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What if you could get a trusted opinion on a product from another die-hard user of a brand of products - a product fan or "advocate" - before you actually buy it? Through the use of Needle's service, you can.
![](https://s3images.coroflot.com/user_files/individual_files/225748_ahhgljqeq_qsdcvdeeeizkvgx.png)
While shoppers are browsing products online, through a rule-based system, Needle offers invites to pre-screened users to chat with product experts.
![](https://s3images.coroflot.com/user_files/individual_files/225748_5pn73y29uyasfg5sjcizxhhl7.png)
Once in the service, shoppers have the option to share their name before starting or just get right into the chatting to save them time.
![](https://s3images.coroflot.com/user_files/individual_files/225748_jr6hqhutbawhql6c25z4pncby.png)
Establishing an advocate's credibility is a key part of building trust with a customer. We explored various ways to let a customer explore an advocate's areas of expertise.
![](https://s3images.coroflot.com/user_files/individual_files/225748_hewo6pkosmir0fehkdc0ebmer.png)
Advocates can recommend products to the customer in the chat stream. Customers can then view details about the product in the console or on the partner's product detail page on their web site.
![](https://s3images.coroflot.com/user_files/individual_files/225748_csacbe5pxdisxdmzgaqxvassm.jpg)
Each of my visual designs has a detailed explanation of the definition and interaction of the page elements.
![](https://s3images.coroflot.com/user_files/individual_files/225748_q_opxiqdh6ktnijfngcsg_adq.png)
Customers can flip the product card over for additional info about a product.
![](https://s3images.coroflot.com/user_files/individual_files/225748_buleqvzrqococmjozqjqvqslo.png)
As a way to improve communication between customer and advocate, the console designs show a drawing toolkit that take advantage of a mobile phone's touch capabilities.
![](https://s3images.coroflot.com/user_files/individual_files/225748_a5e_p5htcsppaocr5ted3akrz.png)
![](https://s3images.coroflot.com/user_files/individual_files/225748_5srmafgxyxrn2lxajuvefc_yp.png)
We looked at creating a unique tablet experience but our tests showed us that customers preferred to see the product page as they shopped that the mobile view offered them so we scrapped our "tablet view" in favor of the more compact "mobile view" on tablets.
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