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

[Fiorenzo]

You're right. By testing around, I've discovered more issues. It's a hopeless endeavor. I give up and concentrate on simple stuff until we have something definitive we can adapt to. For now, every attempt is a lost cause. 

[Anne]

OMG, @Fiorenzo 
This is the first time I see this thing.
Do they expect everyone to have a degree in advanced mathematics now, or what?

I have NO CLUE what this is and chances of selling this must be absolutely zero.
Your design is really pretty, this is so sad.

[Fiorenzo]

Nonono, the strange numbers are my fault. This was a test content to check the field order in one of the new forms, which is bugged (shows the fields randomly and not alphabetically sorted by the template URL).  I did it to see what field got placed where, since we have no field labeling showing anymore.

I was just too lazy to create another test product. Spent already way too much time for this nonsense. Sorry for the confusion and thanks for the compliments!

[Barbara]

Side issue: Am I the only one not being notified when there's a new post to this specific thread? Maybe it's more threads than just this one, but it's difficult to notice.

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[AirTwin]

That's been happening with a few threads, it seems to be as they age the notices fall off even if people post new posts or sub posts. Something is up. Anyone in this thread might want to check back without the email notice.

[Barbara]

I don't get email notices; rather, I rely on the notifications that are only online. So it would appear it's in both places.

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[Bepina]

I clicked randomly on a few products to personalize/edit them and was left staring at the screen not knowing what to do. I clicked on the text, nothing happened, then I clicked a few more times and finally I was able to edit them. It' super confusing, I don't think regular people will be able to make edits easily and would probably just give up. My first impulse after nothing was happening when I was clicking was to just close the window. The old way when you instantly have clear input fields where you can enter your text is 100x more intuitive and easier. This should be an advance edit option, not default state for personalization.

[MaggieA]

THIS is a really good suggestion!

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@Bepina wrote:

This should be an advance edit option, not default state for personalization.

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If Zazzle could make it optional during the test period they could actually see if any customer would prefer it to the old one or not.

[ColsCreations]

But this is what we had before. Clicking to Personalize opened the template panel directly on the product page to edit just the basics the designer set as template fields. From there the customer could choose to use the advanced editor (entering the Design Tool). From what I've seen of the new models being tested they are trying to combine both into one single interface with disastrous results. I don't think it's wise or possible to combine the advanced needs of designers with the simplified no-knowledge-required needs of the general shopping public into one one-size-fits-all interface. And then in the same interface they are also trying to accommodate the Canva-type users who are willing to piece together their own design from provided elements. And it's not working. Reminds me of the Aesop's fable about the man the boy and the donkey - If you seek to please all, then you will please none.

[Cat]

Ha! They've created the quintessential all-in-one tool - which, as my father used to say, means that it does everything... poorly!

[KimJ]

I don't think I've ever posted a major gripe on here, but I have to chime in.  Whichever version you settle on, please make the option of switching to the full Design Tool more prominent, because, so far...yuck.  ☹️   Please keep template headers/instructions; these can provide so much guidance for customers.  Contrary to all the other amazing updates Zazzle has given us this year, the negatives far outweigh the positives on these changes.  Creating a pared down version of the Design Tool should actually offer an easier experience, and it's not.   If an Adobe Illustrator user finds these tools frustrating, that says a lot....  🤣   

[SheaPrints]

How long will the A/B test last? Two versions of the design tool are preventing customers from personalizing templates that usually work perfectly. It would great to get an update.

This seems to be the only version that allows text and image customization, regardless of the template setup. It includes the 'Edit' window, and only shows elements that are made into 'template objects'. Plus, it's open when a customer visits the page.