YP MyBook
Easier Way to Connect with Your Favorite Businesses
yp.com | Apple App Store | Google Play
US Patent Awarded:
My Role and Activities:
Design Vision | Lead User Research, User Experience Design, Usability Testing, Product Development, Taxonomy, SEO, and Analytical Teams | Foster Collaborative Cross-Functional Efforts
At Yellow Pages, we observed that even when consumers bookmarked a business, as time passed, they could not recall the specific name or find it again in their long list of bookmarks. The attribute they could remember best was the category. Most consumers do not have the time and motivation to create custom tags or organize bookmarks. This can be a frustrating experience and a missed opportunity for both consumers and businesses. MyBook was created to auto-organize bookmarked businesses into easy recall categories so that consumers can more quickly and easily access businesses they have used in the past.Problem:
Most people are creatures of habit and routine. We would prefer to engage with businesses, such as a restaurant or a plumber, that we are familiar with and had a positive experience with in the past. However, memory is not reliable, and most people are not great at recalling the specific business they interacted with in the past and have difficulty finding them again, even if they saved a business card or bookmarked a website. Solution:
Create an easy and organized way to save business information so that consumers can connect with their favorite businesses quickly, encourage more frequent engagements, and explore new businesses nearby with the curated collections. 
Process
After reviewing the search data, I encouraged our research team to conduct qualitative research to understand consumer pain points and expectations better. We set up a multi-cities follow-me-home ethnographic study. The insights were profound in understanding how people from various backgrounds and family structures engage with their local businesses. I created the design team's guiding principles and goals with these insights. I facilitated the design reviews, provided feedback, and challenged the team to improve the user experience further. Once we had design options, we set up multivariate tests with simple mock-ups to test the MyBook concept. The results helped to refine the design direction. After the beta launch, I led a team of User Experience Designers and Product Managers to develop the MyBook feature to help consumers auto-organize their saved business listings and quickly access their frequently visited businesses. We went back to the previous research participants to learn their reactions to the new MyBook feature. They validated that MyBook made finding the business information they were looking for much simpler. I led a collaborative effort with the Search, Engineering, Project Management, Advertiser, and Business Intelligence teams to roll out and track the feature's performance. Creating an easier way for consumers to engage with their favorite businesses can bring simple delight to their search experience.
Impact:
MyBook feature provided an easy and fun way to organize and connect with favorite businesses quickly. Consumer engagement increased by 38%.