New users were landing on the marketplace and immediately leaving. The problem wasn't interest — it was information overload. Too much, too fast, with no clear starting point.
The brief: design a discovery page that felt approachable for first-timers without feeling dumbed-down for experienced traders.
Product Manager and Design Lead. Research, prioritisation, wireframing, and developer handover.
User interviews and surveys revealed a consistent pattern — new users felt overwhelmed within seconds. Rather than trying to serve all user types equally, we made a deliberate call to optimise for first-timers. Narrowing the target user made every subsequent design decision easier and more defensible.
Affinity mapping surfaced five features that mattered most to this audience: clear navigation, featured and top-selling projects, project categories, a visual browsing grid, and links to educational content.
A clean, editorial discovery page that surfaced just enough information to spark curiosity without triggering overwhelm. A masonry grid for visual browsing, category filters for orientation, and featured projects to reduce the paralysis of an empty starting point. Educational resources embedded contextually — not hidden in a help section.
Wireframes iterated rapidly in-house. Design assets and specifications handed to engineering with a clear timeline and defined milestones. Communication channels kept open throughout build.
Launched successfully. Positive user feedback on ease of navigation. Educational resources saw strong engagement, validating the decision to surface them prominently rather than burying them.