HomeAdvisor connects more than 30 million homeowners with trusted home improvement professionals in their area. So how does the company manage to tackle usability issues from the home improvement professionals’ perspective (B2B) and from the homeowners’ perspective (B2C) at the same time? Leah Russell, Vice President of User Experience at HomeAdvisor, joins us to share her insights on how her team incorporates regular user research to address the unique challenges facing both the B2B and B2C sides of the business.

1. Tackling B2B and B2C Challenges:
User Research at HomeAdvisor
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Leah Russell
Vice President of UX, HomeAdvisor

2. UserTesting’s on demand customer
insights platform enables companies
to create powerful products and
exceptional customer experiences.
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3. We Partner With Thousands Of Customers
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4. Across All Platforms, At All Stages Of Development
Watch customers interact with:
DESKTOP SMARTPHONE TABLET
WEBSITES APPS &
PROGRAMS
PROTOTYPES &
WIREFRAMES
SURVEYS PHYSICAL
PRODUCTS
Anywhere people interact with your brand:
AT HOME AT A STORE ON THE GO
On any pla6orm or device:
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5. 8
Leah Russell
Vice President of UX, HomeAdvisor
Leah has helped to establish and foster the IA - and later UX - role in several internet
consulting companies before moving to the corporate side, working in both the US
and Europe for companies such as Hilton, Travelocity and lastminute.com. As the
VP of User Experience at HomeAdvisor, she is passionate about completely
understanding customers and catering to their needs.

6. Tackling B2B and B2C Challenges:
User Research at HomeAdvisor
Leah Russell, Vice President, User Experience
HomeAdvisor

7. • Worked in UX for almost 20 years (gulp!)
• Started on the consulting side, then transitioned client side
• Moved into Product for a few years and then got back to UX
as soon as I could
• Been with HomeAdvisor for more than 5 years
• Love corny jokes
A few things about me
What’s orange and sounds like a parrot?

8. A few things about HomeAdvisor
A carrot
• Free tools and resources for homeowners looking for home improvement,
maintenance and repair professionals
• Based in Golden, Colorado
• More than 2100 employees, in 6 locations nationwide

9. • Focus is solely on the user’s experience
• Our team is currently 9 people, soon to be 10 (We are hiring!)
• 7 UX Designers
• 1 UX Researcher
• If it has a user, we support it
User Experience at HomeAdvisor
How do you get a baby alien to sleep?

10. • Fully incorporated into the development process
• Included and important members of development teams
• Strong support from executive team
We are really fortunate in many ways
C-Suite
UXTechProduct
ResearchDesign
You rocket

11. • On-site testing facility that can accommodate focus groups,
as well as one-on-one sessions
• 12-15 in-person tests per year
• Participation from all areas across the company
Mile High Insights
Why couldn’t the shoes go out and play?

12. • Dedicated UX Researcher role (in addition to Market Research role)
• Entire UX team involvement
• Important part of the development process
We love research!
They were all tied up
Strategy Discovery Design Test Build Deploy

13. Homeowners (B2C)
• Looking for help with home projects
• 40M+ homeowners doing $12B+ worth of
projects
• Goal:
• Find a quality professional who can
complete their project within their
specifications (budget, time,
complexity, etc.)
Why was the cat afraid of the tree?

14. Service Professionals (B2B)
• Looking for serious homeowners ready to
start a project
• 165K+ service professionals responding to
12M+ project requests
• Goal:
• Win jobs
Because of its bark

15. Trying to be all things to all customers
• Two main customer groups
• Really the same goals
• But pretty different perspectives
• How do we, as a team representing
both sets of users, address the needs
of both?
Where does a penguin keep his money?
• Research

16. • One-on-one testing
• Web, mobile web, app
• Axure prototypes
• Typically done over two days
• Debrief discussions
• Recruiting done both internally and
externally
Usability testing at HomeAdvisor
A snow bank

17. • Interviews
• Understand behaviors and opinions
• Surveys
• Gain insight from large numbers
• Remote unmoderated usability testing (Homeowners only)
• Review live site
• Ride-alongs (Service Professionals only)
• Learn from pros in their own environment
Additional research methods
How do you communicate with a fish?

18. • Communication is the key
• Product and UX from both B2C and B2B involved
• Test observation
• Debrief discussions
• Full reports
• UX Researcher involved
• Work reviews
• Project road maps
• Project kick-offs
So you have all this research. What do you do with it?
You drop it a line

19. • No real difference between B2C or B2B research
• It’s research
• It’s learning about your customers
• It’s using that research to build the best product possible for those customers
The moral of the story…
What planet is like a circus?

20. Thank You
Any Questions, Concerns or Jokes?
Saturn – it has three rings!