Polyvore leverages a different strategies across its mobile website, desktop website and native app. In this post I look at the new user experience on the mobile web site.
Good bits:
- The Polyvore mobile website takes a free samples approach. It shows a sampling of content links on its home page to illustrate the breadth of its offerings. A user can visit a large number of these links and browse, to an extent. A prompt to sign up is not shown until the user over scrolls at the bottom of any page she is exploring, or if she tries to get sale alerts for any items she finds.
- The site also employs a lightweight user-guided tutorial. Focused, modeless blue hints are displayed as a new user navigates different pages, and they point out key features. Only two major features are illustrated.
- When the user does trigger a sign-up screen, its copy is tailored to the user’s entry point to give it more relevance and a stronger value proposition.
- Users can view deep links on the mobile website without being being prompted to sign in. This is a major use case as many Polyvore sets are linked to from Pinterest.
To be improved
- Before the new user gets to the home page, she has to pass by a “Get the app” full screen takeover. These can be disruptive and too early for a new user, who may simply be trying to explore a new site before committing to an app. It’s not dissimilar from the use of a sign-up wall.
- New users are prompted in many different places to get the app or to sign up for a Polyvore account. This can confuse and frustrate a new user because both actions are trying to draw her away from content and it’s not clear which action is more important. For example, note the screenshot of the sign-up screen with the “Download the Polyvore app” banner overlapping it at the bottom.
- Although the user-guided tutorial is a good touch, one of the instructions is repeated 3 times. It is a blue tooltip that points to the heart icon and says that tapping it will provide the user with sales alerts. Once the user sees one heart-icon tooltip, she should not need to be repeatedly educated on its use. Otherwise, the site risks desensitizing her to any future tooltips that may be educating on something different.
- The tooltips repeat for a user if she happens to revisit the mobile website via a deep link from Pinterest or other app.
- The mobile website is much more restrictive than the desktop website. The desktop website does not push a user strongly to sign up. In fact, a new user on the desktop website can fully browse the site, instead of being prompted after scrolling through 10 or so items. A new user on the desktop site can even create a draft of her own fashion set, a feature that is not revealed to a new user on the mobile site until she signs in. It would be worthwhile for the mobile website to consider taking on this more browse-friendly state of the desktop site to make it a true free sample.