Helping users understand core item information easily, so they can make a purchase decision.

At Etsy, our squad worked specifically on the listing page. We spent months focused on clarifying core item information. We gauged success by improving the conversion rate and reducing time spent on the page through a culmination of different micro experiments. Our highest priority was to ensure our listing page was not overwhelming and was easily scannable.

My Role

Senior product designer

Company

Etsy

My Responsibilities

• Design
• Strategy
• Research
• Prototyping
• Handoff & QA

Poor page hierarchy led to difficulty finding key item information and left users feeling overwhelmed by the amount of content.‍

Problem

• Conversion rate increase by 0.85%
• Add to cart increased by 1.67%
• Gross merchandise sales increased by $19.38M, annualized

We were able to improve and declutter the page, group like content, and prioritize important information. We made it simpler for users to scan and understand, improving the hierarchy. With these improvements we saw success.

Key Results

Because there were so many opportunities and experiments for us to work on, we tested future concepts to help narrow our focus. We had our users complete tasks and find key information. These tests helped us identify which areas would be most impactful to experiment on first. We tested two new concepts alongside our current experience.

Utilizing provocation testing to help guide our direction

Future provocations 1 & 2

What we found

Both provocations were received better than our current state.
Users didn't fully understand or trust identifiers, thus providing lower value. (Etsy pick, Sale ending, & Bestseller)
Having the price sticky didn’t distract users, but had neutral feedback.
Scan-ability is important. Users struggled to scan and find key item information.
Users only expected to see the final shipping details in the cart.
The listing title was less important than other content. Users didn't get hung up on a deprioritized listing title.

Aligning with stakeholders

Armed with the findings from recent research, squad goals, past research, overlap with other teams, and our purchase decision matrix, we talked as a team to define what our focus areas would be over the next few months. We drafted questions that would help us put our thoughts into words, to help us align on one direction.
‍

How might we...

Improve the communication and trust of our identifiers, so we ensure we are showing the correct ones to our buyers?
Reduce the visual clutter and vertical height of the page so our users can scan through information easily?
Ensure that the hierarchy of the page is inline with how our buyers search for item information?

Micro Experiments

Over several months, we ran various experiments to help drive us toward our goals. Some failed, some succeeded, but we failed fast and learned fast. We pivoted multiple times based on metrics and squad changes.

Image thumbnails to carousel dots

We ran an experiment to change the small image thumbnails to dots. Our goal with this was to reduce the vertical page height and get users to more critical information sooner.‍

Hypothesis

The primary image is the most important piece of visual information on the page. Removing secondary images will result in performance benefits and cleaner UI, resulting in a higher conversion rate.

Results

Ramped up
0.46% increase in add to cart
0.40% increase in conversion rate

Using a single-line seller panel to prioritize the price

We changed the seller panel to a single line and reduced the size of the listing title in an effort to have more priority placed on the price.

Hypothesis

It will be easier for new buyers to determine whether an item meets their purchase criteria if the price is raised on the first landing and the visual hierarchy/priority of the other items is reduced (including shop name, sales, reviews, listing title, and nudges).

Results

Ramped down
0.26% increase in add to cart
28.98% decrease in shop favoriting
21.26% decrease in review anchor clicks

Experiments 3 - 5

During experiments 3-5 we tested price location and identifier placement/styling which led to one successful ramp up.

Bestseller/Etsy Pick relocation with original favorite and share button sizes

By this experiment, we were getting good traction and the page started to become more digestible and easier to parse through content. Our last attempt to raise identifiers resulted in a neutral conversion change, so we decided to repeat the experiment without changing the size of the favorite and share buttons.

Hypothesis

Identifier placement distracts from the price on the listing page and hurts page hierarchy. We believe that by simplifying the identifiers on the listing page, it will help buyers locate key item information more easily to help determine if this item meets their purchase criteria.

Results

We decided to ramp on a neutral conversion rate because the vertical page height is reduced, the hierarchy is improved, and the visual clutter is reduced. Additionally, it left us in a good spot going into code freeze.

Ramped up
Neutral conversion rate
0.77% increase in item favoriting
0.35% increase in add to cart

Wins for the business and users

The culmination of all these experiments together led to

Our GMS increased by $19.5M, annualized
Our add to cart increased by 1.67%
Our conversion rate increased by 0.85%

Improved page hierarchy

The new state of the listing page provided a much cleaner and clearer experience for our users. It made it easier to find important information for making a purchasing decision.

Beating our squad goals

Our squad had a goal of shipping one successful experiment in Q4, but we blew that out of the water and shipped four. This included one that was performance based.