As part of the 8.1 update, the Windows Store introduced many pages improvements with a new look and feel. As part of a larger team, I focused on increasing app discoverability and merchandise relevancy, and enhancing content strategy. 

As a user experience designer, I worked closely with a team of engineers and program managers to deliver the final solution. When we need to understand user behavior, we partnered with user research in conducting contextual interviews. We started by understanding technical constraints, establishing design principles, working through scenarios, and finally, created detailed artifacts that our engineers could implement. In areas where the content was front and center, we partnered with the content team to define a sustainable strategy. 

Users had low awareness of apps that were available in the Store. This adversely affected perception of the Windows 8 ecosystem and ultimately impacted conversion. Store needed to change the user behavior at the beginning of the purchase experience. By providing a transient view of curated apps on the Store live tile, we let users catch a glimpse of the storefront right on their Start screen. In the months following this feature update, first time conversion and repeat user visits of Store increased. I took majority of the design ownership, creating the various live tile templates and a sustainable content strategy. While the end solution is seemingly simple, the project had to overcome ambiguous timeline, production challenges and technical constraints.

 

 

To further enhance discoverability of great apps, we created Collections that showcase curated sets of apps. Among others, curations included essential apps for new users, theme-based apps for occasions and discounted deals for the value conscious. An Install all feature lets users install all apps in a collection with a single tap. Working with engineering and content publishing, I implemented a sustainable plan by establishing a content strategy for curating Collections, using art assets and publishing app details at scale.

To increase user registration with the Store, the payment flow was improved. I worked with the commerce team to get familiar with payment methods and investigate how the purchase experience could be streamlined. By linking payment information to the accounts of both new and existing users, this feature helped create a more complete Microsoft user identity.