6 min read

Jan 24, 2024

Mandi News is a web-based acquisition product for Ninjacart across Agri Personas. Mandi News delivers precise and timely commodity prices from Mandis (Hindi — मंडी; meaning - large commodity markets) across India. With the introduction of additional layers of product and content there arose a necessity to reconsider the existing design of Mandi News, focusing on enhancements at the navigational and information architecture levels.

The “Change Category” call-to-action lacks intuitiveness. Its not a familiar term in their business context and lacks relatability for the users.

The chosen commodity fails to visually indicate its selected state, and the option to change the selection using the side CTA is not apparent.

Only 33% of existing Mandi News users are tapping on the“Change Category” CTA.

There is a 57% drop-off from the category change CTA to the actual selection of a commodity. Microsoft clarity user recordings have attributed this to the presence of an additional apply button on the commodity picker. It has been observed that the users continue to tap on the commodity in the bottom sheet and miss the “Apply” CTA to continue.

Merely 9.2% of visitors engaged with the commodity picker, and within this group, 10.65% of users interacted with more than one commodity.

The area immediately above the price section, appears visually cluttered. Examination of click-through rates, usage patterns via heat maps, and thorough research uncovered a discrepancy where features with limited use cases occupy prominent space on the interface.

The current user journey for discovering features or extracting maximum value out of MandiNews is characterised by a one-dimensional navigation pattern. This single-page experience hampers discoverability and the seamless introduction of new features, impacting the overall user experience.

While the original intention was for the current landing page to serve as the homepage, its current structure deviates from a typical homepage design. Instead, it predominantly functions as a prices page with additional elements cross-sold within in the same scroll.

The extensive scroll depth has affected the visibility of significant features such as the buy/sell form and MandiTV, despite a satisfactory conversion rate.

These factors prompted a reconsideration of the page’s overall structure, focusing on defining Mandi News’ core objectives and what it aims to primarily offer its users. Subsequently, the information architecture of the page was determined accordingly.

Introduction of Top Bar Favourites are now integrated into the top bar to ensure global accessibility for this functionality. Unlike before, where it appeared as a subset of the primary information (prices), placing it in the top bar emphasises its importance. This strategic placement in the top bar also provides flexibility for introducing and experimenting with any future essential features or updates that users may require, given the easy accessibility.

Scrollable tabs for commodity selection The ‘Change Category’ call-to-action has been replaced with a scrollable tab section, offering immediate visibility of all user-selected commodities. Previously requiring “3 taps” to change a commodity, this has now been streamlined to just “1 tap”. This is predicted to minimise resistance, leading to a quicker task completion time for the user and easier discoverability of more categories.

Removal of the date picker Initial user research indicated that past-day prices are not relevant for users. What users find crucial is access to current-day prices, unless previous prices are presented insightfully as predictive data aiding users in making actionable decisions. This is also backed by the CTR numbers presented in the above table (4.32% for date picker).

Reduction in real estate for Know About Mandi As the ‘Know About Mandi’ feature is not yet validated as a hero feature on the platform, the team made an informed decision to decrease its prominence.

Introduction of the bottom navigation bar The addition of a bottom navigation bar introduces an additional layer to the exploration experience on Mandi News. It’s crafted to enhance the discoverability of Mandi TV and the buy/sell form, addressing the issue of low impressions on these features. Furthermore, it highlights the platform’s key offerings, improving overall accessibility for the user.

📍Location: Yeshwantpur market, Bengaluru

The initial stage in validating the new designs involved a prototype test conducted with a select group of users from the Mandi News market. Three randomly chosen Mandi News users participated in this exercise, engaging with the prototype of the new designs. Their interactions were meticulously observed and documented.

Goals of the test: 1. Reveal friction points and confusing experiences in the flow 2. Assessing task level satisfaction

Participants were instructed to complete a series of three tasks, as illustrated in the image below. The image also includes detailed results indicating the number of users who successfully accomplished each task.

User quote: “This is best (for commodity selection), because all are shown in the front”

The user assumes that the news is presented within the WhatsApp message itself and doesn’t often click on the link that directs to the Mandi News webpage.

Bifurcation of variety based on season must be there.

On filling the Buy/Sell form, users don’t get an immediate response. They are unaware of the new feature where contacts are immediately shared over WhatsApp. Takeaway for us: User education about the new update has been missed.

There is a need to receive more than three contacts from the Buy/Sell form.

The Buy/Sell banner lacks clarity for users, requiring a more straightforward explanation of its purpose. Additionally, it tends to be overlooked due to banner blindness and the depth of scrolling on the page. This problem is hoped to be solved with the introduction of the bottom nav bar

Users want access to local markets nearby their location. They are willing to give location permission for the product to autodetect. User quoted Swiggy’s example where the restaurants are recommended based on user’s autodetected location.

The crucial insight from user testing results emphasised the necessity to enhance the entry point for exploring all categories. This will be our primary focus moving forward.

Increasing the user base sample size for testing The subsequent phase involves testing the redesigned commodity picker and navigation bar with a broader user base to obtain impartial results. The performance of these designs will be evaluated by monitoring the following metrics: 1. Feature discoverability — Improvement in CTR for posting a Buy/Sell requirement, Mandi TV feed 2. Increase in average number of commodities viewed

Thank you for dedicating your time to this read. This blog initiates the Mandi News redesign series. Look forward to future posts, where we’ll explore the next stages and the extensive evolution of the redesign. Enjoy the journey! Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments; your input contributes to our collective growth and improvement. 🙌