Upgrading Your Shopping Cart: An eBay.com Redesign Project

This study aims to improve the user experience of buying a product on eBay.com, making it more relevant, simpler, and distinct. With the rise of e-commerce driven by internet and mobile growth, eBay.com remains a renowned online marketplace but has faced criticism in recent years for issues such as slow loading times, outdated interface, and a confusing user experience, thus losing its consumers to its competitors. The redesign process started with participants selected through simple random sampling, and tools like heuristic analysis, interviews, user personas, journey maps, card sorting, and usability testing. eBay’s target audience spanned a wide age range, from 19 to 55 years. Research revealed users’ difficulties with lack of proper categorization and high cognitive load due to excessive decision points. The redesign focused on reducing these decision points, updating the site’s appearance to align with current UI trends, and enhancing homepage engagement. During usability testing, most users navigated the redesigned website successfully and appreciated its updated look. In the post-evaluation questionnaire, the redesigned website scored a positive rating of 4.24 out of 5. Changes were implemented based on a feedback prioritization matrix. In summary, the redesign achieved the aim of delivering a seamless shopping experience, enabling users to reach desired products with fewer steps, less time, and reduced cognitive load and also increasing the user engagement.