Introduction

In 2023 I was hired by Yuj Designs to manage the redesign of India’s largest online auction house.

My team and I defined the project scope and completed user research, design and usability testing in 8 months.

My Role as Design Director

  • Lead UX design and testing
  • Manage 10 UX and visual designers
  • Manage all stakeholder communications
  • Define, track and report progress to plan
  • Identify and mitigate delays
  • Select, onboard and mentor junior designers and senior design leads
  • Drive innovation across user experience and back office systems

Project Outcomes

  • User research, design and testing completed in 8 months
  • Dramatically simplified the end to end UX
  • Reduced registration times by 75%
  • Digitized numerous offline processes
  • Designed a number of new services, which make material inspection, payment and delivery significantly easier for auction participants
  • Recommended over a dozen ways to improve auction delivery in the future

Existing Challenges

At the start of the project, we identified a number of challenges in the existing system.

Project Schedule

Project delivery was split into two phases. In phase 1, we designed the core experience. In phase 2, we designed secondary features.

User Research

Generative and evaluative user research was conducted throughout the project.

Sample Persona

Competitive Research

Big Ideas

In the first stakeholder workshop we generated a number of big ideas for the web site. Tap through to explore them.

Design Process

We used paper and pencil to capture our initial design ideas, and then used a wireframe library in Figma to create a high level concept design. We tested this with users, identified where it worked (and didn’t), and then created a more detailed design. This was also tested before development began.

Information Architecture

Design Results

One Web Site

The client used to operate two separate marketing sites and a third for auction participation.

We merged them into a single, unified platform, eliminating the need for users to navigate between multiple sites. 

Fast Registration

We significantly reduced the number of steps in the registration process and introduced lightweight guest options for those who want to try before they buy.

Personalized, Dynamic Home Page

When a user logs in, they land on a personalized dashboard. This is a one-stop destination to kickstart buyer’s day efficiently.

It highlights the information the user needs to know, when they need it, and provides access to all major screens.

The Auction Calendar

The calendar offers a quick overview of the week’s auctions, allowing the buyer to manage their time effectively.

The user can see auctions they are participating in, and those they may be interested in learning more about.

Live Bidding

We improved the bidding experience dramatically by removing unnecessary info from the screen and moving secondary information into an expandable panel.

The interface adapts to various auction types, ensuring an intuitive and informed bidding process.

We also made it easier to submit a bid quickly (and safely), and scan the status of your bids using the innovative ribbon on the left hand side.

View Bidding History

The Subscription-based Bidding History feature empowers buyers with in-depth insights into their performance over time.

Users can review bid and purchase data on a weekly, monthly or quarterly basis, to determine where they won, where the lost, and why.

Simple Money Management

We designed a robust Wallet Management system within our website, offering users the ability to seamlessly add funds to their wallet for fast payments. 

Users can monitor their financial activity through intuitive graphs, request refunds with real-time status tracking, and conveniently download invoices.

Post auction payment and logistics

The platform displays a comprehensive timeline for lots the buyer wins, and provides mechanisms to pay and move material.

These processes are tied to the seller processes, so the UX has been designed to be flexible and modular.

Profile management

After the user registers, there is a comprehensive system to view and manage their profile, including their business details, security details, document uploads and preferences.

The user can also add secondary users to their account, making it possible for small teams to bid and obtain materials together.

Messaging

We also designed a full messaging, system. Important events are communicated with the user via SMS, what’s app and email.

The user can also submit questions or comments within a message centre, and view any responses from the auction operator or seller.