All work
CASE STUDY · MSc DISSERTATION · E-COMMERCE
EBAY 2.0
Why do people who shop online every week still choose Amazon over eBay, and what would make them trust it?
PROBLEM
Most of the 9 eBay users I interviewed shopped on Amazon or Flipkart out of habit and trust. Many thought eBay only sold used goods, and the site did nothing to correct that.
MY ROLE
Solo: research, analysis, design and evaluation, end to end.
METHODS
9 interviews, thematic analysis, sketching, Figma prototypes, side-by-side testing with 13 evaluators.
TIMELINE & TOOLS
3 months · Figma, Miro
+36%
experience rating on the Product Listing and Product pages
+34%
experience rating on the Home page
13 of 13
preferred the redesign on visual appeal
17 themes
from about 240 codes
Open Figma prototype
ON THIS PAGE
The problem
Research
Analysis
Design
Solution
Evaluation
Reflection
THE PROBLEM
“I think people have this preconceived notion that if you’re buying something from eBay, it would be a second-hand product.”
Participant 4
eBay isn’t failing because its tech is broken. It’s failing because people don’t know what eBay is anymore. People who had visited bounced, citing a site that felt “like using old Google”, confusing price ranges and category menus that went several layers deep.
I set my own brief: redesign the Home, Product Listing and Product pages, which carry most of a first-time user’s journey.
CONSTRAINTS
3 months, working solo
No access to eBay’s analytics or real user data
A long-established site whose patterns regular users already know
Qualitative research only: 9 interviews, then 13 evaluators
WHAT THE RESEARCH SAID
I interviewed 9 eBay users aged 23 to 40 across the UK, US and India, from occasional shoppers and regular buyers to one seller, 30 to 40 minutes each.
#
Pain point
Why it mattered
1
Homepage felt generic: no products, no personalisation
Compared unfavourably to Amazon’s product-first homepage
2
Price ranges instead of fixed prices
“We need a specific price to be there.”
3
Outdated, cluttered visual design
The most common complaint; one participant said it “looks more like a college website”
4
Too many irrelevant search results, weak filters
Filtering and refinement felt limited next to Amazon
5
eBay seen as second-hand only
Stopped users considering it for new items
THE INSIGHT THAT REFRAMED THE PROJECT
The visual problems were a symptom. Amazon’s homepage shows you things to buy. eBay’s left people unsure what the site even offered. I treated the redesign as a positioning problem first and a UI problem second.
FROM QUOTES TO DECISIONS
I ran a 6-step thematic analysis: familiarisation, open coding, initial themes, review, naming, and implications for the redesign. About 240 codes across 9 transcripts grouped into 17 themes.
THEMATIC ANALYSIS
9 interviews, 6 steps
9
Raw data
interview transcripts, P1 to P9
CODING
~240
Codes
initial codes, line by line
ITERATIVE COMPARISON
17
Themes
17 themes from about 240 codes
THE 6 STEPS
1
Familiarise
2
Open coding
3
Initial themes
4
Review & refine
5
Define & name
6
Implications
EXAMPLE CODES AND THE THEMES THEY JOINED
“Price range vs. exact price”
Issues and frustrations
“Limited product visibility on the homepage”
Homepage and user interface
“Importance of review section accessibility”
Navigation and user experience
“Trust issues with eBay’s authenticity”
Trust and authenticity
From 9 transcripts to the themes that drove the redesign
Findings outside my scope
Why
Bidding system uniqueness
Real, but bidding wasn’t on a page I was redesigning
Cash on delivery preferences
A payment option, recorded as a recommendation
Buyer–seller messaging
Not part of the three pages; recorded as a recommendation
Each change in the final design maps to a theme from the analysis.
KEY DECISIONS
Low-fidelity sketches of the Home, Product Listing and Product pages
Killing the price range: participants found price ranges confusing, so I showed one exact price on every card and product page. Clarity beat completeness.
A seasonal homepage: a fall palette and a #FALLintoSavings campaign signal “this site is alive”. All 13 evaluators rated the new visuals as more appealing.
WHAT I DESIGNED AND WHY
I redesigned the three pages that carry a first-time shopper from “what is this site?” to “I’ll buy this”. Each page had its own job, so each change below traces back to what participants told me.
PAGE 1 OF 3
Home page: answering “what is this site?” in 5 seconds
Home page: seasonal campaign, Today’s Deals and a visible category grid
A clean, inviting layout in warm fall colours, with a seasonal #FALLintoSavings campaign to show the site is alive. Personalised recommendations sit in Today’s Deals, and sections like Trending Deals, Fashion & Beauty and Home & Garden invite exploration. A reorganised navigation bar puts categories like Garden & DIY, Electronics and Fashion one click away, and countdown banners such as “Up to 50% off” add a reason to act now.
Change
Driven by
Result in testing
Personalised Today’s Deals above the fold
P4, P5: deals should be on the front page
10/13 very satisfied with content relevance
Visible category grid (Fashion, Electronics, Home & Garden, DIY)
P1: “Category should be made very evident”
8/13 rated layout Very Good, 2/13 Exceptional
Seasonal hero banner with an active campaign
P2: “still the same like it was 3 years ago”
13/13 found the visuals more appealing
“Up to 50% off” countdown banners
P2: “eBay has no offers”
13/13 rated deals visibility Very Good or Exceptional
PAGE 2 OF 3
Product Listing page: making 100 products feel like 10
Product Listing page: grouped filters, quick sort options, fixed prices and ratings on every card
Filters are grouped into clear categories like Brand, Colour and Price, so shoppers narrow down fast. Sorting by New, Best Selling or discounts like 40% off, with dropdowns for more, personalises discovery. Every card shows a clear image, a single price and a rating, so people can judge a product at a glance without leaving the listing.
Change
Driven by
Result in testing
Filters grouped into clear categories like Brand, Colour and Price
P1: “Like good filter options”
13/13 found sorting and filtering easy to use
Quick sort options: New, Best Selling and discounts
P4: “It should be easy to search”
13/13 rated filter clarity Very Good or Exceptional
Fixed prices, an items-sold counter and ratings on every card
Price ranges confused participants; P8 liked seeing the number of items sold
9/13 very satisfied with how product details are shown
Cleaner cards: one image, less metadata
P6: “pages should not be congested”
Whole-page rating rose from 6.69 to 9.08 (+36%)
PAGE 3 OF 3
Product page: closing the trust gap
Product page: large gallery, one clear price, reviews above the fold and a seller card
A large product image sits beside the key details, like brand, size and scent, with multiple views to build confidence. One clear price leads the page with Add to Basket and Buy it Now right beside it. Condition, size and other details follow in an easy-to-scan list, and shipping costs, loyalty points, ratings and reviews are all visible, so shoppers can trust what they are buying and who from.
Change
Driven by
Result in testing
Larger product imagery and a gallery view
P4 wanted “very good pictures to view”
12/13 found the media presentation effective
One fixed price, with a strikethrough discount
Frustration with price ranges
12/13 spotted price and tax information easily
Reviews and ratings moved above the fold
P3: reviews are “at the bottom. Nobody wants to scroll till that”
13/13 found reviews; 9/13 rated the layout Excellent
Seller card with rating, response time and location
P2 expects an authentic seller
13/13 found seller information easily
Prominent Add to Basket and Watchlist buttons
P7 and P8 wanted a direct checkout
13/13 found the buttons; 9/13 rated their placement Excellent
SIDE BY SIDE, WITH 13 EVALUATORS
I recruited 13 evaluators. Each used both the current eBay and my prototype, then answered a questionnaire with ratings and open feedback.
Page (avg rating, 1–10)
Current eBay
Redesign
Change
Home page
6.62
8.85
+34%
Product Listing page
6.69
9.08
+36%
Product page
6.62
9.00
+36%
CATEGORICAL PREFERENCES (N=13)
Visual appeal: 100% preferred the redesign (69% much better)
User-friendliness: 100% preferred the redesign
Access to product information: 92% preferred it; 8% said about the same
A step in the right direction: 85% agreed, 15% neutral, none disagreed
LIMITS I CALLED OUT
13 evaluators is suggestive, not conclusive.
A controlled test isn’t a real shopper under time pressure.
New designs can get a novelty bump in ratings. I’d validate with an A/B test before claiming business impact.
WHAT I’D CHANGE, AND WHAT I’D DEFEND
The decision I’d defend hardest: keeping bidding, payments and seller messaging out of scope. They were real findings, but not actionable on the three pages I redesigned. A good project ships fewer good decisions, not more okay ones.
The unsolved problem: I never tested with heavy eBay users. A 36% gain for new users might cost friction for people used to the old patterns.
What I’d build next: a search results redesign, since search and filtering came up again and again.
I’d also recruit at least 3 participants aged 50 and over. Everyone I interviewed was 23 to 40, so I couldn’t speak to accessibility, font sizes or trust that comes with age.
Working solo forced me to be honest about my own assumptions, because there was no one else in the room to catch them.
LET’S TALK.
I’m looking for product and UX design roles in Mumbai, remote, or where relocation makes sense. I reply within a day.
© 2026 Hiral Mamaniya
Designed and built in Framer
All work
CASE STUDY · MSc DISSERTATION · E-COMMERCE
EBAY 2.0
Why do people who shop online every week still choose Amazon over eBay, and what would make them trust it?
PROBLEM
Most of the 9 eBay users I interviewed shopped on Amazon or Flipkart out of habit and trust. Many thought eBay only sold used goods, and the site did nothing to correct that.
MY ROLE
Solo: research, analysis, design and evaluation, end to end.
METHODS
9 interviews, thematic analysis, sketching, Figma prototypes, side-by-side testing with 13 evaluators.
TIMELINE & TOOLS
3 months · Figma, Miro
+36%
experience rating on the Product Listing and Product pages
+34%
experience rating on the Home page
13 of 13
preferred the redesign on visual appeal
17 themes
from about 240 codes
Open Figma prototype
The problem
Research
Analysis
Design
Solution
Evaluation
Reflection
THE PROBLEM
“I think people have this preconceived notion that if you’re buying something from eBay, it would be a second-hand product.”
Participant 4
eBay isn’t failing because its tech is broken. It’s failing because people don’t know what eBay is anymore. People who had visited bounced, citing a site that felt “like using old Google”, confusing price ranges and category menus that went several layers deep.
I set my own brief: redesign the Home, Product Listing and Product pages, which carry most of a first-time user’s journey.
CONSTRAINTS
3 months, working solo
No access to eBay’s analytics or real user data
A long-established site whose patterns regular users already know
Qualitative research only: 9 interviews, then 13 evaluators
WHAT THE RESEARCH SAID
I interviewed 9 eBay users aged 23 to 40 across the UK, US and India, from occasional shoppers and regular buyers to one seller, 30 to 40 minutes each.
#
Pain point
Why it mattered
1
Homepage felt generic: no products, no personalisation
Compared unfavourably to Amazon’s product-first homepage
2
Price ranges instead of fixed prices
“We need a specific price to be there.”
3
Outdated, cluttered visual design
The most common complaint; one participant said it “looks more like a college website”
4
Too many irrelevant search results, weak filters
Filtering and refinement felt limited next to Amazon
5
eBay seen as second-hand only
Stopped users considering it for new items
THE INSIGHT THAT REFRAMED THE PROJECT
The visual problems were a symptom. Amazon’s homepage shows you things to buy. eBay’s left people unsure what the site even offered. I treated the redesign as a positioning problem first and a UI problem second.
FROM QUOTES TO DECISIONS
I ran a 6-step thematic analysis: familiarisation, open coding, initial themes, review, naming, and implications for the redesign. About 240 codes across 9 transcripts grouped into 17 themes.
THEMATIC ANALYSIS
9 interviews, 6 steps
9
Raw data
interview transcripts, P1 to P9
CODING
~240
Codes
initial codes, line by line
ITERATIVE COMPARISON
17
Themes
17 themes from about 240 codes
THE 6 STEPS
1
Familiarise
2
Open coding
3
Initial themes
4
Review & refine
5
Define & name
6
Implications
EXAMPLE CODES AND THE THEMES THEY JOINED
“Price range vs. exact price”
Issues and frustrations
“Limited product visibility on the homepage”
Homepage and user interface
“Importance of review section accessibility”
Navigation and user experience
“Trust issues with eBay’s authenticity”
Trust and authenticity
From 9 transcripts to the themes that drove the redesign
Findings outside my scope
Why
Bidding system uniqueness
Real, but bidding wasn’t on a page I was redesigning
Cash on delivery preferences
A payment option, recorded as a recommendation
Buyer–seller messaging
Not part of the three pages; recorded as a recommendation
Each change in the final design maps to a theme from the analysis.
KEY DECISIONS
Low-fidelity sketches of the Home, Product Listing and Product pages
Killing the price range: participants found price ranges confusing, so I showed one exact price on every card and product page. Clarity beat completeness.
A seasonal homepage: a fall palette and a #FALLintoSavings campaign signal “this site is alive”. All 13 evaluators rated the new visuals as more appealing.
WHAT I DESIGNED AND WHY
I redesigned the three pages that carry a first-time shopper from “what is this site?” to “I’ll buy this”. Each page had its own job, so each change below traces back to what participants told me.
PAGE 1 OF 3
Home page: answering “what is this site?” in 5 seconds
Home page: seasonal campaign, Today’s Deals and a visible category grid
A clean, inviting layout in warm fall colours, with a seasonal #FALLintoSavings campaign to show the site is alive. Personalised recommendations sit in Today’s Deals, and sections like Trending Deals, Fashion & Beauty and Home & Garden invite exploration. A reorganised navigation bar puts categories like Garden & DIY, Electronics and Fashion one click away, and countdown banners such as “Up to 50% off” add a reason to act now.
HOME PAGE CHANGES
Personalised Today’s Deals above the fold
DRIVEN BY
P4, P5: deals should be on the front page
RESULT IN TESTING
10/13 very satisfied with content relevance
Visible category grid (Fashion, Electronics, Home & Garden, DIY)
DRIVEN BY
P1: “Category should be made very evident”
RESULT IN TESTING
8/13 rated layout Very Good, 2/13 Exceptional
Seasonal hero banner with an active campaign
DRIVEN BY
P2: “still the same like it was 3 years ago”
RESULT IN TESTING
13/13 found the visuals more appealing
“Up to 50% off” countdown banners
DRIVEN BY
P2: “eBay has no offers”
RESULT IN TESTING
13/13 rated deals visibility Very Good or Exceptional
PAGE 2 OF 3
Product Listing page: making 100 products feel like 10
Product Listing page: grouped filters, quick sort options, fixed prices and ratings on every card
Filters are grouped into clear categories like Brand, Colour and Price, so shoppers narrow down fast. Sorting by New, Best Selling or discounts like 40% off, with dropdowns for more, personalises discovery. Every card shows a clear image, a single price and a rating, so people can judge a product at a glance without leaving the listing.
PRODUCT LISTING PAGE CHANGES
Filters grouped into clear categories like Brand, Colour and Price
DRIVEN BY
P1: “Like good filter options”
RESULT IN TESTING
13/13 found sorting and filtering easy to use
Quick sort options: New, Best Selling and discounts
DRIVEN BY
P4: “It should be easy to search”
RESULT IN TESTING
13/13 rated filter clarity Very Good or Exceptional
Fixed prices, an items-sold counter and ratings on every card
DRIVEN BY
Price ranges confused participants; P8 liked seeing the number of items sold
RESULT IN TESTING
9/13 very satisfied with how product details are shown
Cleaner cards: one image, less metadata
DRIVEN BY
P6: “pages should not be congested”
RESULT IN TESTING
Whole-page rating rose from 6.69 to 9.08 (+36%)
PAGE 3 OF 3
Product page: closing the trust gap
Product page: large gallery, one clear price, reviews above the fold and a seller card
A large product image sits beside the key details, like brand, size and scent, with multiple views to build confidence. One clear price leads the page with Add to Basket and Buy it Now right beside it. Condition, size and other details follow in an easy-to-scan list, and shipping costs, loyalty points, ratings and reviews are all visible, so shoppers can trust what they are buying and who from.
PRODUCT PAGE CHANGES
Larger product imagery and a gallery view
DRIVEN BY
P4 wanted “very good pictures to view”
RESULT IN TESTING
12/13 found the media presentation effective
One fixed price, with a strikethrough discount
DRIVEN BY
Frustration with price ranges
RESULT IN TESTING
12/13 spotted price and tax information easily
Reviews and ratings moved above the fold
DRIVEN BY
P3: reviews are “at the bottom. Nobody wants to scroll till that”
RESULT IN TESTING
13/13 found reviews; 9/13 rated the layout Excellent
Seller card with rating, response time and location
DRIVEN BY
P2 expects an authentic seller
RESULT IN TESTING
13/13 found seller information easily
Prominent Add to Basket and Watchlist buttons
DRIVEN BY
P7 and P8 wanted a direct checkout
RESULT IN TESTING
13/13 found the buttons; 9/13 rated their placement Excellent
SIDE BY SIDE, WITH 13 EVALUATORS
I recruited 13 evaluators. Each used both the current eBay and my prototype, then answered a questionnaire with ratings and open feedback.
Home page
CURRENT EBAY
6.62
REDESIGN
8.85
CHANGE
+34%
Product Listing page
CURRENT EBAY
6.69
REDESIGN
9.08
CHANGE
+36%
Product page
CURRENT EBAY
6.62
REDESIGN
9.00
CHANGE
+36%
CATEGORICAL PREFERENCES (N=13)
Visual appeal: 100% preferred the redesign (69% much better)
User-friendliness: 100% preferred the redesign
Access to product information: 92% preferred it; 8% said about the same
A step in the right direction: 85% agreed, 15% neutral, none disagreed
LIMITS I CALLED OUT
13 evaluators is suggestive, not conclusive.
A controlled test isn’t a real shopper under time pressure.
New designs can get a novelty bump in ratings. I’d validate with an A/B test before claiming business impact.
WHAT I’D CHANGE, AND WHAT I’D DEFEND
The decision I’d defend hardest: keeping bidding, payments and seller messaging out of scope. They were real findings, but not actionable on the three pages I redesigned. A good project ships fewer good decisions, not more okay ones.
The unsolved problem: I never tested with heavy eBay users. A 36% gain for new users might cost friction for people used to the old patterns.
What I’d build next: a search results redesign, since search and filtering came up again and again.
I’d also recruit at least 3 participants aged 50 and over. Everyone I interviewed was 23 to 40, so I couldn’t speak to accessibility, font sizes or trust that comes with age.
Working solo forced me to be honest about my own assumptions, because there was no one else in the room to catch them.
LET’S TALK.
I’m looking for product and UX design roles in Mumbai, remote, or where relocation makes sense. I reply within a day.
© 2026 Hiral Mamaniya
Designed and built in Framer