Etsy: Shop Local
Add-On Feature
Overview
Product
Etsy is an online, global marketplace filled with individual sellers who offer unique and creative products, often hand-crafted and/or niche. This new shop local feature allows Etsy shoppers to better locate local sellers in their area so they can better identify, connect, and support the small businesses in their community.
Problem
Part of Etsy’s mission is to “reimagine commerce in ways that build a more fulfilling and lasting world” and to “[build] a human, authentic and community-centric global and local marketplace.” When I began this project in early 2023, Etsy didn’t have an upfront way for customers to discover local sellers.
Opportunities
By connecting customers to their local Etsy sellers, they will more awareness about where their money is going and more likely to make purchases from those sellers. Also, local businesses are more likely to sell products that are reflective of an area’s culture and values—thus, connecting consumers to local businesses can drive up sales on the platform.
UX Researcher, UX/UI Designer
Role
Figma, Maze, Google Forms, Tactiq
Tools
6 weeks
Duration
Skip to Section
Research
As a frequent Etsy shopper myself, I always wished there was a way to identify local Etsy sellers because I wanted to intentionally browse and purchase from those local businesses. Diving into the research portion of this project, I sought to discover whether other Etsy users shared my sentiments. Do other Etsy users want to support local sellers? Would they find this new feature useful?
Defining the Goal
We want to know if consumers actually care about and find value in shopping locally. We also want to know why shopping locally is beneficial.
Methods
User Surveys, Competitive Analysis, Secondary Research
User Surveys
Research
Overview
I distributed surveys to gather information from users. I surveyed users instead of one-on-one user interviews because I wanted the experience of creating and sending out surveys to collect research data. Additionally, this method allowed me reach more users in the time I was allotted for this project, thus providing me better insight into how users shop on Etsy.
Participants
I surveyed a total of 14 people: 11 women and 3 men, ranging from 25–55 years old.
Survey Takeaways
11 people said that they seek out places to shop where they can support small/local businesses.
There was a 50/50 split between mobile and desktop users for Etsy.
6 users had the Etsy app downloaded on their mobile device.
User Motivations
User Pain Points
View Results
Analyzing Competitors in the Field
Research
Overview
For my user interviews, I had my participants do some usability testing on Sway’s existing website to determine what was working and what wasn’t for users. I gave testers a number of tasks to complete on the website and recorded how they navigated the tasks, how they felt about the brand and services, and any other reactions to the site.
View Results
They are a large corporation with speedy shipping times and sell a great variety of products. They do have small businesses sell their items on their site with some recognition, but overall users have a sense that Amazon isn’t the best market to support small business owners, sellers, and creators.
This is a site that is most creatively aligned with Etsy, in that it’s a site where artists can sell products with their designs on them. While the site is vibrant and encourages the spirit of creativity and individuality, there isn’t a way for users to really connect with artists from their local communities. The artists still largely feel anonymous on this site.
They have a wonderful filter to narrow down sellers who are within a custom local radius to your location, so you can easily find items (usually second-hand) to purchase and pick up (or have the items shipped to you for a fee). Again, this isn’t really a market specific for small business owners and creators to sell their goods.
User Personas
Overview
Based on the research I gathered so far, I created user personas to represent the users I was designing this new shop local feature for. I created two personas to represent two sides of the coin: the Etsy shopper and the Etsy seller. It was important for me to consider both these types of Etsy users, so that I could tap into their goals, motivations, and frustrations as I attempted to problem-solve through my designs.
Full User Personas
Ideate
Once I had my user personas created and organized the information I gathered from my research, I was ready to start brainstorming. By creating a point-of-view statement, this allowed me to define the goal I set out to achieve with this shop local feature.
Defining the Goal
I’d like to explore ways to help Etsy customers discover and connect with Etsy sellers that are in their local areas because they will feel more confident spending their money to support small businesses that are part of their local communities.
Questions to Consider
How might we connect Etsy customers to Etsy sellers in their local areas?
How might we help Etsy customers feel confident about making purchases on the site?
How might we transform shopping on Etsy into shopping at a local craft fair?
Brainstorming Ideas
Ideate
Overview
I came up with possible ideas for the feature based off of the three “how might we” questions I developed. I used two practical prompts—to keep myself grounded and to create more actionable ideas—and one “fanciful” prompt, to allow for creative exploration that could possibly spark innovation.
Brainstorming Takeaways
These were the top ideas that I found had the most potential, and which I ended up exploring further in the next step of the design process.
View Results
Prototype
Moving into the prototype phase of this project, I relied on the takeaways from my research and brainstorming sessions. But before I put pencil to paper and started drafting some initial wireframes, I knew I still had some work to do. This included familiarizing myself with the Etsy app and brand, determining which ideas for this feature I wanted to flesh out first, and focusing on how this Shop Local feature would be organized within the existing information architecture of the app.
Studying the App
I studied the existing Etsy app to familiarize myself with the navigation, styling, and brand before designing.
See process below.
Prioritize Features
I prioritized what features to develop first, so I could figure out what to focus on now versus later. My goal was to make this feature practical and efficient, before tackling the more creative ideas I had.
Create the Site Map
I visually mapped out where the feature would be located so I had a better grasp of its navigation.
Sketch the Task Flows
I created three task flows to better understand how users would interact with the new feature.
Design the Wireframes
I sketched low-fi wireframes and digitized them in Figma, iterating on them to produce a high-fi prototype I could test with users.
See process below.
Studying the App
Overview
I felt like it was really important to first familiarize myself with the Etsy app. What’s unique about this project was I wasn’t designing from scratch - I was designing for an app that had it’s own defined branding already. I took note of Etsy’s mobile layouts, filter interactions, and got a better understanding of it’s existing navigation, so I could plot out where to add in this new shop local feature.
Working on Wireframes
Prototype
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![Low-Fidelity Wireframe Sketches]()
Starting With Sketches ...
I started by sketching out rough drafts of what the feature could look like in a notebook. I frequently referred to the Etsy app to make sure what I was drafting aligned with the current layout/structure of the app.
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![Mid-Fidelity Wireframes]()
Digitizing My Sketches ...
After sketching initial low-fidelity wireframes, I digitized and improved on them in Figma to create my mid-fidelity wireframes.
The Local Marketplace
High-Fidelity Wireframes
The Local Marketplace is a hub that is custom to each user based on their home location. It is meant to promote local sellers’ shops and items so users are encouraged to support them with their purchases.
Educating Users
Part of the initiative to encourage users to shop locally was to also educate them on the benefits of doing so. I took some information I learned in my research and provided a card to briefly explain why shopping locally makes a difference.
Custom Content
One of the best things about the Local Marketplace is the way it provides customized item recommendations based on a shopper’s location. There are opportunities to suggest items that are culturally relevant to a region, like sports team gear, clothes repping a city’s name, etc. It makes shopping easier and more enjoyable for users!
Location Filter
While the users can set their default location in their settings for the Local Marketplace, they can also change their location using a filter. This might be helpful if users are temporarily in a different area, want to look up souvenirs from a particular region, or are shopping for gifts for loved ones who live elsewhere.
Seller Spotlights
One of the best ways to encourage purchases is to make them emotional or meaningful. Seller spotlights provide users a chance to get to know their local Etsy shop owners more personally. By getting to know their story, users can put a face behind the name (or shop) and feel more confident in their local purchases.
Local Perks
To further encourage users to shop locally, users are given special perks reserved for shops’ local customers only. This could include a local customer discount and free shipping.
Onboarding Tutorial
Since I placed the Local Marketplace within the existing Shop tab, I knew it could be easily overlooked by users. I designed an onboarding tutorial for the launch of this new Shop Local feature to give users context on what the feature was, where it was located, and how to use it.
Testing & Iterations
Moving into the testing phase of this project, I sought to discover how users felt about the new Local Marketplace feature I designed. Is the feature straightforward to use? Is it a practical or useful addition to the app? Are there things I can make clearer or improve upon?
With this project, I saw the opportunity to explore a new testing method—using Maze as the usability testing platform—to gather data from Etsy users. From the testing results I moved on to make iterations on my designs to improve user experience.
Testing Participants
I found users to test my designs that met these two requirements:
They have shopped and made a purchase on Etsy before.
They like to shop locally and support local, small businesses.
Testing Objectives
I wanted to see if users could easily understand how to navigate to and use the new Local Marketplace feature.
I wanted to see if users found the new feature useful and desirable.
Method
Maze
Usability Testing
Testing
Overview
Maze is a hands-off way to conduct usability testing, which I thought was the perfect tool to explore using for this project. By using Maze, I not only was able to get a lot more users to test my designs, but I also got access to Maze’s insightful data reports. I received interesting testing data that included heat maps, number of misclicks, success metrics, and more.
Participants
I had 12 total testers. 100% of the users identified as female, ages 22–36 years old. All users said they resided in the United States, and that they had shopped on Etsy before. The majority of the testers said they shopped locally at least a few times a year.
View Results
Improving the Designs
Iterations
“Learn More” Card
A few users pointed out that the “Learn More” card text was too much text to read, so I edited the section to make it easier for users to quickly read. I bolded key words, broke up the information into sections, and added illustrations to provide more visual interest and context.
Location Filter
I had some users comment about the location filter—there was about an equal amount of users who said they thought it was easy to recognize and intuitive to use, versus the amount of users who commented that they were expecting something different.
I ended up tweaking the filter a bit to make it more user friendly:
I changed the placement and look of the location filter on the Local Marketplace home page. By changing the look of the filter, it made it stand out more on the app so users can more easily spot and use the filter. I also made the filter look more in line with already existing filters on the Etsy app.
I also changed how the filter worked, and modeled it off of Facebook Market’s local radius filter, so that users can visualize the radius by seeing a map and customize it with a slider instead of just using text input.
Local Pickup
Many users noted that they would love to have the option to pick up an item purchased from a local seller, since it would be more convenient, allow them to save on shipping costs, and would reduce shipping waste. Because many of the testers pushed for this feature, I decided to incorporate local pick-up in my final designs.
For the local pick-up feature, local sellers who would like to participate would go through a verification process to set up where their local Etsy customers could pick up items in a public space. This could be at a weekly farmers market, a storefront (if they have one), etc.
Users can learn more about a seller’s pick-up details through a green card that shows on the seller’s storefront or item listing. Users can then opt for the pick-up option when they checkout.
Final Thoughts
Overview
I approached this project from a place of passion, because I personally love shopping locally, attending craft fairs, and I also love buying unique goods from Etsy. Essentially, I was designing a feature that I wanted to see incorporated on Etsy.
What’s interesting is that months after I completed this project, Etsy started focusing on highlighting local sellers—as of now, Etsy labels shops “Local” to notify users that they can support a business local to them. Seeing these changes actually happening on the Etsy platform only reinforces the idea that fueled this project—that there is a demand among Etsy users to identify and support local sellers. And that if we give them a way to do this, Etsy users are more willing to spend their money on the platform.
What Went Well
I seized the opportunity to try different methods of data collection and usability testing with this project. Instead of conducting user interviews, I sent out a survey to collect user data. I also used Maze as a tool for remote usability testing.
I designed the Local Marketplace feature with Etsy’s style and branding in mind, resulting in a feature that blended seamlessly into Etsy’s app.
During usability testing, participants responded positively to the Local Marketplace feature—many expressed that they wished the feature was available on Etsy!
What Could Have Gone Better
While I thought it was fun to test out new methods of data collection and testing (via Google form surveys and Maze), it leave me feeling a bit disconnected from users because I never actually had a real conversation with any Etsy users during this project. In hindsight, if I were to do things differently I would have started off the project conducting face-to-face user interviews, so I could gather as much info as possible by talking to users.
That said, I still think it was a valuable experience to try out sending surveys to collect info from users, since I hadn’t done that before for a UX-specific project.
Next Steps for this Project
I would like to fine-tune (and test) the local pick-up option to see if it logistically works out for Etsy users and sellers.
I would want to create labels for Etsy sellers to indicate they are “Local Sellers,” and perhaps give them a specific badge (like their “Top Seller” badge) to make them look more distinct.