There is no slowdown in the demand for digital talent as we approach the end of 2023. The reason for that is straightforward; in multiple sectors there are not enough people available for the positions being offered.
At the core of this economic phenomenon is the ever-evolving, iterative nature of all things tech. New products and features tend to require an expanding workforce and one industry vertical that illustrates this well is e-commerce. Competitive factors demand that online retailers offer usable, intuitive sites meeting the UX/UI expectations of consumers who increasingly embrace online retail. In 2023, e-commerce sales in the US are expected to reach $1.1 trillion by the end of the year, with a year-on-year growth rate of 10.4 percent.
Riding this wave is Slickdeals, one of the top ten most visited shopping sites in the U.S., according to Similarweb, a web analytics firm. The company’s senior product manager for mobile apps told Built In Los Angeles about how an ongoing revamp of their iOS and Android apps will greatly improve their customers’ experiences. To promptly meet user needs and ensure a successful product launch in 2024, the company harnesses top-tier talent.
Read on to discover how Slickdeals plans on implementing their technological expertise in 2024 and beyond.
Slickdeals is a platform for millions of consumers to find, rate, buy and share product features and prices.
What projects does your product team have lined up for 2024, and how do they fit into your company's strategic goals for the year?
Slickdeals is a daily destination that combines the utility of savings with the entertainment of discovering new and exciting products at a great price. However, there currently is a learning curve to understanding the full value of the Slickdeals community for visitors to the platform. So, we are completely redesigning the iOS and Android apps to make the Slickdeals experience more user friendly and intuitive. We have a product that actually helps users and we want the experience to be seamless and entertaining.
By creating a more intuitive user interface — enhancing personalization and developing more curated content — we’re building a better community experience. Through the new app experience we’ll help users more easily discover deals that are relevant to them. We’ll also be building out collections of curated deals; one example is what we call “bougie on a budget.” It will make it easier to find sales on things you may have never thought would have deals.
Our Beta launch will rapidly iterate off the feedback that we receive.
What makes these projects particularly interesting, challenging or exciting for product professionals to work on?
Slickdeals has been around for 24 years, but it’s still willing to take big swings. There’s a startup mentality here with the freedom to reimagine the product. Now we’re backed by a community of millions of people who know and love the brand.
We’ve listened to feedback from our existing Slickdealers and we’re pivoting to a more user-friendly experience.”
The app revamp blends cross-internal collaboration along with community feedback. This app is not just the vision of one senior leader, it’s really a cross-collaboration of product, design and engineering to address pain points from existing users.
We’ve listened to a lot of feedback from our existing Slickdealers and we’re pivoting to a more user-friendly experience. Once the app is launched, it’s really just the beginning. We’ll be able to take community feedback and iterate much more quickly.
How is your team growing to help meet those goals?
We are hiring a team to support the app revamp and future iterations. We already hired a lead engineer and senior engineer for iOS as well as a product marketing manager. We are currently looking for a lead Android engineer.
