eBay in Person: Michael Morgan

This month we talked to Michael Morgan, a User Experience Researcher.

The User Experience Research Group studies how people use eBay. The insights and findings from these studies help the company make the site better for everyone.

How long have you worked at eBay?
I started in May 2001. I have worked for eBay for three and a half years.

Describe your area of responsibility.
I am a User Experience Researcher at eBay. We learn from real life users out there and try to use this information to make the website better for everyone. We have Usability Labs on the eBay campus, where we show users prototypes of new eBay features and designs. I explain to them how the feature or design works, and observe while they try it out in the lab. I listen to their input, and pass it on to the product and design teams. The areas of the site that I focus on include Selling, eBay Motors, and Payments.

What are your top priorities?
My top priority is to make sure that all eBay members can be effective and efficient. It is important for the eBay website to be intuitive to many different types of people.

What skills have you found yourself utilizing most in your career at eBay?
Most of our User Experience research is carried out by inviting eBay members to our labs, so they can try out our new features and designs. During these sessions, it is important to try to “get inside the user's mind” when they are trying out the feature. Having skills in moderating user input sessions and analyzing data – i.e., number-crunching – are also extremely important in my day to day activities.

What's the most rewarding part of your job?
Interacting face to face with eBay members. There's nothing like watching an eBay member actually trying out a feature that the product teams have spent weeks brainstorming and developing. The acid test of a feature's effectiveness is approval from our members. It's a great feeling to see members being enthused about a new feature or design in the Usability Labs.

On the flip side, when members don't like something, they let us know that too. It's rewarding to see how the design can change after direct inputs from participants in User Experience Research. I have met with and watched hundreds of eBay members and would like to personally thank each one for their contribution and for making my job so much fun.

What are some of your most memorable eBay moments?
I have memorable moments almost every day! Each eBay member has a story about how eBay has positively influenced their lives. Recently one of the participants in a User Experience study was a woman who created a whole business for herself from the ground up after being laid off by her company. She told me that she didn't have to worry about looking for a job any more. It's a great feeling to learn every day how eBay continues to change people's lives for the better. It makes me want to do the best job I can in bettering eBay's user experience.

What's unique about working at eBay?
I have always been impressed with eBay's deep devotion to the Community and the company's ability to impact millions of people's lives. This philosophy of putting the Community first is what attracted me to the company in 2001.

What is your favorite item that you bought or sold on eBay?
My favorite items to buy and sell are vintage GI Joe and Star Wars figures. I have been selling on the site since 2001. It all started when I wanted to reconnect with my childhood and collect the action figures I used to play with as a kid. I took it a little further and created a side business that is also a hobby. Selling on eBay also helps me stay connected to the issues users are facing on the site, and it gives me an additional perspective that I use in my day to day job at eBay. I was delighted to become a PowerSeller last year.

What do you like to do for fun?
I love to play with my infant son and go looking for toys on eBay to add to my collection. I love the thrill of the hunt for new toys!