UGC Uploader Redesign for the World's First Classified Service

• My role: Lead Product Designer, Art Director
• Deliverables: Product Strategy, In-depth Research, UI/UX/IxD, User Testing
• Audience: SME customers
• Platforms: Web, Mobile

Final solution. Desktop dashboard

Context

Avito is a classified service for ads related to goods, transportation, real estate, jobs, and services from individuals and businesses. Since 2021, it has ranked first globally among online classifieds, surpassing Craigslist in daily active users (DAU), with over 42M registered users and 150 million listings.

Initially launched as a C2C marketplace for private sellers, Avito quickly attracted small and medium enterprises (SMEs) seeking high-quality buyer traffic. These SME customers typically manage hundreds to thousands of listings, with some requiring daily updates.

To streamline this process, we launched an MVP of an automated UGC uploader in 2020, enabling customers to upload thousands of SKUs and significantly reducing manual labor. Over its four-year lifespan, the uploader experienced rapid growth, approaching 100M items.

Challenges

• The company's strategy aimed to expand beyond the classified model, requiring a tripling of content over the next two years. Consequently, the key business challenge was to attract new SME customers with millions of listings.
• To achieve this, our primary product challenge was to rebuild the autoload feature from the ground up. Engineers focused on reshaping the product architecture for greater stability, while designers enhanced the customer experience and user interface to accommodate upcoming features.

Timeline

This project involved strategic planning with the product owner and dev team. I established a collaborative design process by hiring an intern to work closely with the product manager, researcher, UX writer, and a few engineers.

Roadmap

Issues with the product's initial design

The automated UGC uploader MVP had been live for three years, contributing to the growth of the professional user base and listings, but falling short in user experience with a cluttered and complicated user interface.

This was reflected in a 55% Customer Effort Score (CES), 6 points lower than the overall CES for Pro users. To justify a redesign, we needed to dig deeper into these issues and communicate it impact to stakeholders.

Product before redesign

Product research findings

We conducted an analysis of major marketplaces to identify essential features that our product was missing. This research also helped us understand the user experience that SME customers have come to expect.

Competitors analysis

We gathered and analyzed customer feedback through 12 customer interviews and over 300 support tickets, identifying pain points and understanding user needs.

It became clear that our customers have varying technical backgrounds, but all have limited time to navigate complex interfaces. They want a simple setup for uploading and managing all their listings in one window, without the need for additional tools. They expect everything to work seamlessly without worrying about data formats.

Initial solution hypothesis

By designing and integrating the missing features into the current interface, we can enhance the user experience and support the engineering team in optimizing the service architecture to handle increasing loads.

First design iteration

• Brainstorming sessions. Two workshops with a team of designers and UX researchers.
• Information architecture. Converting CJM into a user flow to incorporate all future features.
• Wireframing & prototyping. Interaction design to define key transitions in the product.
• Grooming with engineers. Discussion of technical limitations and usability with engineers.

First iteration mockups

We integrated future functionality into the existing interface and user flows, but it became clear that the current interface couldn't support scaling.

We presented the concept to the product owner, who agreed that the interface couldn't handle scaling and suggested adopting a more ambitious approach for presentation to top management. Our iterative approach allowed us to gather feedback early and adjust our direction.

Second design iteration

If we move beyond current technical limitations and product legacy, we can envision an ideal future where customers can upload their data in any format and receive a streamlined process for monitoring and managing their listings.

Dashboard for listings and upload status

Dashboard shows status of the current upload and historical data. Allows easy access to listings in all statuses.

Manual listings management

This section helps you manually manage and edit each listing. Analyze statistics and promote listings as needed.

Listing methods

The manual listing process starts with an entry point to the autoload feature. The page becomes a unified interface that can handle all data types and present them in the required spreadsheet format.

UGC spreadsheet

This section serves as a container for all listings content. An educational layer highlights errors directly in the spreadsheet, allowing users to fix them instantly without switching context.

UX testing

Working with the UX research team, we assembled an interactive prototype encompassing all user flows, formulated hypotheses, and tested them with 12 respondents — half using our product and half using a competitor's. Remarkably, 80% of respondents successfully navigated the basic scenarios. We found that users still needed time to learn the interface. However, consolidating all data processing options into one interface simplifies the user experience: once set up, users can proceed seamlessly.

Quotes form UX tests

Final solution

We found that SME customers often work remotely, handling multiple tasks across different locations. Despite this, they still need to monitor the status of their listing uploads on the go and resolve any issues promptly. To meet this need, we developed a mobile version.

Onboarding

Mobile dashboard

Manual listing creation

The redesigned UGC uploader features a clean, intuitive interface that simplifies the creation of bulk listings. With a dashboard for data visualization, a powerful content spreadsheet, and built-in upload reports, SME customers can now manage their listings more efficiently than ever. The new autoload functionality provides a comprehensive mobile experience, ensuring that all recent uploads meet the needs of on-the-go professionals.

Stakeholder presentation & next steps planning

We compiled the product concept, interactive prototype, and test results into a comprehensive presentation. We then conducted individual sessions with stakeholders, the lead designers team, and the engineering team, gathering feedback and collaborating with the product owner to outline the next implementation steps.

Concept next steps

Outcome & impact

This redesign showcases the impact of user-centered design and collaboration on driving product growth. We identified customer pain points, brainstormed solutions, and developed a design that delighted both our team and SME customers. Positive UX testing feedback highlighted the importance of continuous improvement in enhancing user experience.

Team outcome

In our goal to create a visionary future for the autoload feature, we simplified user flows and enhanced the customer experience. More importantly, we united as a team with the product manager and engineers, while collaborating on a strategic vision and enriching it with our design concept.

• Increased team morale with +8pp of eNPS as a result of Q1 wellbeing survey.
• Strengthened team resources with +1 FE, +1 BE devs in new hiring cycle.

Customer outcome

This concept had a long way to go. However, we successfully addressed key UX issues through a series of incremental launches. SME customers experienced a significant reduction in time spent creating and managing listings, allowing them to focus on business growth.

• Increased SME customers satisfaction with CES +20%.

Impact

Our efforts highlighted the strategic importance of the product across the company, aligning teams towards a common goal. We outlined a clear path to achieve a threefold increase in content growth, setting a roadmap for future success.

Reflections & learnings

Show, don't tell. Product strategy truly shines when we apply the core strengths of our design team. Engineers and product managers also appreciate the value of visually appealing design.

When you work on a product for a long time, the knowledge and habits you acquire can lead to caution in your decision-making. To overcome this, it can be beneficial to set aside everything you know and approach the redesign as if you were starting from scratch.

Team credits

This project is the result of collaboration between the Fullbase Discovery Team and the Autoload Delivery Team within Avito's Seller Experience Cluster. Together, we delved deeply into users challenges, gained a comprehensive understanding of the technical aspects of mass content uploading, reimagined the visual approach to the product, and most importantly had fun as a team.

• Lead Product Designer: Paul Sikorsky
• Product Designer: Kirill Udalov
• Senior Product Manager: Oleg Drobot
• Senior UX Researcher: Maria Koroleva
• Junior UX Researcher: Maria Kocharova
• UX Writer: Alexandra Belitskaya
• Product Analyst: Alexey Lemeshev
• Engineering Team Leader: Evgeniy Tolmachev
• BE Engineer: Dmitry Sleza
• FE Engineer: Stepan Petrov

I would love to hear from you

If you'd like to explore more vibrant graphics, check out this case study on Behance. If you're interested in collaborating, feel free to reach out!

Telegram, LinkedIn, p@sikorsky.design.