etsy
Overview
How do we provide Etsy users a streamlined way to request custom items?
The Project
My Role
Within a 3-person team, I:
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Designed and iterated the mid-fidelity digital wireframes in Sketch and conducted 5 rounds of usability testing with them.
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Managed the project timeline, organization and kept track of key deliverables.
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Informed all decisions along the UX process, as well as conducted competitive analysis with 2 competitors.
Tools
Etsy, an online marketplace of over 60 million handmade and specialty items, has no way for buyers to request custom-made items from sellers. We designed a mobile app feature that created a streamlined custom-item request process.
Duration
2-Week Design Sprint
Sketch
Axure RP
Adobe Photoshop
The Problem
The Solution
Etsy, an online marketplace of over 60 million handmade and specialty items, doesn't have a feature that allows buyers to request custom-made items from sellers.
My team of 3 set out to understand if this problem existed for Etsy's users and how we would design the custom feature.
After several iterations informed through multiple rounds of usability testing, we came up with a streamlined solution that addressed the business' needs and prioritized our primary persona.
Overview
UX Process
Stakeholder Research
What are our business considerations?
Stakeholders
The main stakeholder for this project was Etsy. Because we couldn't speak with them directly, we had to outline what business objectives Etsy would want to achieve with their new feature.
We defined these goals as:
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Achieve 10% of total online sales from Custom Feature within first year
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70% or more of Custom sales transactions will achieve a 4-star rating or above from buyers
Competitors
We compared Etsy's mobile app to its competitor's online sites and mobile apps to understand how Etsy compared across different feature offerings such as product discovery, messaging, filtered search and payment options.
Our research goal was to see if any of Etsy's competitors offered a way for buyers to request custom items.
We discovered that competitors did not offer a custom item feature and that if users did want to request custom items they would have to do so through direct messaging.
Competitive Analysis
What features do we need?
We compared Etsy's mobile app to competitors such as Instagram, Ebay and UncommonGoods and conducted qualitative analysis to understand whether they offered a custom item
User Interviews
Buyers and sellers: Who are our users?
Personas
Etsy has two primary users: buyers and sellers.
Primary Persona
Secondary Persona
Secondary Persona
Primary Persona
Affinity Mapping
Doesn't know if store has item before going there.
Pain Points
Has to ask for help to find items in-store
Pain Points
Goals
Needs
Needs
Goals
Wants to support local businesses and would choose them over a competitor.
Uses hardware store when needs something immediately
Buys items for dorm room
Wants to save time and willing to sacrifice on price in order to get what he needs more quickly
Uses hardware store for projects
Looks for specialized items
The Student
The Architect
User Flow
App Map
Revised User Flow
Prioritizing the buyer
Solution
A custom feature for buyers
Takeaways
What did I learn?
Next steps
If you have multiple users, you have to prioritize one.
Communication is key. Our team struggled most when we weren't on the same page. Finding ways to explain what our ideas were - whether by changing our language or drawing it out - helped us get back on track.
Check out the next project
ENABLING BUYERS TO REQUEST CUSTOM ITEMS
A concept UX team project to add feature to Etsy mobile app that allows buyers to request custom items.
ETSY
