Etsy

Etsy is a global marketplace for handmade, vintage and custom goods. The platform is widely known for its wide variety of customized products, from jewelry to bespoke personalized furniture.

As Etsy continues to scale, there are critical areas I identified through UX research that can be improved to strengthen Etsy's current user base and position themselves more competitively in the e-commerce landscape.

A cumbersome custom order process impacts both buyers and sellers. Buyers get frustrated and face uncertainty while sellers miss out on potential sales due to inefficiencies.

“I don't like how sellers get creative with pricing. It shows one price but once you select the customization you need, the price changes. Feels it's not transparent.”

— Etsy Buyer

My goal was to design a solution that was not only intuitive for buyers but also practical and scalable for Etsy sellers. I followed a human-centered UX process grounded in real user pain points, rapid ideation, and iterative design.

I started with user research, interviewing both Etsy buyers and sellers to understand how bulk custom orders were currently handled. These conversations revealed a shared frustration: there was no clear or consistent way to initiate or manage high-volume personalized orders.

I conducted a competitive analysis against Redbubble, Society6, and Artfinder to understand Etsy's unique position and identify opportunities.

Streamlining this experience would enhance buyer confidence, improve seller workflow, and ultimately drive higher conversion rates for Etsy's marketplace.

Next steps include prototyping the Quick View and Customization Tool features, conducting moderated usability tests, and iterating based on findings to refine the experience for both buyers and sellers.