Reflections

What was the biggest challenge you faced creating your store?

Navigating a new and unfamiliar UI was the biggest challenge. There's so much functionality and so many features that it was overwhelming to find things or remember where a particular setting was found.

What worked really well when using our platform?

The page editor is extremely simple and intuitive. I enjoyed using it more than other site builders or CMS's I've used in the past like Wordpress and Squarespace. I also loved the built in SEO previews and tools.

What could be improved when using our platform?

While adding products, I found a few of the input fields to be confusing. Some fields like Compare at price offer hints in the form of info sections on hover but others were less clear to someone without much experience building or running an online store.

• What's the implication of Charge tax on this product or Continue selling when out of stock?
• Are there best practices for SKU / Barcode?
• I was unsure about what to do with HS code in Customs Information section

I see it as a difficult balance though—how much hand holding is too much? At what point does the UI become cluttered because there's too much unsolicited help? 

How did this experience help you build empathy for our merchants?

Building an online store requires a lot of thought! After spending a couple hours on the admin side of the platform, I realized the amount of information our merchants have to process to build a store. Our long-term merchants must be subject matter experts when it comes to store management. Keeping the merchant perspective top of mind will be extremely important to me moving forward.