If you go onto dribbble.com or google "Craigslist redesign" you'll see thousands of redesigns from various designers. I got to know the Craigslist team through my work with their charitable fund and we agreed to revamp the website. Until this point, not a single designer has worked with craigslist, whose old school M.O. meant that they had only engineers who created the front end - which resulted in the feral, but charming quality that has existed for more than 25 years on the site.
Client
Craigslist LTD
My Role
Lead Product Designer
Team Members
4
Craigslist Redesign (in dev)
No, this isn't a fake portfolio piece - I was actually contracted by Craigslist to create a total redesign for this site. For confidentialy reasons, I have to blur the in-development screenshots. However, I can share the multutidue of designs in private discussions.
If you go onto dribbble.com or google "Craigslist redesign" you'll see thousands of redesigns from various designers. I got to know the Craigslist team through my work with their charitable fund and we agreed to revamp the website. Until this point, not a single designer has worked with craigslist, whose old school M.O. meant that they had only engineers who created the front end - which resulted in the feral, but charming quality that has existed for more than 25 years on the site.
If you go onto dribbble.com or google "Craigslist redesign" you'll see thousands of redesigns from various designers. I got to know the Craigslist team through my work with their charitable fund and we agreed to revamp the website. Until this point, not a single designer has worked with craigslist, whose old school M.O. meant that they had only engineers who created the front end - which resulted in the feral, but charming quality that has existed for more than 25 years on the site.
Challenges
Where to begin? Craigslist is a site like no other. The design is immediately recogsisable. No fluff, no upselling, just to the point bare-bones styling. This gives it a strong brand identity, but it also means that it is not very attractive nor very easy to use. However, over 25+ years, millions of users have become accustomed to its quirks. This means any redesign has to address the implications of upsetting users who are accustomed to particular interactions. The redesign also needed to account for the 'feral' quality of the site - it has a charm that couldn't be lost in any redesign. The site also has hundreds of categories. While some sites only deal in real estate or household products, cragslist deals with this all, plus much more.
Where to begin? Craigslist is a site like no other. The design is immediately recogsisable. No fluff, no upselling, just to the point bare-bones styling. This gives it a strong brand identity, but it also means that it is not very attractive nor very easy to use. However, over 25+ years, millions of users have become accustomed to its quirks. This means any redesign has to address the implications of upsetting users who are accustomed to particular interactions. The redesign also needed to account for the 'feral' quality of the site - it has a charm that couldn't be lost in any redesign. The site also has hundreds of categories. While some sites only deal in real estate or household products, cragslist deals with this all, plus much more.
The Solution
I worked directly with the CEO, Head of Engineering and Head of Ops to redesign every page on the site. Needless to say, this was a mammoth task. I evaluated each page and flow and identified the key issues, and created high fidelity designs for each page that addressed these issues and provided a site refresh. Each type of filtering, each category, each interaction needed to be carefully thought through on multiple screen sizes. I employed best practice for each page, while also maintaining very common, unique quirks to the site, such as the plain font, and streamlined, clean look. The homepage is one of the most iconic on the internet, and I worked on literally hundreds of iterations to keep the look while updating it for a modern sensibility and better usability.
I worked directly with the CEO, Head of Engineering and Head of Ops to redesign every page on the site. Needless to say, this was a mammoth task. I evaluated each page and flow and identified the key issues, and created high fidelity designs for each page that addressed these issues and provided a site refresh. Each type of filtering, each category, each interaction needed to be carefully thought through on multiple screen sizes. I employed best practice for each page, while also maintaining very common, unique quirks to the site, such as the plain font, and streamlined, clean look. The homepage is one of the most iconic on the internet, and I worked on literally hundreds of iterations to keep the look while updating it for a modern sensibility and better usability.
I worked directly with the CEO, Head of Engineering and Head of Ops to redesign every page on the site. Needless to say, this was a mammoth task. I evaluated each page and flow and identified the key issues, and created high fidelity designs for each page that addressed these issues and provided a site refresh. Each type of filtering, each category, each interaction needed to be carefully thought through on multiple screen sizes. I employed best practice for each page, while also maintaining very common, unique quirks to the site, such as the plain font, and streamlined, clean look. The homepage is one of the most iconic on the internet, and I worked on literally hundreds of iterations to keep the look while updating it for a modern sensibility and better usability.
The Outcome
Currently, the site is being created in a staging environment with my new designs. Initially, it will be rolled out to a single location such as Hawaii. Then, individual parts of the site will change. Initial feedback has been very good!
Currently, the site is being created in a staging environment with my new designs. Initially, it will be rolled out to a single location such as Hawaii. Then, individual parts of the site will change. Initial feedback has been very good!
Currently, the site is being created in a staging environment with my new designs. Initially, it will be rolled out to a single location such as Hawaii. Then, individual parts of the site will change. Initial feedback has been very good!
No, this isn't a fake portfolio piece - I was actually contracted by Craigslist to create a total redesign for this site. For confidentialy reasons, I have to blur the in-development screenshots. However, I can share the multutidue of designs in private discussions.
Client
Craigslist LTD
Team Members
5
My Role