How to design your user journey

We learned about user journeys and how to use the Template to create them to save time and money in a previous article. Now it is time to define how your users will use your marketplace.

Background work

The 3 most important user journeys on any marketplace are how listings are created, how listings are found via search, and how supply and demand interacts to transact. In short, listing creation, discovery process, and transaction process.

Defining all 3 is important eventually, but focus on 1 to start. The easiest way to start is to write the default successful user journey first, and then add differing paths. Keep it simple.

Here are some common points of consideration in each journey.

Listing creation

Focus on defining how users signup and create listings on your marketplace. Consider these questions:

• How do users sign up? What information do you want to collect? Are there additional security measures to signing up?
• Do you want to internally label people as providers and/or customers at signup and show them different views after?
• Is the provider an individual person or a company?
• What information do you require in a listing?
• Do providers offer an availability calendar for bookings? Are listings booked nightly, daily, hourly, or some other way?
• How are listings priced? Is it tied to the booking length, or some other way?
• Does the listing need to be approved by the operator before being published?

Discovery process

Focus on answering how users search and find listings. Consider these questions:

• Can the user browse the results before they have logged in?
• What is the main criteria the customer will use for searching: Location, availability, or a keyword?
• What filters are used to narrow the search results?
• In what order are the search results shown? Should the user be able to adjust the sorting criteria?
• What information is shown for each listing in the search view? How about in the listing view?

Transaction process

Focus on defining how your users transact on the marketplace. Starting from the listing page, depict the steps from request to successful completion. Consider these questions:

• What information should the customer provide when making a request?
• Should the provider accept each request, or are they approved automatically?
• Can customers propose prices as part of requesting a booking? Or, is the price fixed?
• When do you collect payment from the customer?
• Is the money transferred to the service provider before or after they have provided the service? Is there a need to delay the payout for some time to allow time for resolving possible conflicts or complaints?
• What is the cancellation and refund policy?
• How do reviews work? Do both parties review each other after a booking, or something else?
• What email notifications are sent as part of the transaction process? When are they sent?

Learn more about the transaction process functionality in Sharetribe.

Create maps for listing creation journey, discovery journey and transaction process.

There are many ways to document your user journeys. You can draft using pen and paper, a mind map software like Whimsical or Miro, or by simply listing the steps in a document or Powerpoint.

As an example, we share here the journeys to a marketplace for renting saunas daily, like an AirBnB for saunas. They are in Powerpoint format (download them here), which you can edit in any similar software like Google Slides or Key. Creating something like this will help developers quickly grasp what your marketplace is about and help them move forward developing it.

Share the journey maps with developers

If you would like to hire vetted Sharetribe developers, start either by booking a call with our team or connect directly with Sharetribe Experts through the Expert Directory.