Overview
Understanding the Problem
The current appeals process is not time efficient for Sellers, due to the process of submitting and tracking appeals, which can subsequently result in lost revenue for the Seller.
In the current state, even when the requirements to appeal are the same for multiple of their listing violations, Sellers must submit appeals for each individual listing.
Preliminary Research
I started off this project by conducting preliminary research on Amazon Seller Forums, a place where Sellers can ask questions and voice their concerns. I created a clustering of the insights I found in posts where Sellers mentioned having multiple violations or wanting to appeal violations in bulk. Research also included synthesizing recordings of calls from Sellers to Amazon support center.
Stakeholder Interviews
Next, I conducted interviews with 4 appeals investigators to get a better understanding of the review process and which types of appeals could potentially be grouped together.
Findings
Investigators review an average of 86 appeals per day
Rarely review appeals from same Seller
Appeals are queued to investigators randomly
User Survey
I then launched a Qualtrics survey on Amazon Seller Forums consisting of 11 questions. The survey was launched on the US, UK and IN Seller Forums and received a total of 308 responses, with the majority from UK Seller Forums. Survey respondents were asked a series of 11 questions to gain information regarding Sellers’ experiences with multiple violations.
Conclusions
Less than 5% of respondents submit more than 10 appeals per month.
More than 88% of Sellers were dissatisfied with the experience of appealing multiple violations
Time-consuming existing appeals process
Understanding the User
By delineating these user types, I can tailor the design to effectively cater to the unique preferences and requirements of each group.
Brainstorming a Bulk Appeals Feature
After talking with PMs and developers on the team, we decided to create a bulk listing appeals feature that would enable Sellers to group listings by appeal/dispute requirements and create one bulk appeal or dispute for those listings.
Low-Fi
After deciding upon the requirements of the bulk appeals feature, I created some preliminary designs to gather feedback.
Usability Testing
I conducted 3 rounds of usability testing on usertesting.com in order to determine how the designs were received by users and iterate quickly.
Round 1 Results
I conducted unmoderated usability testing with 6 users. Participants completed a series of 25 tasks and questions regarding the designs.
Thought when clicking the “Bulk Appeal” button it would allow them to appeal all violations
Dividing by policy defeats the purpose of having a bulk appeal feature
Disliked the UI of the current appeal page
Round 2 Results
I conducted unmoderated usability testing with 6 users. Participants completed a series of 22 tasks and questions regarding the designs.
Sellers want to be able to appeal all of their violations at once when clicking the “Bulk Appeal” button
Confusion/overwhelmed by the “Required to Appeal” section
Liked option to remove listing
Round 3 Results
I conducted unmoderated usability testing with 6 users. Participants completed a series of 18 tasks and questions regarding the designs.
Don’t know what they would group together if they had to create their own group
Criticality indicator was understood by participants
Sellers are confused by groupings of policy violations
