eBay Hub
Role
Lead Product Designer
Responsibilities
UX Product Discovery
UX Strategy
Interaction Design/Prototyping
Date
2022
Overview
Our product team identified a critical gap in customer engagement that directly impacted Gross Merchandise Bought (GMB). We noticed that buyers were missing key updates about their transactions—such as item availability, price drops, and order status—which led to abandoned purchases and lower retention rates.
Why This Was a Priority
Among competing initiatives on the roadmap, addressing this engagement gap stood out due to its direct correlation with purchase completion and repeat buyer activity. Improving notification effectiveness meant not only reducing friction in the buying experience but also driving incremental GMB growth. The potential revenue impact, coupled with qualitative feedback from customers, made this an immediate focus.
Validating the Problem
To ensure we were addressing the right problem, we combined data insights with direct customer input:
Data Analysis: We measured engagement rates on existing notifications, uncovering low open rates and missed interactions at key decision points.
Customer Interviews: We conducted user research sessions where buyers consistently reported that they either didn’t receive notifications at the right time or were unaware of how to manage them effectively.
Experimentation: A/B testing variations of notifications revealed that personalized and time-sensitive alerts significantly increased conversions.
Marketing Communications
What do notifications consist of?
Marketing Communications Defined
Current Experience
The Notification Hub is comprised of two tabs:
Act now and See more.
Problem:
Low engagement and missed notificationsNotifications disappeared after leaving notification hub.
Badging is inconsistent showing only badges for items in Act now tab.
The customer mental model didn’t align with the current design
Research
Goals:
Understand customers mental model related to notifications
Learn how they interact with notifications
Opportunities to improve user experience and impact user engagement leading to increased GMB
Learnings:
Frustrated with hidden notifications
Lack of control over when to dismiss notifications
Notification grouping was confusing
Card Sorting Learnings:
We found that eBay customers grouped notifications by:
Buying/myEbay
Selling/Shipping
Promotions/Coupons
Account/Help
Research & Rapid Prototyping
Customer Feedback:
We spent 2-3 iterations with customer feedback related to categories.
The labeling that resonated the most with customers were, Buying, Selling, Promotions, Coupons, Account.
Additionally customers aligned with and liked the consistent messaging and patterns which made the notifications hub feel more connected.
Next Steps:
Gather feedback from users related to information that is relevant to them for each notification
Build a prototype with interactions
Create usability studies
Notification Anatomy
Goals:
What is and what isn’t a notification?
How much interactivity should notifications have?
What information would be appropriate and important?
What we tested:
Signal
Image
Description
Price/Discount
CTA
Interactions
Prototyping and Usability Studies
Before and After
eBay Branding and Alignment:
Notifications are meant to drive traffic to eBay
Notifications should be informative but not overwhelming
CTA’s are intended for product pages
Stacked notifications could potentially cause too much visual noise
Larger images should be used on product pages
Deployment and Evaluation
Gradual rollout of the eBay Notifications Hub with pilot users.
Monitor user adoption and collect performance metrics.
Plan for future enhancements based on continuous user feedback.
Challenges & How We Overcame Them
Stakeholder alignment – Getting buy-in from different teams.
Balancing flexibility & simplicity – Ensuring customization without overwhelming users.
Key Learnings & Takeaways
The importance of user research to uncover hidden pain points.
The value of iteration & testing to refine solutions effectively.
How cross-functional collaboration helps overcome complex challenges.