Projected results

25% faster task completion for exploratory search

15–25% increase in impressions for featured small sellers

Challenge

How might we inspire and encourage a more exploratory searching behavior among Etsy’s new and existing users?

Etsy consumers don't always find products that truly match their specific needs.

Online reviews and user interviews revealed:

Search results showed irrelevant products
Users couldn't easily find top-rated or reputable sellers, making it hard to choose the best product to buy
Users felt overwhelmed when trying to decide between similar products

Key insight

The search experience needs to be simplified to help users quickly find the best products.

Solution

Our user research showed most Etsy users make purchases on their mobile website or desktop.

MOBILE WEBSITE

Key design elements

“Surprise Me” button: Adds fun to the search experience and eases decision fatigue with curated suggestions

Sellers of the Week: Highlights small and new shops, helping users discover unique products and support emerging sellers
Star Seller Highlights: Shows top-rated sellers to guide users toward trustworthy, high-quality purchases

DESKTOP

The desktop version features a text-based “Surprise Me” button in the navigation bar, keeping it consistent with the existing site so it feels familiar to users.

BUTTON STATES

Button states for mobile and desktop meet WCAG AA compliance for accessibility

Takeaways

Working with constraints

With limited time and resources, I learned how to iterate quickly and come up with a straight-forward solution that my team and I can feasibly tackle within the 24 hours.

If we had more time:

The star icon (✨) typically symbolizes an AI tool. So if time permitted, I would've tested more design options to see what icons or buttons would be the most intuitive for users to indicate a surprise me button.

Keep scrolling for the full design process

Research

Ideation

From the research that the data science team showed and our user interviews, we brainstormed a few solutions:

"Surprise Me" button: a playful element that shows curated product suggestions and reduces decision fatigue

Highlighting Star Sellers: featuring top-rated sellers more prominently to make it easy for users to find trusted products
"Seller of the Month" section: to give more visibility to smaller shops

Refine the problem

How might we make exploratory search more engaging for customers while reducing decision fatigue?

Persona

Etsy users, like Alicia, feel overwhelmed by the amount of products on the website. And like most users, Alicia doesn't usually download the Etsy app to shop. Based on that, we designed for desktop and the mobile version of the website.

User Journey & User Flow

How Alicia will experience the website with the "Surprise Me" button:

She scrolls on the website for a while trying to find the perfect gift for her friend.
Feeling overwhelmed, she clicks on the surprise me button.
She discovers gift options that she wouldn't have initially considered for her friend and happily makes a purchase.

Iterations

Based on user feedback, we combined Options 1 and 3.
We selected icons and colors that aligned with Etsy’s branding.

Wireframes and more iteration

User testing results

Desktop: the dice icon was confusing
Mobile: Users preferred an icon over the text

Takeaway: Choose a more widely recognized icon and make it similar to existing buttons, like Google's "I'm Feeling Lucky" button.