Search – Samsara.com

I designed the MVP Search experience on Samsara.com.

Skills used: user experience, visual design

The Challenge

The existing website did not have any search functionality. When users wanted to quickly find specific information on the site, they were forced to navigate through multiple pages on a site with complex information architecture and bloated page content – overall, a confusing and frustrating user journey that did not translate into success.

Strategy

Our project team was focused on launching a minimum viable product (MVP) experience, so my initial steps were to:

• Review historical traffic and user journey data on the site to see what content was most popular with users

• Identify which user journeys (and specific pages) drove highest lead conversions and marketing pipeline

• Understand technical feasibility from our Search API

With this information, I was able to identify specific user flows and features that should be part of the MVP launch. With input from engineering, product management and leadership, I recommended that we prioritize the following for MVP:

• US website search only

• Desktop, tablet and mobile experience

• Search entry point in navigation bar

• Search field functionality

• Search results, including no results from a given query

• Dedicated search results webpage

Discovery

I reviewed search design patterns used on the Samsara.com store, a gated ecommerce experience for current customers. I also looked at Samsara competitors’ websites to see how they offered search, if they did at all.

Samsara store, mobile search experience

Design & UX

V1

In version 1 of the design, I explored how users could find search on the site and conduct a search without navigating to a dedicated search webpage. I also explored what the user experience might be if users wanted to view a larger set of search results on a dedicated webpage.

V2

Based on feedback from stakeholders and engineering, we scaled back the more complex aspects of V1 designs, specifically the advanced search functionality on the search webpage. I also further defined the user flow and design layouts on mobile and tablet.

Navigation bar exploration and testing

I explored other ways to display search functionality in the navigation bar and partnered with growth marketing and our experimentation team to launch a multi-variant test – this test will assess which experience results in higher search engagement and ultimately higher conversion rates from users who conduct a search on the website.

V3 – MVP Explorations

I explored layouts for how to display the search icon in the navigation bar on mobile and desktop, as well as layout options for the search webpage.

Final MVP Design

The Impact

In the four months since search launched, we’ve seen the following:

• 16,600+ search queries completed

• 19.4% of users who submitted a search query clicked on one of the listed results

• Average number of searches completed per user:

  • 33% of users completed 2 search queries in a single session

  • 30% of users completed 1 search query in a single session

  • 13% of users complted 3 search queries in a single session

• Of users who completed a search query:

  • 10.63% of those users also started the standard lead generation form on samsara.com

  • 13.05% of those users completed the lead generation form on samsara.com

I also launched a customer satisfaction (CSAT) survey to assess the relevance of search results and am tracking results.