Portfolio

Finding a new angle

One of the key project’s goals was to leverage existing data and insights around eBay’s customers and create a research and ideation framework, enabling internal teams to look at their product and customers as a cohesive whole.

Atomised user profiling

To offer a more authentic user experience, the way eBay sees customers had to evolve. The new approach pivots from static archetypes and focuses on the fluidity of “atomised” user attributes, enabling eBay to account for a broader spectrum of user needs and respond to their changes more holistically.

Fluid experience strategy

One of the most exciting functions of the new framework is to recognise the user's intention to buy and help express it. This in turn informs the content structure that either articulates the richness and diversity of broad categories or nuanced differences between individual items.

Designed to
inspire exploration

To accommodate behaviour driven by inspiration and exploration, the new browsing experience is built around the excitement of discovery. It acknowledges that there is no “right way” to shop and lets people express themselves through their shopping style as much as their purchases. This helps eBay to build a new level of trust and respect with their customers.

New ways of interacting with content

Apart from more strategic work, eBay was also interested in exploring novel interaction patterns and mechanisms.

Subtle socialisation

The work also investigates how the shopping experience can be aligned with local and interest-based communities.

Imbuing search with
immediacy

Rather than increasing the complexity of the search mechanisms, the focus is placed on how eBay organises and represents its catalogue, making the content itself the key discovery mechanism. This shift enables users to effortlessly articulate what they are looking for and quickly pivot their search based on things they come across, reducing the need for query refinement.

Pivoting

The new design of the item cards surfaces their key attributes and enables users to quickly trigger related search queries.

Drag'n'drop

The drag and drop mechanic on mobile devices pushes the concept of pivoting even further.

Gateway
to easy selling

A simplified selling experience is designed to make occasional selling more accessible, immediate, and relevant. One of the key scenarios focuses on nudging users to sell an older item that is being replaced thus seamlessly transitioning between buying and selling.

Managing activity
in one place

The overhaul of the account management experience involves imbuing it with the same clarity and immediacy as other newly envisioned parts of the product. Particular attention is paid to standardising the way orders and bids can be monitored and acted on.

Immediately actionable

To make the management of orders more friendly, related information and actions are condensed into a card. The card prioritises certain actions based on the state of the order, providing users with a subtle on-rails experience.

State awareness

Similar to order management, bids are represented with easy-to-read cards. The user also receives relevant hints during the bidding process, that help them respond in a timely fashion without over- or under-bidding.

Being a part
of the community

Making selling more accessible means more eBay users have something to sell and require some form of public presence. Introducing a simple public-facing profile enables users to showcase the items they have to sell, participate in trading communities as well as gradually scale their selling activity.

A path forward

Seeing eBay’s product teams actively discuss and take these new ideas on board was greatly rewarding and made it clear that the organisation is ready to change. Although such transformations do not happen overnight, it is exciting to see the work having an effect on how eBay wants to see itself as well as its relationship with the customers.