Little visibility, little possibility of sale.
Anonymous
Vestiaire Collective
How might we help our users manage their items and maximise their sales?
Product Designer
1 Designer
2 Weeks
Product research
UX
UI
CONTEXT
Vestiaire Collective is a global peer-to-peer resale platform for pre-owned luxury and designer fashion, connecting buyers and sellers worldwide to promote sustainable consumption.
0,0M
Sellers among 18M users
0%
Of sellers make a price drop
0M
Items for sale
This is a fictional case study exploring what a Highlight feature (AI-Timed and Manual), a way to increase a listing's visibility, could look like for Vestiaire Collective. This project was done during a product design bootcamp at The Design Crew in Paris, where Vestiaire Collective designers sat on the jury for final presentations.
The key user quotes were…
The user research goals were…
Time lost on listings
To understand listing management issues in order to resolve them and allow sellers to devote more time and energy to maximizing their sales.
Performance visibility gap
To understand what sellers know and want to know about their listings’ performance in order to identify which visibility and analytics tools would be suitable for them.
Negotiation and stagnation
To understand how sellers handle negotiation and stagnation to identify moments when they need tools to increase the chances of a sale.
Three users were interviewed…
The main insights of the research were…
Lack of native tools
Sellers have developed their own management systems due to the lack of native tools to maximize their sales.
Listings lost in the crowd
Sellers feel at a disadvantage because of an unregulated feed where their listings get lost in the crowd.
Wasted time, missed sales
The time wasted trying to manage sales due to platform shortcomings could instead be spent maximizing sales.
The revisited question was…
How do we notify sellers of the right time to act on their listings and suggest a concrete action to take?
The benchmark that structured the project was…
The user test goals were…
Validation of the solution
Assess whether the AI-Timed Highlight and manual Highlight concepts addresses sellers' problems, and whether the perceived value is sufficient to trigger usage.
Frictions in the flow
Detect blocking points on the screens: notification pop-up, Highlight page, Listing page, checkout and confirmation.
Three users tested the product…
The solutions we tested brought us useful observations…
SOLUTION 1
AI-timed Highlight
Highlight of a listing at the optimal moment
Notification when the optimal moment arrives (once per item)
2/3 Have understood the Highlight pop-up
3/3 Have identified the statistic "25% better chance of selling" as a key element
"There's this thing where it's kind of like 'Vestiaire helps me sell better.'" - Morgane
3/3 Have had a positive reaction to the word “Highlight”
"'Boost' would have made me think of video games. 'Highlight' says 'I'm putting it in the spotlight.'" - Morgane
1/3 Did not understand where the article would be highlighted
"I don't know exactly who's going to see this when it's promoted." - Connie
Pop-up variations
"Coat season just started, your Max Mara is timely. Searches for wool coats are up 3× this week on Vestiaire. Highlight it now to ride the wave."
"Your Chanel bag hasn't had views in 2 weeks. It may have slipped in the rankings. A highlight refreshes its visibility and brings it back in front of new buyers."
Statistic to be validated by Vestiaire Collective during internal beta tests
Manual Highlight
Highlight of a listing at the desired/chosen moment
Discrete notification that appears when the optimal highlight moment comes on the listings page
3/3 Spontaneously go somewhere other than Listings to Highlight an item
"I would have gone directly into the section"Highlights"." - Morgane
3/3 Did not interact with the notification on the profile page
2/3 Highlighted an item without difficulty after being directed to the "Listings" section
"Highlights" Section
Consultation of Active / Past Highlights
3/3 Easily found and understood the Highlights section
3/3 Instinctively checked the performance progress of their item in the 'Highlights' section"
1/3 Would like to know the remaining time of a highlight
Highlight Performance Tracking
Performance tracking visible directly on the listing page, the My Highlights page, and the listings/ads page
3/3 Understood the metrics instantly and found the before/after comparison very useful
"'I find it really interesting that I don't have to click on my listing to see my results.'" - Morgane
SOLUTION 2
Search Bar and Filtering of Listings
Search for a listing by brand name or item name
Sort by: Newest First · Oldest First · Most Viewed · Least Viewed
3/3 Understood the filters and identified specific use cases
"'I would look in 'Oldest first' to see what I have that's still for sale, to see what I can do to increase visibility.'" - Connie
ITERATION 1
AI-timed Highlight
1/3 Did not understand where the article would be highlighted
EFFORT / IMPACT:
Quick win
SOLUTION:
Added the phrase "Move your listing to the top of relevant search results." to the Highlight push
Modified the icon
ITERATION 2
Manual Highlight
3/3 Spontaneously go somewhere other than Listings to Highlight an item
"I would have gone directly into the section"Highlights"." - Morgane
3/3 Did not interact with the notification on the profile page
EFFORT / IMPACT:
Big Impact
SOLUTION:
Added a "Highlight listing" button to the "Highlights" section
Reduced the length of the notification
ITERATION 3
"Highlights" Section
1/3 Would like to know the remaining time of a highlight
EFFORT / IMPACT:
Quick Win
SOLUTION:
Added a countdown on the "Highlighted" button showing the remaining time
HOW DO WE WIN?
One statistic that validated the solution was…
0.0M €
is the yearly revenue this feature could generate, even in the most conservative scenario, assuming just 1 seller in 20 adopts it at an average of €5 per Highlight.
Our success criteria were also validated…
Help users manage their items better.
Help sellers know when and how to act on their listings.
Reduce the time sellers spend managing their listings.
HOW AI WAS USED
Where AI earned its place was…
Feasibility
Worried AI-timed detection would be costly to build. Found out it would just reuse data VC already tracks, no new infrastructure needed.
Research synthesis
Used AI to turn interview and test transcripts into the pattern findings behind this case study's insights.
Where I had to adjust was…
Pricing the feature
AI suggested €1.99 / €3.99 discount pricing.
Switched to round numbers: €3 / €6 / €10. Luxury brands don't do .99.
Naming the feature
For the pricing tiers, AI proposed names such as French Elegance, Light & Approachable.
Renamed the tiers with simple durations such as 7-day, 14-day instead, for accessibility.
WHAT I'D DO DIFFERENTLY
If I redid this project…
I'd redesign the inline strip on a listing before adding the stat-evolution feature to it, as it stands today, it's not very legible.
NEXT STEPS
Iterations
Iteration 1
Set up a percentage showing the increase in the chance of selling for each highlight plan
Iteration 2
Improve the visibility of the Highlights performance inline strip
Iteration 3
Design a credit system to allow sellers to earn free or discounted Highlights
Other concepts to explore
Idea 1
Support sellers and buyers to encourage improved quality of human interaction
Idea 2
Bulk purchases from the same seller to reduce shipping costs
Idea 3
Implement live auction sales to maximize item value and create engagement
