Problem: A new search experience was A/B tested to determine it's impact on revenue. Once results retuned inconclusive, interviews with users were necessary to gain feedback prior to the nw product launch.
Project Duration: 1.5 Months
Project
Quick Search
Company Overview
Crunchbase is a startup prospecting tool used by sales reps, founders, and investors.
My Role
Senior User Researcher
The Problem
The Product team launched an A/B test for the Quick Search feature within the Crunchbase product. The experiment was conducted after Quick Search’s UI/UX was simplified and “Suggested Searches” was added to the list of results. The experiment sought to learn:
Whether the addition of “Suggested Searches” will lead to an increase in Advanced Search and Query Builder activities and
Whether there is any negative impact on the monetization metrics.
The experiment results were inconclusive with a few metrics being slightly negative. For example, the number of Advanced Search and Query Builder Searches dropped.
As a result, I proposed that we conduct user interviews to understand if users prefer the old or updated versions of Quick Search.
Research Process
Kick-off Meeting: For this project, I worked with the Product and Design team leads. I met with all stakeholders to understand business goals and surface assumptions. Collaboratively, we framed research goals.
Research Plan: I created a research plan that included a project timeline, participant selection criteria, recruitment screener questions, and an interview and usability test script.
Recruitment: I partnered with the data analytics team to pull a list of users using Periscope dashboards.
Research Methods
This research project used a mixed-method, multi-phase approach.
Goals
Evaluate which version of Quick Search users prefer, between the old and updated designs.
Which version provides a better search experience and is thus worth iterating on?
Which version would lead to an increase in advanced search and query builder searches?
Phase 1 (qualitative):
I interviewed 7 users who were in the treatment group of the Product teams experiment.
Outcomes
This research resulted in a better understanding of how users search on Crunchbase and whether or not the new UI/UX experience leads to more advanced search and query builder searches.
Recommendations Included:
5/7 participants used quick search immediately when landing on the Crunchbase homepage.
Users' search behaviors depend on whether they’re prospecting or researching a known company.
Users would like a “fuzzier” way to search for companies in Quick Search instead of needing to use a specific company in their query.
Narrow the number of ways to get to advanced search. Currently, users have 2-3 different ways to complete an advanced search.
Carry users’ search query from Quick Search to Advanced Search
