Microsoft Store – Filtering & Sorting

Microsoft Store – Filtering & Sorting

Problem

Microsoft Store doesn’t have product filtering and sorting functionalities for its a wide range of devices, accessories, and audio products. E-Commerce product lists without robust filtering and sorting functionalities may cause list pages to become lengthy requiring users to scroll down endlessly to find a desired product. Figure 1 shows the current Microsoft Store product list.

Why this Is a problem

Without the right filtering options, finding just the right product can be an almost impossible task for the user. E-Commerce product lists and their filtering and sorting tools determine how easy or difficult it is for the user to browse the site’s product catalogue. Research study conducted by Baymard Institute found out that sites with mediocre product list usability see abandonment rates of 67-90%.[1]

User observations and findings

A user testing study was conducted with two users. User testing is a good way to understand the issues faced by the users while going through the site. To better understand how the current experience resonates with online shoppers, users were given a series of tasks to complete on Microsoft Store Product List Page.

Tasks

• Find “Laptops” with “Intel Core i5 9th Gen processors”. How many are available, including “out of stock”?
• How many “Surface laptops” between “$1,000 and $1,500” are available (including “out of stock” models

Targeted audience

• Either shopping for, or recently purchased a new computer online
• Online shopping habits range from: “Few times per month” to “At least 5 days per week”

Observations

• Both users struggled to quickly find laptops with Intel Core i5 9th Gen on the product list page. This could be due to products aren’t being sorted based on the processors
• Both users found ‘Surface laptops’ however struggled to find the price range between “$1,000 and $1,500”. This could be due to products aren’t being sorted based on pricing range

Solution

Add product filtering and sorting functionality vertically on Microsoft Store Product List Pages. Figure 2 shows an example how filtering and sorting functionality can be integrated vertically.

Why this is s solution

Users’ desire to purchase a product may increase substantially once they find what they’re looking for within a few seconds when visiting a given page. Filtering and sorting functionality may assist users to find products they would like to purchase minimizing the cognitive load.

[1] Baymard Institute, Product Lists UX, accessed 17 October 2021, https://baymard.com/research/ecommerce-product-lists

Wireframe

Filtering and sorting options are listed out on the left side of the page allowing users to select the best possible device based on their needs.