The Association of Haitian Professionals (AHP) is a 501(c) non-profit organization that addresses the needs, concerns, and advancement of people of Haitian descent. This e-commerce centered site, allows for customers to connect with businesses, essentially acting as an online market hub.
Our team conducted research to better understand the organizations’ user base and potential avenues for expansion.
The goal of our research was to learn more about Mango Lakay’s vision and how that vision could be used to expand Mango Lakay’s customer base. We first focused on understanding the current organizational structure of Mango Lakay as well as the specific vision, identity, and mission Mango Lakay wished to put forth. Our research was primarily focused on exploring the gap between Mango Lakay’s intended identity and how that identity was communicated to customers through the site.
The team primarily interviewed internal AHP stakeholders (4) and customers (2). That being said, our team also collaborated with the other vendor-focussed AHP team to gain insights from their vendor data. This collaboration was needed for our team to understand the overarching themes and examine Mango Lakay holistically. It is important to note that almost all, 3 out of 4, of the internal stakeholders were also vendors on the Mango Lakay site.
Interview Structure
The team conducted all the interviews remotely. We decided to focus more on the user’s perception of the identity of Mango Lakay, so our grand tour question was “What is the customer’s perspective on the identity of Mango Lakay?” This question helped the users tell us a story of their perception and experience of the product and helped guide the structure of the interview.
An affinity diagram helped us understand the overarching themes from our data. We started off by writing out yellow sticky notes from our interpretation sessions. These yellow notes featured data taken directly from the interviews. After categorizing each of the yellow notes, we then created blue notes to categorize the yellow groupings into “higher level” themes. After a few iterations, we laid out the blue notes and followed the same procedure for our pink and green notes.
Some of the main observations we made from the data were:
After laying out the individual affinity diagrams, we noticed overlapping themes and compiled them into an “overlap” diagram. This gave us a clearer idea about shared beliefs and points of convergence in the Mango Lakay problem space.
Lack of Connection to Vendors
Mango Lakay currently identifies as a business directory, with product-centered information highlighted on the website. This current structure, however, is not conducive to the current browsing behavior of customers. Currently, many customers come to the website because they want to support Haitian business, not because they have a specific product in mind. Furthermore, a product-first approach de-personalizes the website and does not foster connection and familiarity between customers and vendors.
Lack of Bonding
The in-person events organized by Mango Lakay have been extremely beneficial for them as a business to build both personal and professional relationships. Without in person events, however, there are fewer ways for customers and vendors to interact and connect with each other. This is detrimental to Mango Lakay’s visions as an interconnected ecosystem and networking hub.
Missing Space for Larger Vendors
It is important to cater to both large and small businesses, however large and small businesses will have different uses of Mango Lakay. Currently, Mango Lakay is not accounting for the different needs of large and small businesses. As such, Mango Lakay is not adequately meeting the needs of either, which is harming vendor retention and growth.
Closed Network
AHP is responsible for both vendor and customer influx, making it a closed network. Mango Lakay needs to expand their vendor and customer base beyond just AHP contacts to grow their business.
Missing Haitian Identity
Haitian identity is central to the vision of Mango Lakay, but the website currently is not representing and celebrating that identity to the fullest capacity. There is not enough messaging and evocative imagery that conveys the vision of the website to the users. This is especially challenging for new users who may not be of Haitian descent and are looking for resources to learn more.
Proposed Recommendation Giving customers the option to sort vendors by identity-based categories instead of product-based categories
Proposed Recommendation Current vendor overview card on homepage (left). Proposed new card styling with more vendor info (right). The redesigned vendor card shows more pictures of the vendor’s service, has a descriptive hook, and shows appropriate tags.
