Role
Product Designer
Type
Personal Project
Duration
4 Weeks
Platforms
Desktop
Etsy sellers often churn because they don’t know how or where to improve their shops. I redesigned the seller dashboard into a decision-support tool that helps sellers drive growth in their shop.
TL;DR
PROBLEM
When sellers can’t improve their shop, they leave.
Without clear steps to grow their shops, sellers become frustrated and leave the platform. Etsy’s dashboard adds to the problem by showing minimal data and almost no actionable insights.
Current dashboard for Etsy sellers.
SOLUTION
A redesigned dashboard with AI-powered decision support.
I redesigned the seller dashboard that turns scattered features into clear decision-support tools that provide actionable recommendations and help sellers grow with more confidence.
Redesigned dashboard.
BACKGROUND
Etsy is one of the world’s largest platforms for independent sellers, but it struggles with high seller churn each year.
Despite Etsy’s global reach and strong brand, seller retention is a recurring challenge. Reports and community discussions show that many shop owners struggle to sustain their business on the platform, leading to high churn.
Etsy has seen a noticeable decline in active sellers.
PROBLEM
Running an Etsy shop can be challenging for beginners: sellers must balance product creation, inventory, customer engagement, and marketing. When sales decline, many shop owners are left guessing what to fix.
The dashboard doesn't give sellers much direction when it comes to growing their shops.
While the dashboard shows basic stats and suggestions, important features and insights are buried behind multiple clicks and they lack clear, constructive direction on what actions sellers should take.
Users have shared pain points about the dashboard, captured from Etsy Forum.
Current seller dashboard: minimal data wihtout direction.
RESEARCH
To better understand sellers' pain points, I conducted interviews with a diverse group of Etsy shop owners, ranging from hobbyists to full-time sellers. These conversations validated frustrations I had seen in online forums and gave me better insights on how different types of sellers interact with Etsy’s current dashboard.
I interviewed a group of sellers with 3 goals in mind:
Identify friction in feature access
Understand which features sellers use most, and what pain points they face in using them.
Explore their perceptions of AI tools
Learn what sellers expect from AI and how they would like it incorporated in their workflow.
Understand decision-making challenges
Discover what sellers struggle to prioritize when managing their shops (e.g., fulfilling orders, improving SEO, or responding to customers).
Conversations with Etsy sellers helped me understand sellers' frustrations with the current dashboard.
Key Research Insights:
From these interviews and supporting secondary research, I was able to synthesize my findings into 3 major insights:
Certain tools need to be more accessible
Tools like marketing and sales trend are spread out across tabs, making daily management less efficient.
AI should reduce the guesswork
Sellers are open to AI tools if they can simplify the decision-making.
Data analysis is time-consuming
Reviewing shop data is time-consuming and tedious; sellers don't want just raw numbers.
SOLUTION FRAMING
Sorting the most used tools into four groups: KPIs, AI Helper, Tasks, and Insights.
From the research, it became clear that sellers weren’t asking for more data, they wanted clearer guidance and easier access to the tools they already rely on.
To address this, I reorganized the most essential tools into four groups that would form the foundation of a redesigned dashboard.
AI Helper
Scannable, proactive guidance with the option to dive deeper.
Sorting essential features into four groups: KPIs, AI Helper, Tasks, and Insights.
Wireframing the layout and prioritizing what matters most:
KPIs takes the hero section to show overall shop health. The AI Helper sits nearby for a quick summary. Tasks are split into Shop Operations and Customer Care in the center to drive immediate action, and Insights is place on the bottom corner for less urgent tasks.
Mapping the 4 groups into the dashboard layout.
FINAL DESIGN
KPIs
The KPI section sits at the top to show overall shop health. I replaced Etsy’s default “Visits” with "Conversion Rate" because it shows how effectively traffic turns into sales better.
AI Helper
My goal was to make it “scannable in under 5 seconds." AI should surface quick insights without distracting sellers from more urgent tasks. I explored two options: a dedicated AI Insights card that ensures visibility but risks visual noise, and a chatbot that keeps the UI clean but requires more effort and learning curve.
I ended up with a hybrid approach: 3 smart summaries, and the option to open a chatbot for deeper insights even completing small tasks. This keeps AI visible, lightweight, and flexible for both casual and advanced sellers.
Tasks
The Tasks section covers the core features: Orders, Inventory, Messages, and Reviews. To go beyond raw number and data, I added AI-powered tooltips that offer insights like inventory forecasts or suggested replies. This gives the management more guided tasks, helping sellers prioritize the right things.
The Insights section adds context behind shop performance. It covers Traffic Sources, Buyers, and Ad Spend. This section explores different data visualization: a pie chart highlights traffic sources at a glance, a bar chart compares new vs repeat buyers, and a stacked bar chart breaks down ad spend by channel.
Insights
PRODUCT CONCEPTS
RETROSPECTIVE
Designing AI for the users.
This project taught me to design AI around real user needs: simplifying data and guiding decisions, not taking over the entire shop. Looking back, here are three key takeaways from the case study:
User feedback
Sellers like that it reduces guesswork without taking away control.
AI as a helper not replacement
AI helps by providing insights, not by replacing human control in shop management.
Market alignment
Etsy released a similar feature shortly after, showing the idea was on the right track.
