Product Sense: Mapping Friction in the Consumer Online Buying Journey and Proposing Fixes

Identify the main problems consumers run into when they buy things online, and propose how you would address them. ```hint Walk the journey Trace a purchase from the first search to the item arriving, and on to a possible return, and mark where shoppers hesitate, drop off or lose trust. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Are we solving this as a retailer, a marketplace, a payments or checkout provider, or as a new standalone product? - Is there a product category or market in focus, or does this cover online shopping in general? - What is the main goal: more completed purchases, fewer returns, or more trust and repeat buying? - Should I cover all shoppers, or can I focus on one group, such as first-time visitors to a store, mobile shoppers or buyers of expensive items? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A clear stance on whose problems are being solved and from which business's position - Pain points mapped across the purchase journey and prioritized by how often they occur and how much they hurt - Concrete solutions for the top problems, with an MVP and what is deferred - Success metrics with guardrails - Risks and trade-offs, such as fraud, privacy and the cost to merchants ### Follow-up Questions - How would your answer change if you were solving this as a payments provider rather than as a store, or the other way around? - How would you validate that the problem you chose is the biggest one before building anything? - Which of these problems can no single company solve alone, and how would you approach it?