New Design Tool experience now available to all customers!

[Heather]

Hi Creators,

We’re excited to share an update on the recent Zazzle design tool experience! After extensive testing, and customer feedback, we’re officially moving forward with rolling out the new design tool experience to all customers on select product types. 

Customers have mentioned they love the new design experience -  especially being able to customize their products directly within the tool. From colors and fonts to design elements, this more upfront, hands-on customization sets Zazzle apart from brick-and-mortar stores and other online retailers. We’ve also seen a strong lift in conversion rates, confirming that this update benefits both our customers and our Creator community.

Two important notes to help you make the most of the new experience:

1. Optimize Products and Templates

It’s now more important than ever for products and templates to be set up correctly as this helps ensure a seamless experience for customers and increases sales opportunities for Creators. Our research shows that most existing products are already well-optimized for the new design tool. However, some products may require updates to improve usability for customers. We’ve created a new help article with key tips to help Creators optimize products for success in this new environment. Properly configured products not only look and function better, but will also play a role in how products are surfaced on Zazzle in the future.

2. Product Edit Access

To maintain site stability during the busy holiday season, product edit access will be temporarily paused starting November 14th, and will reopen in the new year. Early next year, Creators whose sold products may need adjustments, will be notified directly. In the meantime, our team is enhancing the product edit tool for better performance and access.

While the “Post for Sale” process will remain unchanged through the holidays, we’d love your feedback on what features matter most to you in the new experience. Looking ahead, our goal is to create a unified design experience that benefits both Customers and Creators. Please share your ideas, thoughts and questions through our feedback form  -  it’s the best way for us to collect feedback at scale and prioritize Creator experience improvements.

Thank you for being part of the Zazzle ecosystem and for your feedback as we continue to grow and evolve together. 

Warmly,


The Zazzle Team

[ColsCreations]

I am still getting different versions of the customer-interface in same anon browser during same session, depending on product type. Can you confirm if this is just a lag in the system updating or if the "new design tool experience to all customers" only applies to select product types?

Also, in the new "Best Practices" guide linked above, the very first tip is about how to write your template field labels.  But on the products where I am getting the new customer-interface, field labels aren't even displayed? As was illustrated in many prior feedback posts, our custom field labels are very important. While the Help article suggests you chose to keep our labels (yay!), I'm not seeing them on products with the new interface?  Can you confirm if including our template field labels is or is not part of the new customer-facing layout?

[DesertSky]

I have two questions:

1. Since SVG images are preferred, could we please have the ability to tile them?

2. You said: “Properly configured products not only look and function better, but will also play a role in how products are surfaced on Zazzle in the future.” Could you please provide more detail about what that means for Creators? For example, if we choose not to allow customization (i.e., we don’t enable the “Show customize it” button when posting) — whether it’s due to a licensed image that can’t be used in a design tool by a third party, or simply because we don’t want to expose our own image for some reason — will that affect our placement in the marketplace? Or are you only referring to products that aren’t configured correctly according to the new help article?

Thanks in advance for your reply.

[PLdesign]

I would also love to have SVG tiling, pretty please!

[SheaPrints]

New Help Article: "11. Try to avoid using large shields with cutouts."

This affects quite a few of my designs. I don't have the "Replace Product" feature that would allow me to revise the design and lock the 'shield' covering my photos — this would solve the problem quickly! You mentioned "some products may require updates to improve usability for customers." Does that mean we will all have access to the revise feature for designs with strong sales? Please, please! 

It's the same issue for elements I've previously grouped or locked.

Repeat patterns using the 'Horizontal' tiling feature also can't be customized on the design area.

It's good that the 'Edit' box lets customers personalize all the template objects. However, the instructions also tell them that they can "click on the design to make changes directly." 

[SheaPrints]

New Help Article:
11. Try to avoid using large shields with cutouts:
"If a large shield is integral to the design, we suggest using the lock feature so that customers don’t accidentally click on the shield cutout when customizing their design."

Sometimes a 'shield' object is also an SVG object, allowing color customization. Is it possible for you to make photos/images within the ‘cutout’ area selectable on the design area?

[BrahimeMeziane]

👋