eBay Guerrilla Research

Date: November 2016 - July 2018

When I joined eBay in 2016, predominantly working with Business Sellers, I felt a disconnect from our users and customers. I wanted to see and experience their world and pain points for myself. And I felt that the software development teams would also benefit from connecting directly with the people we are building software for. Ideally, we would have a set of ‘super star’ sellers who we could consult and get feedback from, at certain points during the UX process, so we always have a finger on the pulse of our users.

Why

It wasn’t as straightforward as I thought. As one could expect from a huge organisation such as eBay, there were a few hoops to jump through, and as my plan wasn’t on anyone’s budget or allocated project. My own increasing workload was also a hindrance.

I had to obtain NDAs, from the lobby at the quarterly Seller Council to see if I can get any interest. Email and call the selected sellers and convince and schedule a meeting with them. Organise the UK teams to attend. Book tickets and organise gift cards for sellers in exchange for their time.

Outcome

We gained valuable insight into the workings of small, medium, and large businesses, most of them running primarily on the eBay platform. We were able to observe and hear directly from the business owners and employees what their problems and day-to-day struggles were. It also fuelled inspiration to all teams involved.