eBags Contextual Research and Its Impact on Product Design

Overview

When I joined eBags, previous user research had yielded a single, generic persona—“Kathy”—that quickly became a catch-all excuse for dismissing new ideas. As Arnie Lund famously said, “Know thy user, and you are not thy user.” It was clear that a more rigorous, contextual research approach was needed to understand the diverse experiences of eBags shoppers. This research would become the catalyst for several projects that substantially improved revenue, key site metrics, and customer satisfaction.

The Challenge

The initial research was shallow and failed to capture the true diversity of our users. Decisions were being made based on a straw-man persona rather than real user insights. The challenge was to redefine our understanding of eBags’ audience by uncovering authentic user behaviors and needs within the actual shopping environments.

The Approach

I proposed and led a contextual research initiative. Recognizing the pitfalls of the earlier study, I organized a collaborative session with key stakeholders to define seven targeted audience segments—moving beyond the “Kathy” stereotype. We recruited participants from these segments, conducting interviews in their natural shopping environments (nine at home and one at the workplace). This immersive approach yielded rich, actionable insights.

The Findings

The research deck I developed revealed several critical insights:

• Users exhibit diverse shopping behaviors and preferences that a single persona couldn’t capture.

• The context—such as environment and device type—significantly influences shopping patterns.

• Opportunities existed to simplify workflows and enhance engagement by tailoring experiences to distinct audience segments.

Impact on Product Design

The insights directly informed multiple projects:

• Checkout Funnel Redesign: Streamlined the process from five pages to a single page, reducing cart abandonment by 23%.

• Self-Service and Returns Redesign: Reorganized and redesigned the experience, resulting in a 19% decrease in reliance on Customer Success support.

• eBags Obsession: Developed a gamified mobile application for luxury handbag shopping. Using AI to learn user preferences, the app increased the average number of products viewed per session from 8–12 to 52.

Takeaways

"To find ideas, find problems. To find problems, talk to people."
- Julie Zhou

This project underscored the importance of moving beyond generic personas to capture a true understanding of the diverse user base. By engaging directly with customers in their natural environments, we uncovered nuanced insights that reshaped product strategy and led to tangible improvements in customer satisfaction and business performance.