eBay Messages
Project Overview
When I joined, eBay Messages had no dedicated designer. For five years, I was its only one, leading the shift from separate, email-style messages to real-time conversations across web, iOS and Android, for every buyer and seller on eBay. I set the direction with leadership, turned research into a shared vision, and designed the experience end to end. As a seller myself, I’d felt the cost of a missed question, and that shaped what I prioritized: keeping every conversation, item and offer in one place.
Industries
Marketplace
Messaging
Services
Sole designer
Web, iOS & Android
Research-led
Year
2021–2026
Сhallenge
Replies arrived as separate messages, making buyers and sellers piece together an exchange. Item context was harder to recover, and communications from eBay competed with member conversations. But longtime sellers had built their businesses around the existing inbox. Folders, flags and bulk actions were essential working tools. The challenge extended beyond introducing threads: we needed to make conversations easier to follow while preserving the workflows members depended on.
Design Approach
In 2021, I made the case to leadership and led an eight-day design sprint to establish a shared vision. Working with our research team, I translated findings from seven studies into concrete priorities: connected conversations, visible item context, and clearer separation between member messages and eBay communications. When sellers pushed back, I recommended a phased transition, preserving access to classic messaging while essential workflows were supported. Alongside the core experience, I designed the less visible moments—from failed messages to reporting—across web, iOS and Android.
Results
By 2024, every member on web, iOS and Android had moved to the new experience and classic messaging was retired; only 3% opted out at the default stage, while core messaging metrics held steady. Buy It Now in conversations contributed an estimated $88M in incremental GMV in 2024, and the redesigned experience became the foundation for offers and AI-suggested replies. This was a shared delivery with our PM, research lead and engineering teams; as the only designer, I carried it from the first sketch to the last migration.