prototypes: find a customer, create an auction, pull a report.
03Decision 1 of 3 · Structure
We tested a top nav.
Auctioneers chose the sidebar.
What testing showed: a left sidebar was easier to scan and left more room for the work. So I changed course.
03Decision 2 of 3 · Language
Speak auctioneer.
Every label became the word auctioneers already used.
- Export and Data→Inventory
- All Auctions Reporting→Reporting
- My Links ▸ Company ▸ Customers→Customer
03Decision 3 of 3 · Wayfinding
Find anything, without a menu.
Testers missed search when it was tucked away. It moved to the top of every page.
04What shipped
Seven areas. One click to anything.
The navigation, annotatedSeven areas plus Help in a left sidebar, with a company switcher and search in the top bar.
My Auctions, as shippedOne plain action, Create Auction, and every area a click away.
0%
fewer clicks to the pages auctioneers use most.
- 3,500+auction houses
- 100+pages mapped
- 3rounds of research
Measured on the three most-visited pages.
What the research taught me
05What I'd keep
- 01
Map the nav to how people work, not how the software works.The moment we stopped mirroring the database, everything clicked.
- 02
Test early, and be ready to be wrong.My first layout was a top nav. Auctioneers told us otherwise, and the product is better for it.
Product Designer, Seller Experience · with a UX researcher, PM, Engineering and Client Success · Mar – Jun 2023 · Figma, Miro