Xoom was a unique site dedicated to building community on the web and facilitating direct marketing based on members' preferences. Due to rapid growth and personnel changes in the Xoom organization, the site had become a patchwork of features, lacked a consistent direction, and had significant usability problems. At the same time, several of Xoom's competitors were beginning to build similar applications and product offerings. The pressure was on to quickly turn the site around.

Part of the problem was that there was little internal consensus about the site's shortcomings and opportunities. Xenogene provided clarity through two comprehensive site analyses: a marketing study that compared the user experience with Xoom's marketing messages, and an in-depth usability study that critiqued the site's functionality. These studies allowed the internal Xoom team to reach a shared understanding of the problems it faced and options for addressing those issues. Xenogene then did a complete site overhaul and redesign. Features and applications were organized into a consistent and easy-to-use framework, enabling Xoom members to get the most out of the service. The focus on the member/user experience greatly strengthened Xoom's objectives of building community on the web. In addition, Xenogene added a full Xoom Store and Auction site further enhancing the growth potential of Xoom's product offering.

The redesigned Xoom homepage organized information into three major groupings, allowing users to 1) join Xoom, 2) visit online communities, and 3) buy through the Xoom store with ease. Xoom's revenues grew 37% in the quarter following the launch of the redesign. In 1999, Xoom's reach extended to 12% of all web users and included 8 million members. Shortly after the redesign, Xoom was purchased by NBC Internet group. While Xoom's presence in the US market rolled into the NBCi offering, Xenogene's design for Xoom is still being used internationally (www.xoom.it).