Background

A struggling startup in a tough industry

The concept: QVC for Gen Z

The basic concept of VideoShops was video e-commerce. The user would watch streaming videos from which they could directly purchase products.

The videos would be produced and uploaded by third-party creators who would get commission from each sale.

The products would be a curated assortment available for drop-shipping, and the creators could pick any of the products to promote in their videos.

The opportunity: A hot market with no leader

While the concept was simple, making it succeed was not. Video commerce was a hotly contested market, but with no clear leader, there was no formula for success. Even establishing a foothold in a market where TikTok and Amazon were lurking would be a challenge.


The reality: There was a product bottleneck

In order to take on this challenge, VideoShops would need a clearly defined unique value proposition, which in turn would require the ability to quickly adapt.

This could not happen, though, because there was a bottleneck in the development pipeline. The product team was not producing new designs that could be built and tested, and there was no user research.

This is where I come in. VideoShops hired me to identify the blockage in design and solve it, get the company designing product again. I would end up discovering much deeper issues as I went forward.