Improving Marketplace Conversion Through Trust and Supply Strategy
Client
Doji
Industry
Marketplace
Role
Product Designer
Duration
3 months
Context
Over a three-month engagement, I worked as a UX/UI Designer embedded in the product team to support Doji, a UK-based refurbished smartphone marketplace, in increasing conversion by addressing trust, supply perception, and experience clarity during a phase of marketplace evolution.
The Challenge
Doji was facing a critical growth bottleneck: despite successful traffic acquisition, only 1% of users completed a purchase, resulting in high customer acquisition costs and inefficient funnel performance.
From a product standpoint, the challenge was structural rather than purely visual. Research and data analysis revealed two core issues affecting conversion:
Low trust in a new marketplace, especially in a high-consideration category such as refurbished electronics.
Breaks in the browsing and comparison flow, caused by limited visible supply and a high percentage of empty listings.
The challenge was to identify which product levers would most effectively reduce friction in the decision-making process and to prioritize solutions that could be delivered within existing operational and technical constraints.
The Solution
The strategy focused on treating trust and availability as core product features, not secondary UI enhancements. In collaboration with the PM, PO, and Marketing Director, I proposed and helped prioritize solutions that:
Increased perceived reliability and transparency across the funnel
Prevented users from reaching dead ends when browsing or comparing products
Reinforced brand credibility through consistent UX and visual systems
My role was to lead UX research, propose product and design solutions, and execute end-to-end design delivery, while strategic decisions were validated collaboratively with product and marketing leadership.
The Process
Stage 1: Product Discovery & Research
We started with a mixed-method research approach to understand user behavior and conversion drop-offs:
15 in-depth qualitative interviews with potential buyers
Funnel and behavioral data analysis
Interviews with internal stakeholders
A quantitative survey with 240 respondents to validate hypotheses
This phase confirmed that conversion was primarily impacted by:
Uncertainty around brand credibility and product quality
Frustration revealed during product comparison, when users encountered empty or unavailable listings
To further explore trust, we conducted additional market research and interviews, which surfaced four recurring trust drivers:
Social proof through reviews and reputation
Clear signals of product quality
A visible safety net for buyers
Transparent and responsive customer support
Stage 2: Product Strategy, Trade-offs & Prioritization
Working closely with the PM, I actively participated in prioritization discussions, helping frame design proposals in terms of impact, feasibility, and business goals.
One key trade-off involved a discarded hypothesis:
Product videos recorded by sellers were initially considered to improve transparency, but this approach was rejected due to lack of consistency, quality control risks, and operational complexity.
To address supply perception, we implemented a definitive web-scraping solution that populated the marketplace with competitor listings, adjusted pricing, and ensured continuous product availability. Rather than an MVP, this solution became a foundational system to support marketplace liquidity while supplier acquisition scaled.
Stage 3: Design Execution & System Thinking
A strategic decision was made to reinforce trust through brand and experience alignment. I participated in the rebranding initiative and was responsible for:
Designing a new design system to ensure consistency and scalability
Redesigning key buyer and seller journeys
Delivering responsive, performance-oriented UI components
Trust was embedded directly into the experience through:
Reviews and star ratings integrated via third-party APIs
Clear seller profiles and transparent delivery timelines
Chatbot and live customer support available seven days a week
All components were designed to be reusable, enabling faster iteration and supporting future growth.
Outcomes
The redesigned marketplace increased its purchase conversion rate from 1% to 3.23%, representing a 223% uplift, as evidenced by post-launch metrics and funnel analysis, significantly improving funnel efficiency and reducing acquisition waste.Beyond the primary metric, the project delivered long-term product value:
A clearer, more confidence-driven buying experience
A scalable design system aligned with continuous marketplace evolution
Stronger alignment between UX decisions, product strategy, and business objectives
By addressing trust, supply perception, and usability as interconnected product challenges, Doji strengthened its marketplace fundamentals and created a more resilient platform within the circular economy space.
