eBay Messages 2030 vision exploration

Project Overview

A vision for eBay Messages that helps a buyer and a seller each see where their deal stands and what needs their attention next. I led the exploration over several months and built a two-sided prototype across nine use cases.

Industries

Marketplace

Communication

AI

Services

Vision lead

Two-sided prototype

Nine use cases

Year

2026

At a glance: eBay Messages 2030 vision. Built on $88M from Buy It Now and a $35M+ offers goal; I led the exploration and built a two-sided prototype; guidance that reads the conversation and asks permission; a concept, not presented before I left eBay.
The problem: right after payment, the buyer and seller each wonder what happens next, and each works it out alone.
The proposed banner: it reads the conversation, says why it appeared, offers one next step, and lets the person say not now.

Challenge

Buyers and sellers ask questions, agree on a price and sort out problems in Messages, but finishing the deal still happens elsewhere, and each person has to work out whose turn it is. I spent several months exploring what Messages could become if the conversation and the state of the deal worked together.

One banner pattern across the deal: offer, payment, shipping, pickup and problems, plus an order for when several things qualify.
Clarity first, more help with permission: the same shipping banner from today to 2030, with money decisions always needing explicit confirmation.

Design Approach

I proposed one contextual banner that reads the conversation and the deal for both people: it says why it appeared, offers one next step, and can always be dismissed. It covers offers, payment, shipping, pickup and problems. More help comes only with permission, and money decisions always need explicit confirmation. The hardest part was role clarity: one banner, read by two people with different next steps.

The conversation and the record: the thread holds the people talking, the banner holds what's next, and order activity holds everything that happened.
Why it was worth exploring: $88M from Buy It Now in Messages in 2024, 46% vs 3% offer acceptance, a $35M+ 2026 goal, and three questions I'd test next.

Results

Commerce already working in Messages gave a reason to explore: Buy It Now prompts brought in $88M in 2024, and offers in Messages were accepted 46% of the time versus 3% elsewhere. The work produced a two-sided prototype and a leadership pitch, not presented before I left eBay. Next I'd test relevance, role clarity, and whether people stay in control when guidance is wrong.