MICROSOFT DOWNLOAD CENTER (DLC)
Top-10 website worldwide with over 1 billion downloads a year. Improve the download experience and update with a responsive site
Problem & Goals
The back-end system was archaic with no hygiene on past downloads. As a result, the database was cluttered with millions of old downloads having no association with one another, with no indication of which ones were most current.Cleaning up the database was not an option. The goal was to help customers find and retrieve required downloads, and increase conversion. Increase the number of customer downloads per session and drive customer to Microsoft Update for software recommendations.
Solution & Impact
We identified the top downloads (these made up the vast majority of the total downloads) and created custom solutions to help customers procure and install the proper downloads for their systems. We solved for the most common download scenarios, and performed usability testing for each one.
Downloads increased to more than one file per visit
Click through rate on the download button increased from 30% to 55%
Download conversions increased from 0.24 to 0.48 (200%)
Store referrals and revenue increased from 1.79 to 4.87 (272%)
Introduced sniffing and recommendations for specific downloads for key scenarios, driving users to install the latest Microsoft downloads. For example, we increased Internet Explorer 10 downloads from 25,000 per month to 48,000 per month (192%), while decreasing IE 9 downloads from 53,000 to 25,000 per month (-212%).
Drove 1.2 million visitors a month to Microsoft Update through key messaging by design, while decreasing downloads of incorrect files.
Responsibilities
As the Design Lead and Art Director on the project, I was responsible for the project visions and user flows. Identity what and how to user test. Art Direction over a UX Designer, project timelines and design of the site. Plus quality control of the actual shipped project.
3 Key User Problems
A few popular downloads made up the majority of the billions of annual downloads on the DLC. We identified the three main problems users were experiencing with these downloads and set out to solve them.
1. Downloading the most recent compatible version of a product
Users don’t know which download or version is compatible with their current system. For example Internet Explorer has 13 different downloads depending on OS version and system configuration.
2. Finding & downloading Windows XP SP3 (service pack)
The 2 versions of Windows XP Service Pack 3 downloads account for 1.2 million downloads a month worldwide.
3. Getting updated hardware drivers
Most hardware drivers are not available in the DLC. For example, Microsoft doesn’t make printer drivers for Epson, but customers think Microsoft is responsible for providing them.
New flows & system created
In order to solve three key scenarios we created a new system to work in conjunction with the current system. As pictured below, there are numerous scenarios for different types of downloads that we needed to solve for.
PROBLEM 1
Downloading the most recent compatible version of a product
CURRENT ISSUES: Search Results Page
Scenario: User is looking for Internet Explorer for their system, and searches for “Internet Explorer”
ISSUES
There are 13 different version of the actual IE Application for different operating systems and bit versions.
There are many pages of IE results and not all users know the difference between a Service Pack, an Update, a MUI, and the actual Application.
The titles of the Downloads in the system are too long and are unscannable.
Users commonly install the same version of IE they already have or one that won’t work on their system.
USERS QUESTIONS
What version of IE is the latest one for my system?
What version do I currently have?
What OS do I have?
What is 32 or 64 bit, and how do I know what I need?
What is this update? Do I need it? What are the specific differences from my current version?
SOLUTION: Search results page update
IMPROVEMENTS
We created “Super Detail Pages” that contained all flavors of the application in one detail page. Instead of search yielding 13 separate downloads, we now show 3.
We use the application icon instead of the generic download icon to provide a visual differentiator.
We wrote descriptive copy specific to the Super Details Page.
The search results page was redesigned for greater usability.
SOLUTION: Creation of “Super Details Page”
IMPROVEMENTS
The Super Details Page looks like any other details page but we added OS “sniffing”so we are able to detect the users OS and bit version and provide the correct download.
We created a link for “Other Systems” that brings up an overlay showing all available versions in case the user is downloading for a computer other than the one they are on (this was a scenario we needed to solve for).
SOLUTION: Messaging system
IMPROVEMENTS
To help get user the most recent of correct download we also created a messaging system to direct the user into downloading the correct download for their system for the our key downloads.
RESULTS: Problem 1
The introduction of sniffing and recommendations for specific downloads was extremely successful.
We increased Internet Explorer 10 downloads from 25,000 to 48,000 per month and decreased IE 9 from 53,000 to 25,000 per month.
We rolled out the new version and downloads for IE 9 dropped significantly
Downloads for IE 10 increased significantly. Microsoft’s goal is to have the latest version of IE installed on users’ systems.
PROBLEM 2
Finding & downloading Windows XP SP3 (service pack)
CURRENT EXPERIENCE: Warning messaging not seen
Scenario: User is looking for the latest Update for Windows XP and find Service Pack 3 which is not for consumers.
HUGE PROBLEM
These 2 downloads account for 1.2 million downloads a month worldwide
ISSUES
There are two Windows SP3 downloads. One is specifically for IT Professionals to install for the network. The second one is for multiple computers too. In both cases consumers should be using Microsoft Update instead. However, they are not seeing the messaging on the details pages.
SOLUTION: Message triggered off of the “Download” button
IMPROVEMENTS
Using the same messaging system we created for the other scenarios, but trigger by the Download button to recommend they run Microsoft Update instead.
We needed a generic message that could work for different downloads to avoid having to localize a specific message for each download into 90 different languages (the Microsoft DLC is localized for a high number of markets).
RESULTS: Problem 2
The intercept overlay was very successful
62% clicked on the Microsoft Update instead of downloading the file the wasn’t correct for them. (Remember IT Professional still need this download for their network)
Windows XP SP3 download volume decreased by ~6000 per month, and Microsoft Update rose to 1.2 million per month
When the new version was released, downloads went down and Microsoft Update increased which is the proper outcome for the customer and supports Microsoft’s business goals.
PROBLEM 3
Getting third party hardware drivers
CURRENT EXPERIENCE: No messaging indicating users might be looking in the wrong place
Scenario: User is looking for hardware drivers for third party devices
ISSUE
Many Printer drivers, Network cards drivers, Display drivers, Camera drivers, and other required drivers are not made by Microsoft, they are made by the manufacturer of the hardware. Many customer’s think Microsoft is responsible for all things computer related and the current experience offers no assistance for use to help them out.
SOLUTION: Creation of Family pages and custom message
IMPROVEMENTS
We created “Family” Pages for popular categories of downloads for users of instead of a search results page.
I wanted to find a way to tell the user they are looking in the wrong place for their drivers. We discovered that Microsoft Update can now retrieve drivers and updates from third party sites for their hardware devices. I created a custom “ad” to encourage users to run Microsoft Update for their driver needs.
RESULTS:
Downloading updates for hardware drivers increased by +29%
The custom ad had 20% CTR
Site Redesign
Responsive
The Download Center was one of the first corporate websites of this magnitude to change over to a responsive format. We designed for it in 2013 but we didn’t release the responsive version until 2014
Improvement to Details Page
Details Page A/B test
Using numerous wire-frames and a qualitative testing of new layouts for the most important page of the DLC we narrowed our scenarios down to two options that we A/B tested to determine which one we would move forward with.
Design A
This version Increased CTR to 54% but design B was better.
Design B
This version won in the A/B test with 58% CTR on the Download button
Office Family Page
We used a curated lists of the top downloads for categories instead of a search results filtered list. The list we created was far more relevant to users. We wanted to add sniffing for their system and software but that was out of scope for this release. Each Family page was branded for that product.
Before
After
Download Wizard
Created a download wizards to help the user get the correct download they need please a way for us to recommend key business priority downloads and our own Download manager.
