New Design Experience Now in A/B Testing

[Heather]

Hi Creators,

We're excited to share that we've launched an updated design experience that's currently in A/B testing! This represents a significant evolution in how design works on Zazzle, moving toward a unified tool that serves both creators and customers.

What's Live Now?: Our design tool experience is being tested, meaning users will see either the current experience or one of three new variants. This tool builds on the features you've been using including frames, grids, design elements, and our royalty-free content library, but is optimized to make design more accessible to customers who may not have your level of design expertise. Your existing post-for-sale flow remains accessible and we intend to improve those workflows as part of the next phase. 

Here's a quick demo from Sean walking through the experience:

Why This Matters for You: Since this A/B test exposes templates to a new design interface, you may notice that some existing designs work differently in this customer-focused environment. 

As an example, to create a smoother customer journey, we’ve improved how “locking” works for layers. Previously , when you locked an object, customers could not unlock the object which caused usability issues when they wanted to make changes. With the new update, both you and your customers can unlock a locked layer. Note, if you originally had a a locked layer, the "disabled" setting is automatically turned on with the update. We’ve added a new toggle called “Disable All Object Interaction” which is located in the “More options” section in the right-hand panel. When enabled, it prevents users from interacting with the layer, and customers cannot change this setting.  Additionally, we’re using the locking feature to automatically hide certain layers, such as large transparent overlays, shields, or borders, that might otherwise interfere with customers trying to upload photos or edit text.

After the test concludes, we'll be sharing tips and best practices to help your templates shine in this new experience to maximize customer engagement and conversion. 

Looking ahead, this optimized experience is the first step toward a cohesive design tool for everyone on Zazzle, designed to add ease for customers and positively increase conversion to benefit creators. We welcome your thoughts and feedback as you see this experience in action, as your insights help us build better tools for the entire Zazzle community. The team will be reviewing this thread so please weigh in as you’d like. 

Thanks for being part of this journey, 

The Zazzle Team

[Laura]

I'm seeing other a/b versions now. On most, the crop tool works as expected so that's good.

There is one a/b version where the image is masked with a circle/oval shape (from elements), the image itself is inaccessible unless one finds it in layers. At that point though, it needs to be unmasked before the image can be changed. Once changed however, there is no option to remask it! 

ETA: If I don't change the image after I've unmasked it, but instead undo the unmasking, and if I don't click on anything else, the change image option is still available so then I could change it. Don't think a customer would stay long enough to figure it out.

[Connie]

I've tried out the new versions on other people's products just to see it from a customer's point of view, and before I watched Zazzle's video, I had no idea there even WAS a layers option! And I couldn't figure out how to change the image. So definitely customers won't be able to figure it out easily before they just leave and shop elsewhere. A few customers who want the design badly enough might take the time to send us a message, but then that means that WE have to take the extra time to try to walk them through it, or even make their design for them! (Which is definitely NOT worth it!) 

[CrazyMermaid]

No. It means I will be sending them to Customer Service with their questions. I am not tech support. I am trying not to over-react. The title of their post was A/B testing, so I am not changing a thing on my templates until they definitively say what is going to change and how. 

[Fiorenzo]

The problem with this sort of A/B testing is that it is on live servers. This means real customers will have to deal with it, not testers in a closed environment, as it should be. This means we designers will lose sales because of that. With a packed holiday season knocking at our doors. At least the designers with more sophisticated designs that go beyond the image + put-your-text-here basics. I agree on your responses, though, it's not our job to provide support unless we want to, and it's definitely not the time to make any changes on existing products and templates, cuz what works in one case doesn't work in the other case.

[Anne]

@CrazyMermaid  "I am trying not to over-react." LOL. How am I doing so far?
I am glad you brought some humor in this 🙂

[MaggieA]

You seem to forget that most customers might not be used to digital design tools. Have anyone had a friend or relative who is not into design to test this out? Without any help? The old version was easy to understand without having any prior knowledge. 

I watched the video with a friend, she asked how to get the top text back since it went missing when the image was switched to a new one (the concept of "layers" means nothing to her in this context). She admitted she would probably have looked for somewhere else to shop since this was outside her comfort zone.

I really really hope you have a lot of personel hired to take care of the customer questions arising from this experiment. Also you would need very easily found contact info for assistance/help,  since I very much doubt that the designers would be willing to take on the roll of teaching customers how to use this new feature. 

[Fiorenzo]

The personalization form was indeed a perfect way to guide customers through an easy-to-master personalization process made explicitly for that specific design. No headaches, just simple scrolling, text field editing, and image swapping. And this all even with related instructions and hints where provided by the designer. The customers who wanted more and had enough confidence to jump into a powerful design tool, were served, too. Let alone that you saw all the changes in real-time on the preview you had chosen.

All that had to be done was uncluttering the personalization form, adding some new features that are missing (e.g. hide/unhide images), and giving it a fresh look.

But no.

[SheaPrints]

I agree, there must be a lot of customers who like a design as is, and simply want a quick step to personalization. A window that looks uncomplicated, and avoids overwhelming them with lots of elements, terms and icons. Having the additional button/step to advanced customization works, because a customer chooses to enter that area, and they're more likely to see it as a creative opportunity and take ownership of their changes. Offering everything upfront suggests that it's all appropriate for the design; for example, not all the color swatches will work well with every design, but a new customer might think it's a viable color variation option!

[Fiorenzo]

The funny thing is that, as it is done right now, it will confuse both casual buyers and experienced customers who like to use a powerful tool to adjust things to their liking. The actual design is too complicated for the first and too annoying to use for the latter.

[Windy]

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@MaggieA wrote:

I really really hope you have a lot of personel hired to take care of the customer questions arising from this experiment. Also you would need very easily found contact info for assistance/help,  since I very much doubt that the designers would be willing to take on the roll of teaching customers how to use this new feature. 

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Zazzle might not need much in the way of personnel to help customers, because customers will probably just go back to Canva, which by all accounts is a lot easier to use.

[Barbara]

I'm in the group without access to the changed design surface. I can see it as a customer might by going to someone else's product, and that's all well and good, but since I can't test a single aspect from the designer's point of view, I don't dare design anything unless it's a simple single layer with perhaps a short line of text. Come to think of it, that's often the format for Christmas cards. At least there's that, which is something I'd been considering doing anyway.

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[Fiorenzo]

For now it's probably the wisest choice to concentrate only on products you can slap a simple image on them and that was it. Such as puzzles, pillows and whatever home decor with no big customization need. I will hate this since I like to give some options as well as advice to get the best results, e.g. minimal and recommended image sizes, even on simple product designs. Still wondering who was hurt by our field labeling and decided they had to go and make place for fancy gimmicks like the trembling button on tapping. I'm surprised there is no doorbell ringing, too.

[Laura]

Did we lose the color picker tool? I'm not seeing it in the new layout.

[SheaPrints]

I can't find it either! I hope we don't lose it, it's such a useful tool.

[tamirazdesigns]

I looked for that color picker too and couldn't find it.  It's a much needed tool!  

I can only see whichever new test design tool layout from other people's designs.  And like many other designers, I've also used the template fields over the years to give label information, which I think is good to have as a guide, but is gone now.   

Another Question:  Are designers still going to be able to create "intricate" designs with their own multiple images and text placed "within the design tool" in various ways, and also  by using a lot of layers for the various element shapes "from within the new design tool" to create their "intricate" designs the same way we were able to before?  Looking at whichever new test design tool I'm seeing via other people's designs, I don't see how to do this anymore.  

The new test design tool layout I saw looks less user-friendly.  Looks like more clicks to find or do things.  I don't know, but so far I prefer the old design tool we've been using that I guess people are now calling the classic.

[plumb4me]

I cannot find the color picker either.

[Amanda23]

Would it be possible to postpone the rollout of this tool? We’re entering the biggest time of the year on Zazzle. 

I could see this greatly impacting new designs available as well as sales this season.

Designers are confused because we’re all seeing something different, and EXPERIENCED customers who return frequently are going to be even more confused. Am I to understand, too, that they may see something different than we see? If so, we won’t even be able to help them. Most won’t ask, of course. They’ll just move on. 

[Jadendreamer13]

Zazzle - When you roll out this change (PLEASE wait until Q1), please consider having a toggle switch that switches between the traditional Designer mode and a new Customer mode.

That way, everyone will be a happy camper.

[tamirazdesigns]

I was thinking the same thing regarding a design tool mode for designers same as we've been using all along, and something a little different for the customers to toggle to (if they didn't need or want to use the designers design tool).  Not sure Zazzle would do it but who knows.

[SheaPrints]

If customers are selecting text/images/graphics on the design area, there's a risk they could accidently nudge them out of position. This is problematic if they don't realize it before the print stage! Perhaps it would be better if everything was locked in position as before, and they had to choose to unlock all the available design elements.

[plumb4me]

The problem comes with grouped designs. The design I posted below this message, is grouped and the customer doesn't know to ungroup it. If and when they figure out how to ungroup the design, they can't replace the images and crop the images, because there is a template on top of the images, that is not locked. If and when they figure out how to go the left side of the screen and click on layers, there is the grouped design, now what are they suppose to do? If and when they figure out how to ungroup the design in the layer, they still don't know they have to lock the top layer, so they can replace the images, underneath the template.

After all of these steps, I gave up and closed the product and the customer will too. This is so confusing and all of these steps are so unnecessary.

Why does Zazzle always release majors update right before the Holiday Season and why can't Zazzle announce the change, before it even goes live, so we can at least have a chance to update designs or decide how we want to move forward with future designs? 

This is all the steps I had to take, just to figure out how to replace a collage of images. Why is this so complicated for a simple collage? I will lose sales and Zazzle will also sales, because there are alot of shops, that are full of just simple collages with templates, that are now unlocked and there is no simple way just to replace images.

[Fiorenzo]

Hint: We may create a tutorial mockup to counter the issues with the new layout where needed. At least for the most important designs, maybe make a few generic ones. I know, extra stress, but in extreme cases where people need instructions, this may prevent sales losses.

[Connie]

That's IF the customer actually watches the video BEFORE trying to personalize! And IF they don't get discouraged by the complexity when they do watch the video.

[Fiorenzo]

It was an idea out of desperation. And now I'm even more desperate than before, having seen - and tried out - not only one variant but 2 or 3. Even I as a guy who has worked with AND developed software for decades, am lost when I get confronted with this mess. Which is also full of bugs. AND LIVE! Started working on new designs but my mood is truly not the best atm.

[Fiorenzo]

Technical issue: If you edit a field and delete the content/keep it blank, the field is deleted after you submit the change.

[plumb4me]

Here is another version I see, not sure what's going on with the black outlined boxes. It's probably a bug, hope it's fixed soon.

[Connie]

At least this version is better because the customer can still go into the old design tool to make changes by clicking on Customize with Design Editor. This version is simple enough for customers to quickly change important images and text, without having to fiddle with anything. It is very similar to Minted's editor. Really, the only thing wrong with this version was that they left off the text template instructions. 

[jparrottmerrell]

So far, i like what i saw in the video. It's clean, simple, very intuitive and seems to offer quite a bit. I think it'll do a lot to help customers feel empowered. 👍 

[Connie]

I don't know what video you were watching, but for any designs that are more complicated than a simple image layer, or a few bits of clipart, it is anything BUT intuitive! Customers have to do several clicks to make any changes, and most features that we relied on for complex designs are either hidden or removed. 

[Anne]

I don't see this yet, but I have a big problem with this being thrown on us on a Friday right before the Holiday season and not being announced by email, but accidentally having to come across it in the forum. And clearly this should be pinned on top. It also fits nicely in the annual Zazzle tradition to do everything they possibly can to destroy the Holiday season. Please stop "fixing" things that aren't broken and address the LONG list of problems. Thank you.

[Barbara]

I've tried the new design tool on a number of other people's products (I don't have it), and find it's not in the least intuitive. In the effort to simplify as much as possible, it's gone to the complete opposite in which too much has been hidden from view. Every time I open it up, my first thought is, "Where did everything go?!" As a designer, I know what I'm looking for, but how about the customer? The outcome will either be that customers leave or, instead, contact the designer because they know what they want and are hoping the designer will do it for them. Not a good outcome either way.

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[dotellabelle]

@Barbara  I hope Zazzle takes a closer look at the impact on both designers and customers, and the long-term effects it could have on the business itself. If customers feel overwhelmed and leave, or if designers lose trust in the platform, that’s a lose-lose situation. Zazzle has always thrived because of the creativity of its designers and the confidence of its shoppers. Both need to be protected for the business to stay strong.

Victoria | Do Tell A Belle

[SheaPrints]

I've used the new text 'outline' feature quite a lot since it was launched, but I'm not sure it will be noticed when customers change the text color - especially where it's used to make small text bolder on dark backgrounds. I think the 'text color' and 'Text Effects' should be in the same place, especially 'Shadow' and 'Stroke' that involve color.

[Anne]

I wish Zazzle would think in terms of functionality instead of just randomly moving things from left to right (like the front/back views) and vice versa. The main problem with the "old"/current design tool as I see it, is that adding the template option is not thought through well enough. If you need to add a lot of templates, it means constantly moving your vision from left to right and back, like watching a tennis game.
And why on earth, after ALL the feedback from designers about the font tool, is that also in the new tool?
Clearly Zazzle does not give a s*** about the opinion of designers. (they don't like it, but here it is)

[plumb4me]

I totally missed reading this and with all these changes, where does this fit into the "New Design Experience." 

Per Zazzle,

"Update to Image Templates and Masks for Easier Customization

Creator Team

‎09-05-2025 05:22 AM

Hi Creators,

We’ve made an update to Image Templates and Masks for Easier Customization for Customers:

Image templates:

• Image templates that are likely to be replaced by customers now behave like frames. 
• We’re able to determine if an image template is likely to be replaced by checking if the placeholder image set by the creator has personal content like faces, etc.
• With an eligible image template selected, when a customer presses the delete key, the green placeholder will appear instead of the image disappearing completely. 
• This change makes customization for customers a lot smoother so they do not need to resize or reposition their photo again after deleting it. 

Masks are now frames: 

• Most masks that were in your designs were automatically converted to frames
• This change was applied to eligible masks with only one image.
• This change makes customization for customers a lot smoother because cropping is now more intuitive and easier to use. Previously, it was possible for customers to drag their image “inside the mask”, leaving the possibility for creating gaps in the design.
• If you wish to make edits to your frame, you can always use the “change image” button.

We recommend reviewing your top-sellers, especially holiday cards to ensure everything is working as expected! With this change, we have noticed some technical issues for select mask designs, which are already on our team's radar and they are looking into fixing. 

The Zazzle Team"

[Windy]

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@plumb4me wrote:

I totally missed reading this and with all these changes, where does this fit into the "New Design Experience." 

Per Zazzle,

"Update to Image Templates and Masks for Easier Customization

We recommend reviewing your top-sellers, especially holiday cards to ensure everything is working as expected! With this change, we have noticed some technical issues for select mask designs, which are already on our team's radar and they are looking into fixing. 

The Zazzle Team"

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Yeah, let's just review everything. Designers simply don't have enough morale left to even bother. 

[tiffjamaica]

“Yeah, let's just review everything. Designers simply don't have enough morale left to even bother. “

---

This. More work for less pay isn’t a hoop any of us should jump through. 

[dotellabelle]

Speaking as someone who has worked in marketing for many years, my biggest concern is what this rollout does to the integrity of Zazzle’s brand. A company’s value proposition is built on consistency and trust. Customers know what to expect when they come here: professionally designed products that are easy to personalize. When you suddenly shift that experience — especially by dropping them into a tool that feels more like Canva — it risks confusing loyal customers and weakening the identity that made Zazzle successful in the first place.

In marketing, we always talk about evolution over revolution. Packaging refreshes, rebrands, and user experience updates are most successful when they feel natural and familiar, not like a jarring change. Move too quickly, and you don’t just risk short-term frustration, you risk long-term erosion of customer trust and loyalty.

That, ultimately, could have a lasting effect not just on Zazzle’s business, but on the businesses of every designer in this marketplace. Please, Zazzle, take this to heart. Every CEO I’ve had the pleasure of knowing has cared just as much about the people who make their company successful as they did about the dollars coming in. I truly hope the same care is shown here.

Sincerely,
Victoria | Do Tell A Belle

[AirTwin]

This just all looks like a set up moving to replaces all designers with a i.

[GabrielaG]

@ dotellabel

Well said. I completely agree!