Shopify • Lead Designer • 2023
A new economy for product discovery
Curator profiles are a new feature I designed for the Shop App, which allow users to create collections of products from within Shopify's merchant ecosystem. This feature allows users to earn Shop Cash each time a purchase is made from their curated list. This feature will provide users with a more practical means of saving products and also create a growth intiative to attract more users to the app.
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Problem
Proposal
The objective behind curator profiles is to offer a practical function to users (both for reference and sharing), while simultaneously encouraging use of the Shop app. The anticipated outcome is a better shopping experience for all users, an increase in purchases made through the app, and a growth flywheel for Shop user acquisition.
Impact & outcomes
Transforming static favorites into shareable, incentive-driven collections unlocked a scalable organic growth loop, empowering users to drive product discovery.
New growth loop
Creates a growth loop that incentivizes users to drive increased shopping within the Shop app.
New feature
Introduces a new feature that allows users better organization and greater customization of their accounts.
Key user groups
We have identified four primary user groups that this feature will primarily cater to: individuals (personal), groups, friends, and influencers. Individual users will utilize this feature to create a personalized log of products they wish to keep track of for future purchases. Groups will create collections as communal lists for occasions such as wedding registries, supplies for an upcoming trip, etc. Friends will use this feature to create collections for sharing product recommendations with their family and friends. Lastly, influencers, both established and aspiring, will create collections to share with their audience as a means of earning rewards.
Profiles
In the Shop app, curator profiles refer to public profiles available to all users who participate. These profiles can be made either private or public, allowing users to share their lists or profiles on social media. This provides Shop users with the option of having a private purchasing account for handling transactions, orders, etc., as well as a curated public profile featuring their product collections.
Collections
In the Shop app, collections refer to saved product lists. Currently, users can only add products to a single "Favorites" list by selecting the "favorite" option on a product. However, with the introduction of the collection feature, users can create multiple customized lists to store their "favorited" products. A good comparison to the concept of collection lists would be music playlists.
Introducing the feature
Curator profiles and creating collections can be introduced to the user in two ways. The first is through a new option in their account: Curator profile. This will prompt the user to create their curator profile and afterwards create a collection. The second is by introducing an "Add to collection" option when a user likes a product. Once a user has created a collection, they will be prompted to create their curator profile.
Opportunities
The curator profiles feature in the Shop app aims to provide several advantages. Firstly, it offers a user-generated approach to help more users navigate and discover products within the Shop app. Currently, the process of creating a Collab collection with an influencer or celebrity can be arduous and time-consuming, which the curator profiles feature can alleviate.
Secondly, users can create public or private collection lists and profiles, expanding upon the "favorites" functionality and allowing users to organize and curate specific product lists. Publicly shared collection lists can drive more users to the Shop app. To incentivize users to shop from a particular list, double-sided incentives, such as Shop Cash, can be offered.
By enabling users to create their own collections there will be a greater amount of content available, backed by Shopify's extensive merchant ecosystem.
Skills & competencies
Key areas of expertise and methodologies applied during this project.