Until this point, YachtWorld’s revenue primarily relied on ad sales and listing fees from brokerage firms and manufacturers. Given this structure, balancing the needs of both customers and consumers remained a constant challenge. Our research helped us uncover key pain points on both sides:

Brokers:

• Goal of immediate buyer contact: Brokers believed in relationship driven sales - they preferred incomplete listings to entice potential buyers into direct conversations. 
  
  

• Lack of governance: Without a controlled online presence on YachtWorld, brokers found their content being copied by competitors, which resulted in low-effort listings. 
  
  

• Limited digital presence: Many brokers relied on outdated or poorly designed personal websites for customer outreach, making it difficult for them to showcase their personalities and services effectively.

Consumers:

• Inconsistent information: Consumers wanted uniform, detailed listings to compare options accurately. They quickly caught onto “bait” tactics which decreased their confidence in listings. 
  
  

• Outdated interface: They prioritized finding the right boat over broker identity and sought a seamless “boat discovery” experience with improved visuals and usability.

Given the older demographic, high traffic, and revenue dependence on click-throughs, changes required rigorous testing to ensure any feature updates were user-validated through A/B testing and gradually implemented for minimal risk.