Redesigning the vendor experience for an educational marketplace

Improving listing completion rates for an edtech marketplace through research and redesign
Client: EdCuration
Timeline: 2021
Role: UX Designer

EdCuration is an online marketplace connecting vendors of educational curricula with schools and districts. The platform had a problem: vendors were abandoning their product listings before completing them. With only one required field out of 30+, listings were thin and inconsistent, making it hard for educators to evaluate products and undermining the marketplace's value on both sides.

I led UX research and redesign over 10 weeks, working with a UX researcher and two designers. My role covered end-to-end: from heuristic evaluation and user research through to wireframing, prototyping, and two rounds of usability testing.

The Problem

Vendors were not completing their product listings

The original form had over 30 questions but only one was required – product name. Vendors could publish a listing with almost no content. This meant educators browsing the marketplace couldn't find the information they needed to make buying decisions, and EdCuration's core value proposition was breaking down.

Research

Three methods to understand the problem

I used three methods to understand the problem before touching any design:

Heuristic evaluation of the existing form revealed four key issues: vendors had no indication of whether their listing was live, labels and terminology were unclear throughout, the only navigation was a sidebar which wasn't intuitive, and copy and button placement were inconsistent across the form.

Usability testing with vendors confirmed the pattern — unclear language, not enough flexibility, poor system feedback, and confusing navigation were the four main pain points.

Comparative analysis of four online marketplaces (Airbnb, Udemy, Upwork, and one other) gave me a view of how comparable platforms encourage sellers to complete long forms.

Key design decisions

Five changes to improve the vendor experience

1. Increased required fields from 1 to 16

To determine which questions mattered most, I spoke with vendors, educators, and EdCuration stakeholders. The new form requires 16 fields before a listing can be published, ensuring every product contains the information educators need to make their decision.

2. Restructured the flow

The original form was one long page navigated only via sidebar. I redesigned it as a multi-page linear form with Next/Previous buttons, a progress bar, and a Save & Exit link. I tested grouping all required questions upfront, but in testing, no vendor chose to publish early. They all wanted to complete the full form. So I spread required questions across logical groupings instead.

3. Added clarity through better copy and guidance

Field labels were a major source of confusion. I rewrote labels and added helper text throughout. Where the form risked feeling heavy, I introduced dismissable messages, tooltips, and modals to keep it feeling light.

4. Made the form more flexible

Some questions only applied to certain vendors. I introduced multi-select options, additional pricing models, and add links for optional fields, reducing clutter while giving vendors more control.

5. Improved navigation and publishing

I added a collapsible sidebar that could only navigate backwards (not skip ahead), a progress bar, and a Preview & Publish button at the final step, giving vendors a clear sense of progress and control throughout.

The prototype

The updated form brought to life

The updated product listing form is easier to navigate, provides clear guidance and instructions, and is flexible for vendors to use. A mid-fidelity prototype was built and tested with users across two rounds of usability testing.

Try the prototype
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Results

A measurably better experience for vendors

Ease of use and satisfaction were measured across both rounds of usability testing:

83% of users found the new form easy to use

up from 25% on the original

66% were extremely satisfied

with the redesigned experience — up from 25%

Note: the redesign had not yet been implemented on the live site at the time this case study was written, so these figures reflect usability test findings rather than live product data.

What I learned

Good forms are invisible

When labels are clear, navigation is intuitive, and required fields are well-chosen, vendors stop thinking about the form and start thinking about their product. The biggest UX wins here weren't visual, they were structural and editorial.