Creative Tool for eBay
Year
2020
Timeline
7 months
Client
eBay
Role
UX Designer
NDA protected. Details available upon request.
A channel-agnostic creative tool designed to generate assets at scale. The concept alone sparked curiosity and excitement across teams at eBay, opening the door to explore uncharted territory and define how this tool could best serve its users.
Due to confidentiality, I'm unable to share the full scope of the project, but this case study walks through a high-level overview of my design process, the challenges I navigated, and the key takeaways I walked away with.
Design Process
During the discovery phase, I led 16+ focus groups and captured 280+ user stories. A common theme that emerged was concern around AI and automation, particularly the fear that this tool might eliminate creative roles at eBay. Hearing that pushed me to think deeply about what it really means to automate parts of the creative process and the real impact it could have on the people behind it.
From my perspective, a tool that handles repetitive tasks efficiently frees people up to focus on the work that actually needs their attention. My goal was to make intentional design decisions that kept users in control, using automation as a way to support their creativity rather than replace it.
From my perspective, a tool that handles repetitive tasks efficiently frees people up to focus on the work that actually needs their attention.
From our user interviews, I was able to build out personas that defined our target users and map user flows that reflected their existing processes. Walking through those flows visually made it much easier to pinpoint pain points and identify exactly where this new tool could make the most impact.
One of my biggest takeaways from this project was learning how to collaborate with a global team. It pushed me to think about how I communicate progress, stay aligned with teammates across time zones, and find ways to work together efficiently. At a project of this scale, clear communication wasn't just helpful. It was essential to keeping things moving and delivering solutions that actually worked for the team. A few tools that made this possible were Figma, Lucidcharts, FlowMapp, and InVision Whiteboard. Even with our team spread across different locations, these tools allowed us to collaborate in real time and sketch out ideas together as if we were all in the same room. That sense of connection made the work feel a lot more rewarding.
Challenges
As with many projects, there came a point where things shifted and a complete redesign was needed. It was a stressful pivot under tight deadlines, but taking the time to understand the rationale behind those changes made all the difference. To move forward with confidence, I validated our new concepts through user testing. The feedback and data I gathered were invaluable and made sure every design decision was grounded in real user insight.
After many design reviews with stakeholders and users, we landed on a solid foundation for the tool. The final deliverables included high-fidelity mockups and prototypes that gave the development team a clear picture of how each component should look and behave. Beyond the deliverables, the most rewarding part was the new skills I gained and the relationships I built along the way.
Key Takeaways
¹
Communicate proactively
Establish a clear method for sharing project updates, raising concerns, and keeping stakeholders aligned.
²
Ask questions fearlessly
As a new team member, don't hesitate to ask as many questions as you need to fully understand your role and project expectations.
³
Embrace change & uncertainty
It might feel uncomfortable at first, but leaning into ambiguity is where real growth happens.
Conclusion
A huge thank you to my teammates for their support, perspective, and humor throughout this project! As a new graduate, getting to work on something at this scale was an incredible opportunity and I'm proud to have played a part in shaping the future of tools at eBay.