Family Tree Results Redesign

Role

UX Designer
2022

Tools

Figma

Skills

UX/UI Design
User Research

The Problem

Under certain circumstances, Ancestry displayed a search result near the top of the page that promoted research from other member’s family trees. This particular result exhibited several problems:

• it sometimes displayed family tree information which blatantly mismatched the user’s search query
• the UI incorrectly labeled the result as a historical record leading to user confusion
• lacked a strong call to action and value statement
  
• clicked to a confusing and misleading browse experience which lacked calls to actions and value statements

Metrics and feedback from users suggested that this element needed improvement and the team embarked on a discovery path.

Key Objectives

• Increase click through rate
• Increase relevance 
• Increase search success. For this particular feature, a success was defined as a user saving a result to her tree or contacting another Ancestry user
• Improve the overall display and usability of the family tree results

Iteration & User Research

First, I coordinated a user testing plan with my Product and Research partners. We formulated a structure and overall goal. I then sketched out potential solutions while continuing to refine the research plan.

The team interviewed 7 participants. Most had recently begun using the product and did not seem especially familiar with the search experience today.

During the first portion of the testing session, we directed participants to walk through today’s experience. Most participants didn’t recognize the top callout as a tree hint and didn’t understand that it could offer them additional information about their family. More experienced participants understood the result but felt less inclined to explore them less due to of a low level of trust in the information.

“I didn’t click on this because I assumed it was things I already had... I’m wondering if it was put in by me.”

Moreover, users had trouble understanding what to do with the result itself. The lack of call-to-actions throughout the experience introduced considerable ambiguity and cloaked the value of the feature.

When presented with the concept, users responded much more positively to both the aesthetics and overall user experience. Participants liked seeing the members who built the tree and an option to send a message.

“I have more options, it seems neatly organized.”

While the overall design tested positively, users expressed confusion about some of the terminology and framing. Specifically, they

• didn’t always understand where a button called “See more top research” would lead them
• hesitated when encountering a “Save this to your tree” button fearing that the information would instantly get saved before having a chance to review it
• sometimes struggled with the label “Researched by” to indicate who owned the tree
• requested the display of additional information about the results such as tree size

Additionally, I collaborated with my Product partner to better understand how we could strengthen the display rules to ensure that we surfaced accurate results in a timely manner.

Solution

After digesting the user test results and discussing them with colleagues, my subsequent efforts centered around:

• Visual refinements
• Improving the language in various UI elements
• Designing variants for split testing to learn more about user preferences

I reworded several labels and buttons that users struggled with during user testing. Part of that involved easing back on describing the new feature as a way to access research. Additionally, I explored several ways to present a complex set of data to customers to make the information more scannable and make actions more obvious.

I also experimented with various treatments to help optimize the experience for more click throughs and to gather qualitative behavioral data to inform future iterations.

What I Learned

• Sound design approaches can transform a complex confusing experience into something that’s engaging and understandable. The fundamentals matter a lot!
• Good design can feel personally gratifying. I felt delighted to see users excited to become awareof new ways to discover personal connections to their family’s past.

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