Shopify Externship
OBJECTIVE:
Develop strategies to increase the adoption of Shopify's platform among college student entrepreneurs
Stage 1: Research and problem definition
While working in a team of six, Shopify tasked us to answer the question: "How Might We use AI to help college students quickly launch and run small businesses, reducing friction from idea to first revenue?" Even though individuals in the 18-24 age range have the highest brand recognition for Shopify, they were also the demographic with the fewest Shopify stores opened. It was our job to design a solution to close this gap. As a disclaimer, AI was used (and encouraged) thoughout the course of this project, mostly to assist in data analysis and prototyping.
- They had heard of Shopify, but only knew the purchasing platform Shop
- Very few of them associated Shopify with entrepreneurship
- Many were making money with side gigs, but just didn't call it a business
Stage 2: Persona and Journey Map
Based on the results of our survey, we developed a persona to encompass the student experience: Oliver. Oliver is a college student who wants to make some money, but hasn't ever considered starting a business to achieve that goal. He feels overwhelmed by the word "entrepreneur", since he just doest think he has enough experience to run a business.
We also built a journey map of the student entrepreneur experience:
This displays the goal journey of student entrepneurs
However, they experience pain points very early in the process
This research indicated how the design must fix the pathway
stage 3: problem redefinition
Based on the results of the survey, we realized that the problem needed to be reframed. The issue was not a lack of support once students decided to start a business—it was getting them to that stage in the first place. The biggest trend we discoevred is that many students were already running small businesses but shiedaway from the official terminology of "entrepreneur". This lack of confidence also made them less likely to use platforms like Shopify, since they seemed too official. Based on the results of our research, we wrote a new problem statement:
How Might We make students feel like Shopify was built for people like them?
stage 4: Brainstorming
Once we had a good understanding of the problem, it was time to start designing the solution! As a team, we sat down and brainstormed a list of solutions:
Stage 5: Prototyping and Usability testing
Based on our brainstorming, we developed a preliminary mockup (right). We then conducted user testing on our design via UserTesting.com.
Based on this feedback, we iterated on our design until achieving our final prototype:
Outcomes
As the culmination of my externship, my team and I presented our findings to Shopify leadership and authored a comprehensive white paper summarizing project findings. I gained extensive experience in user research, usability testing, persona creation, journey mapping, and digital prototyping.. Thanks to my contributions, the team was able to stay organized and produce high-quality work in the desired time frame.
