Enhancing the Fiverr experience

The challenge

Fiverr, the world's largest freelance marketplace, faced a growing challenge: connecting buyers with the right sellers amidst a vast and expanding selection of gigs. High buyer drop-off rates signaled a need to improve the discovery and decision-making processes.

My role

As the design lead for Fiverr NYC, I spearheaded the category experience for both buyers and sellers. Collaborating with product managers, engineers, and designers, I focused on enhancing user journeys and addressing pain points.

Key challenges

  1. Overwhelming Choice: The sheer volume of gigs made it difficult for buyers to navigate and differentiate between options.

  2. Ambiguous Categorization: Subcategories like "Web Design" existed across multiple main categories, leading to confusion for non-industry buyers.

  3. Urgency and Availability: Many buyers, especially entrepreneurs, needed quick responses and immediate project starts.

Design solutions

1. The wizard: Guiding buyers to the right fit

  • Insights: Research revealed low filter usage despite their effectiveness.

  • Solution: Implemented a step-by-step wizard asking buyers questions to personalize their search results.

  • Design Considerations:

    • Large, disruptive design for maximum impact.

    • Visual consistency with the Fiverr brand.

    • Hover explanations for options and benefits.

    • Back/forth navigation for control.

    • "I don't know" option for improvement insights.

    • Processing animation to convey progress.

    • Realistic Fiverr logo examples for brand visualization.

  • Results:

    • 5% increase in first-time buyers.

    • 10% increase in average sale price.

    • 6% decrease in cancellation rate.

    • 40% wizard usage compared to 3% for filters.

2. Grid & List views: Enhancing decision-making

  • Insights: Ambiguity persisted in categories like "Programming & Tech."

  • Solution: Introduced a list view alongside the traditional grid view, incorporating key decision indicators like seller expertise, response time, location, and price range.

  • Design Considerations:

    • Prioritized categories that benefited from enhanced information display.

    • Moved the "favorite" button for increased prominence and engagement.

  • Results:

    • 10% decrease in cancellation rate.

    • 10% increase in revenue.

    • 10% increase in average sale price.

    • 15% increase in favorites collection.

    • 5% increase in new buyer signups.

3. On-Demand gig economy: Meeting urgent needs

  • Insights: Many buyers needed immediate responses and project starts.

  • Solution: Created an "Available Now" feature for sellers to opt into, signaling their readiness to buyers.

  • Design Considerations:

    • Clear badging on gig cards and detail pages.

    • Filtering options for buyers.

    • Seller opt-in/out functionality with clear criteria and consequences.

  • Iterations:

    • Initial results showed lower quality due to an influx of low-cost gigs.

    • Algorithm refined for better seller selection.

    • Toggle moved, replaced with a highlighted row for "Available Now" sellers.

  • Final Results:

    • Significant increase in average sale price and quality.

    • Reduced cancellation rate.

    • Highlighted row drove a 33% increase in purchases compared to other top-positioned gigs.

Conclusion

Through these design-driven solutions, Fiverr improved the buyer experience, streamlined gig discovery, and empowered entrepreneurs to connect with the right freelancers quickly and effectively. This work contributed to Fiverr's ongoing mission to revolutionize the way people work and connect globally.