Improving early traction for a SaaS marketplace
The challenge:
The startup had launched an early-stage marketplace connecting users with maritime experiences. The discovery identified valuable opportunities to strengthen adoption and engagement of the core proposition. The challenge was to understand the needs, motivations, and barriers of both B2B and B2C user groups, and prioritise improvements while the product was still in development.
Our approach:
We combined product analysis, experience design and content strategy to evaluate how effectively the MVP introduced the proposition and guided users towards its core actions. Our approach included:
Reviewing the end-to-end experience from first visit to sign-up and marketplace participation
Identifying usability, content and proposition gaps affecting early engagement
Clarifying how the platform communicated its value to different marketplace users
Improving key interactions and content across the first-time experience
Prioritising recommendations according to their value during early implementation
Working closely with the startup to translate findings into practical design changes
Outcomes:
Identified the most important barriers affecting early engagement and adoption
Created a clearer and more compelling introduction to the marketplace proposition
Improved key journeys supporting user sign-ups and experience listings
Translated product analysis into focused, actionable design recommendations
Connected user needs, product messaging and commercial marketplace goals
Impact:
The improvements contributed to stronger early participation, including increased user sign-ups and marketplace listings. By making the proposition and next steps easier to understand, the work helped the startup build initial traction and gave the team clearer evidence and direction for the product’s continued development.
The UK B2C e-commerce market was valued at approximately £172.3 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach £256.5 billion by 2030 (Grand View Research).