Vanlife Trader Filtering System Redesign

In today’s world of online shopping, where consumers often make purchasing decisions within seconds, providing advanced yet simple tools for searching and purchasing has become a fundamental element of an effective e-commerce strategy. This process serves as a bridge between the users' needs and the final purchase, making its optimization a priority for every online retailer.

Customer expectations are higher than ever – they want to find the products or services they are looking for as quickly as possible, without frustration caused by unintuitive search tools. Therefore, optimizing the search process has become an indispensable part of any online seller's strategy. Vanlife Trader, a popular classifieds platform specializing in the sale and purchase of vans, campers, and vehicles for life on the road, was well aware of this challenge.

Over time, the number of listings on Vanlife Trader grew significantly, leading users to report problems with the platform's search and filtering functionality. As a result, Vanlife Trader approached Department of Web for support in improving these functions. The project primarily focused on redesigning the filtering system, with the goal of making it easier and more precise for users to search for vehicles.

Objectives

The client realized that the existing filtering system was not meeting user needs, especially as the number of listings increased. The primary objective was to create a system that would be more user-friendly and intuitive, while allowing for better management of the growing inventory. The existing filtering system was limited in functionality, leading to frustration among users who struggled to quickly find listings that matched their preferences. The main priorities were improving the filtering logic and optimizing the platform's performance.

The old filtering system - problems to solve

Users encountered significant limitations that made it difficult to find the right listings. One of the major issues was with single-choice filters – users could only select one option at a time, which severely restricted the search capabilities. For example, if a user wanted to filter vans by color, they could only choose one color at a time. This meant they had to repeat the search for each color of interest, which not only lengthened the process but also caused frustration as they had to sift through the same results multiple times.

A similar problem existed with other filters, such as the number of seats. A user could only select one specific value, like 3 seats, which meant they wouldn’t see vehicles with 4 or more seats that might also meet their needs. This lack of flexibility in the old system forced users into strict, one-dimensional searches, significantly lowering the effectiveness of sifting through the growing number of listings on the platform.

Additionally, the design of the previous filters could have been clearer and more coherent, which significantly contributed to a poor user experience (UX). The layout was not user-friendly, with filters being too tightly packed, creating a sense of overwhelming complexity for users.

These issues with limited filtering options became a major hindrance for users who wanted to quickly and precisely find vehicles that matched their requirements.

Vanlife Trader expected Department of Web to deliver a modern solution that would:

• Be intuitive and fast, so users could quickly find what they were looking for.
• Be scalable, ensuring that the platform could handle even more listings in the future.
• Be easily modifiable, allowing for the quick introduction of new filtering options without the need for a complete overhaul.

Project Challenges

Key technical and design challenges

During the project, the team at Department of Web faced several critical challenges. One of the primary tasks was adapting the existing filtering infrastructure to meet the new requirements. This was particularly difficult because expanding the filtering functionality without sacrificing performance posed a significant challenge.

Additionally, the client did not want to overload the user interface with too many options, so the user experience had to remain simple and user-friendly, even with the addition of more advanced filtering options. Implementing these changes required close collaboration with the Vanlife Trader team to ensure that the new functionality met all user requires while maintaining an intuitive and transparent interface.

Technical challenges included:

• Optimizing the existing filtering code to allow the platform to handle more queries without losing performance.
• Ensuring high platform performance even during peak traffic, with users searching through thousands of listings.
• Adapting the system to meet growing customer demands by adding advanced filters without sacrificing the simplicity of the interface.

Solutions

Changes to taxonomies and terms

One of the main tasks in the redesign of Vanlife Trader's filtering system was adjusting the existing taxonomies and terms that appeared on the site as filters and their options. It was crucial to carry out data migrations to align the filters with the new model while ensuring the system's overall consistency.

Taxonomy migrations

During the project, we made changes to the taxonomy and adjusted certain options to be more user-friendly. This renaming and reorganization of categories were essential to improve clarity and enhance the overall user experience. Additionally, we developed a data migration tool that ensured data integrity throughout the transition, allowing the new filtering system to function smoothly without any loss or misalignment of data. These adjustments were a crucial part of optimizing the platform to better meet user needs.

Coding the new filtering system

The goal was to create a more advanced filtering system that would work intuitively and meet the technical requirements. Although no new technologies were introduced, it was necessary to adapt existing tools and components.

New filtering architecture

The changes included:

• Filtering components: Each filter, such as "Chassis," "Price," or "Location," was defined as a separate system element, making it easy to modify in the future.
• Widgets: The system required the use of widgets to manage filter display and interactions between them, allowing for dynamic changes in available options based on user selections.
• Displaying and functioning on the front end: The user interface was designed with simplicity and ease of use in mind, enabling users to quickly find vehicles based on their preferences. Additional filtering fields were also added to the home page to improve usability.

Innovations in the project

While the project didn’t involve the introduction of entirely new technologies, the innovative approach focused on smart management of the site's functionality without creating redundant solutions. The redesign of the home page and filters led to a more advanced approach to UX/UI, significantly improving the overall user experience.

Collaboration and communication with the client

The team emphasized that the collaboration with Vanlife Trader went very smoothly. Regular feedback from the client was crucial in making continuous improvements. The client appreciated the transparency in communication and the speed with which changes were implemented, which contributed to the project's success. Although the client had specific requirements, these did not pose difficulties in the implementation. Regular meetings and constructive suggestions helped keep the project on track.

Benefits of long-term collaboration

From the perspective of Department of Web, working on a long-term project like Vanlife Trader brought many benefits. Continuous communication with a single client allows for a deeper understanding of their needs and the ability to make ongoing improvements based on feedback. This kind of collaboration also enables long-term project development, which ultimately leads to better results over time.

The redesign of the filtering system for Vanlife Trader was a prime example of effective collaboration on multiple levels. The team at Department of Web overcame both technical and project challenges, delivering solutions that enhanced the platform’s functionality and improved user satisfaction. The optimization of existing resources with minimal investment in new technologies showed that an innovative approach doesn’t always require revolutionary tools – the key lies in understanding user needs and implementing solutions effectively.