Overview
I simplified the reviews process, compiled several competitive audits, and collaborated with creative and development to launch features.
Role
Product Manager Intern
Boatsetter
Simplifying the reviews process
Problem
The current review process is confusing to users. After speaking to Customer Experience (CX), we learned that renters were unclear on who / what they are supposed to review. This results in reviews that do not accurately reflect the boating experience. For example, if a renter had a great time with the boat but a horrible time with the captain, they may leave a three star booking review when in reality the boat was five stars and the captain was one star. We must clarify who / what each stakeholder is reviewing and what that process will look like, along with considering what will increase the total number of reviews.
Solution
Create clearer education on the review process by separating boat and captain reviews. Entry points to the review process may remain the same but reviews should have its own entire flow instead of living on the itinerary page. Make star ratings required but text comments optional on order to maximize quantity of reviews. Implement a modal that encourages renters to leave a review if they return to the Boatsetter homepage.
Risks
There are three potential high risks: continued confusion with how the review process works, a lack of credibility visible to renters resulting from text being optional, user irritation concerning the modal.
Being able to simplify the reviews process was an incredibly valuable learning experience because I was able to move through every aspect of the product lifecycle.
Empathizing with and understanding the different users by talking to CX to figure out the core problems
Creating and prioritizing solutions in order to build a V1 with the product team
Passing along the fleshed out idea and logic to the Head of Creative for design
Writing up a detailed creative spec that includes edge cases and test scenarios
Leading a hand-off with development and answering any questions about the product logic
Conducting UAT tests and communicating feedback to the engineers
I compiled multiple competitive audits at my time with Boatsetter on topics including booking details / itinerary and owner onboarding. The feature I spent the most time on however was search. I broke apart this project into four sections: search results, search bar, navigation from homepage to search, and navigation from search to search.
First, I made a list of several direct and indirect competitors to analyze. I walked through the search process for each platform and took screenshots of the flows. I also considered two-sided marketplaces such as Etsy and Amazon because I wanted to see how companies that listed a wide spectrum of products approached search.
Then, I gathered common practices and unique features I wanted to highlight using these flows. Below is my final deliverable which I presented directly to the Head of Product and my Senior Product Manager.
After
Before
Competitive audit for search
