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.

Colorwash's Home    Colorwash on Benable   Benable invite link

[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.

Colorwash's Home    Colorwash on Benable   Benable invite link

[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!

---

@Bepina wrote:

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

---

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.

[jophb]

I am also curious of the timeline, especially since the holidays are coming quickly. And I'm hoping we boot the bad versions of the editors ASAP - aka any that don't have the image edit button like what you showed above. 

I'm hoping the admins are seeing all of the issues reported.  

[jparrottmerrell]

A couple of ideas to help better accommodate designers (like myself) who aren’t feeling comfortable with the new design tool: 1). Offer an “opt out” checkbox in the settings portion of our shops. It could be with the understanding that “by checking this box you forfeit your right to use the new design tool and enhanced design elements, as well as have your products featured in the Zazzle Marketplace”. It would essentially automatically turn products into “direct sale only” and require folks to do their own promotion work  with no help from Zazzle whatsoever. 2). Offer a “Zazzle Lite” or “Zazzle Classic” version of your website that is very simple and paired down, and offers Zazzle’s original design tool as well as the original design elements only. This would also include an “opt out” feature in the settings as well. Or 3). Offer a lite “Zazzle Express” version of your webssite and make that the place where customers go to quickly design and personalize their products.

[cationa]

Just wake up this morning, saw the news on Zazzle, and followed the link to this discussion. And well surprise.. surprise.. I have a lot of homework to rework my designs that I created since last month due Zazzle doesn't have edit feature to fix existing designs. And if I, who occasionally check this forum, don't know, I'm sure there are thousands of other designers who also don't know about this update. Old lock feature is so essential and critical for designers, I hope you will consider their opinions on important changes like this.

Next time you make a change like this, please share announcement to us with a bright red exclamation mark and create a poll so we can share our opinions. Because Zazzle users are not only customers but also designers.

That's all from me, there's a lot of work due to this waiting to be done. What a wonderful day !!!!

[SheaPrints]

Some versions of the A/B tested design tool have a gray, blurred "shadow" surrounding the entire design in the design area. I realize it's there to make the design stand out, but it also overlaps the edges of the design. Sometimes it looks like an 'aged' effect on the design itself! Clean, light backgrounds in particular look a bit dirty, losing their crispness. It doesn't feature on all products, but I've noticed it on many items like invitations, business cards, and programs. However, Flyers and ID badges have a blurred drop shadow behind the design that looks much cleaner.

I think the shadow style below looks much better!

[Saints_Aplenty]

When is the A/B testing slated to end? Will we be notified? Will a new format be in place and stabilized by the end of the month? The holidays are rapidly approaching. I, for one, would like to know where things stand and have some sense of any hoops awaiting us to jump through.

[Zorinda]

Correction: The holidays are ALREADY here.  Shopping now takes place earlier and earlier.  Black Friday, which used to be the official start, is no longer nearly as powerful as it was in the past.  Amazon Prime days start today (Oct 7-8) which now seems like a more fitting holiday start.  Fwiw I’ve already done some shopping.

Zazzle is shooting itself (and us) in the foot with their seemingly never ending poorly conceived and overly complicated site changes — making it harder for designers and shoppers to navigate the site and easily customize products.

[Cat]

Agreed. Some clarification would really be helpful. I'm not sure which versions are active right now, but with all of the new problems and issues that have been introduced - most notably the inability for customers to change images if they're below a gradient or frame layer, and the artifacts displaying on white gradients - at least 25% of my designs have been rendered pretty much unusable. And with the phantom duplicates issue on design fixes still not resolved, I can't even re-design them to fix the problems myself. Plus, there's still the issue of some sort of A/B test that removes all cover images, so I'm not sure if I should be investing time and energy there or not.

Honestly, I just don't have any idea what I should be doing right now. Some communication from Zazzle would be very helpful. Are they trying to resolve the issues with the new design tool or are we just supposed to assume that certain types of designs are no longer viable on this platform? Should we hide all of these broken designs until things are resolved? Should we be making covers and videos or are they all about to go away? 

I realize that some of the answers are unknowable at this point, but it would sure be helpful to have some sense of where things are going so we can plan accordingly.

[Amanda23]

Unfortunately, since the start of all of these “tests” and new experiences, I have stopped doing anything with my Zazzle stores. I’m not creating new designs, making covers, or even advertising. 

It’s not because I don’t want to: it’s because I don’t know what is going on. 

Trying to figure out what is happening by trying to sort through hundreds of forum messages in a variety of threads is just not workable. 

Now with the holidays approaching, I don’t even know where to begin or which projects and designs I should be “fixing,” if any. 

On top of this, I am not a designer who has the replace function, so if anything is broken, I will have to delete and relist things entirely. 

I don’t know how to advise my customers either because I have no idea which version or things they may encounter. 

I hope decisions are made and things are solidified soon. Otherwise, I don’t anticipate I will do well this season. 

[Cat]

Yup, I'm in "bare minimum mode" too. With so much uncertainty, it's hard to anything other than try to maintain a holding pattern.

[ColsCreations]

Honestly, I just don't have any idea what I should be doing right now. Some communication from Zazzle would be very helpful. Are they trying to resolve the issues with the new design tool or are we just supposed to assume that certain types of designs are no longer viable on this platform?

I don't publish a lot of products. If the timing & mood is right I'll have little spurts of activity publishing new things. Now, when I do sit down with a plan to actually create there's always a problem. It's paralyzing. I have a very specific design I want to do for a Christmas stocking but wait, there's a problem with those that hasn't been addressed yet even though this is the time of year people would be buying stockings. 
With this "A/B testing", even many of my comparatively simple designs are a disaster and I keep finding existing products that have been changed. Like one product that doesn't even have an Edit button now so no way for the customer to play with the design. There's no templates on it but I always check to show the customize button so people can play with image filters and tiling or resizing or removing elements. Today I found a card that I created in Feb where one of the two text template fields has been converted to non-template text using what I had entered as the field label text. 

and even weirder, that text is invisible, doesn't show on the product page or even in the Design Tool view to me as the Designer. 

I've found other designs where text I did not make template text behaves as template text anyway in these new versions.

Last night and today I've looked at a bunch of random things in the MP,  my own things and others, both signed-in via Firefox and anonymously via Opera & Brave. And it's absolute madness. Even in the same browser at same time, one product might show the old/normal template panel on the product page while another shows some random new test version where everything is just messed up, no field labels. can't tell if something is a template or not, can't access elements under something unless you jump through the hoops of finding your way to the Layers menu and maybe even having to UnGroup, template fields are not in the order you put them in,  etc... There is zero consistency to what not just we but potential customers are seeing. I cannot fathom why Zazzle decided testing multiple user interfaces all at once would be wise. How can they possibly track customer experience with each version and correlate it to sales data when it's all so random? Do they even have the ability to know which exact version a customer who went through with an order experienced?

And then finding changes to the Design Tool itself and changes to product specs that weren't announced, on top of known issues with previews vs design tool view, plus the lag in the design tool when trying to do anything ... even for someone like me who does this for fun .. well it's not all that fun anymore. I can't imagine how upsetting all this is for those of you who rely on this for serious income. Trying to create anything is super frustrating these days, and for what? We no longer know how our design work is going to end up, can't even trust older/existing designs anymore to remain as-designed. If random potential customers are experiencing all the headaches we are, it's no wonder sales seem to be tanking across the board. 

[ColsCreations]

Heads up!

Just posted to Announcements: 
Design Tool Update for Guidelines, Safe Lines and Bleedlines

Excerpt from announcement:

We’ve recently narrowed the test from three variants down to one, bringing forward an enhanced design tool and focusing on delivering the best possible experience for customers based on some challenges we saw with other variants. This variant will remain active for the next several weeks as we continue to fine-tune performance and review results.

Running over to different anon browser to see which "variant" we're dealing with ....

[Saints_Aplenty]

Waiting with bated breath for your report!  😳

[ColsCreations]

We’ve recently narrowed the test from three variants down to one, bringing forward an enhanced design tool and focusing on delivering the best possible experience for customers based on some challenges we saw with other variants. This variant will remain active for the next several weeks as we continue to fine-tune performance and review results.
(*dated Oct 7)

It's been three weeks exactly since that post by Z and I am now seeing two different versions of the customer-interface again. Are we back to having multiple versions as Z works on "fine tuning" one to be the final?

If I view this product in Opera browser I get:

Opera

This is the old new version I have been seeing for a while. I do not like this version at all and one of the main reasons is because it does not provide the shopper with any way to access the actual Design Tool.

If I view this same product in Firefox, I get a customer-interface version I haven't yet encountered before:

Firefox

This version is much better I think because

1) it re-introduces the button to "Customize with Design Editor" which allows the customer to access the actual Design Tool
2) if you click on template text in the image panel it opens a floating box to edit the text right there instead of having to find the corresponding field in the left panel AND the floating edit box gives clear direction & link to access full editing properties (i.e open in the real full Design Tool)

3) if you mouse-over an image, you get the prompt right there to change it, you don't have to find the corresponding image on the left panel and click the Change button. 

4) all the messy layers w/ Change button are gone from the left panel and all the confusing icons & toolbars are removed. This takes us back to where when customer's click to Personalize they just got the option to modify what was set as templates, if they want to do more they have the OPTION to click into the full editor.

To me, this is a much better version. Instead of trying to combine the advanced options of the Design Tool and the basic edit template field options into one clunky interface, we're back to just the template fields same as before unless the user chooses to enter the full Design Tool for 100% control. 

My biggest issue with this particular interface is the vast amount of empty screen space which even on my average sized monitor res looks ridiculous. There is obviously room to spare and then some in this version so why oh why can't our personal template field labels be included? It's not like space for them is an issue here?

I could live with this version if our field labels are brought back. 

So that's my opinion. The main question is - are we back to multiple test-versions of the interface customers get? When can we expect a "final" version that will be the same regardless of browser or product type? We're getting really close to the big Black Friday shopping week of special sales and it would be really great to know everything is being presented in a consistent manner we can count on.

* I did get permission from the Designer to use their product as example here

[SheaPrints]

I also prefer the version that includes the button to "Customize with Design Editor". I think it's more helpful for a customer who likes the design as is, and simply wants a quick step towards personalization. Plus, the fixed design elements prevent accidental repositioning.

Perhaps the "Customize with Design Editor" button could be more prominent and closer to the design area 🤔

The other 'new' version still has issues with selecting elements in the 'design area' that have been locked, grouped, masked, tiled or layered. This is only an issue because the instructions tell customers that they can "click on the design to make changes directly."

For me, these two 'new' versions, plus the 'original' customer-interface regularly circulate on both Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome. It's probably frustrating for customers to learn a version, only to find it's different on their next visit!

[Cat]

Not sure I agree that the second one is better. I think the goal is to get rid of the idea of the separate design tool to make it easier for customers to do their own editing. I totally agree that there are still issues to be ironed out with the new interface - especially where layered elements are concerned, but I think that in general the more "point & click" they can make it the better. 

For example, in your sample card, there's an issue with the text "the Warren Family" running into the artwork. With the all-in-one tool the customer stands a pretty good chance of being able to deal with that on their own - they can easily resize the text box to make it wrap around or change the font size. But with the other option, they have to click to enter the design tool in order to access those features, and there's a good chance that a hefty portion of customers will give up rather than take that extra step. There's a general customer service rule of thumb that says for every extra step you make them take, you lose 50% of your customers. That's probably an exaggeration, but there is real truth there. You & I know that the design tool is fairly simple to use, and that it doesn't require downloading or installing an app - but the customer doesn't know that, and many will be too intimidated to find out.

Anyhow, I absolutely agree that there are still problems to be worked out, but in general I'm in favor of the all-in-one approach and making customers as self-sufficient as possible.

I also wonder how all of this translates to a phone. I figure that at least 75% of customers are accessing this all on their phones, so it would be interesting to know what folks are seeing there, either through the app or just accessing it on their phones via the web.

[SheaPrints]

I know what you mean, but I still think most customers want the process to be as simple as possible, especially on their phones! Giving customers the ability to customize further is essential, presenting it as an additional opportunity could be a good thing.

Perhaps a more prominent, inviting button could be used, with text along the lines of: "Design like a pro! Customize colors, text, and more with Zazzle's easy design tool." This could also help customers understand how Zazzle works, that what they see on their screen is exactly what will be printed!
Just a thought 🤔

[Cat]

Well, I guess we just have different opinions as to which version is easier for the customer. The current system offers the ability to use the design tool just like option A above does, and my experience is that a LOT of customers are either too intimidated to click on it, or don't understand, or simply are overwhelmed by it, so instead they message me for help - which I am no longer willing to provide given the current marketing fee situation. I think the all-in-one tool makes it much easier and clearer that they can change the design themselves - and that they are actually the ones responsible for the customization. A LOT of customers are confused by the "fill out the form" system - they think they're filling out a form telling ME how to customize their design, they don't understand that they're the ones doing the customization.

FWIW, I tried customizing something on my phone (using Chrome) and it gives the form with a separate link to enter the design tool (which looks NOTHING like the desktop version of the design tool.) I can't test the Zazzle app because my phone is too old to load it. 

[KeegansCreation]

I just tried on the app with a multi photo Christmas card. YIKES! It was the setup where you "tap to edit" the photo. So I did. I chose one of the 4 photo slots and tapped it. The I hit the plus sign to add. It brought up my image folder. all good so far. I picked an image at random. It did not replace the template photo I had tapped. Instead it just plunked the image down in the middle of the card, obscuring all 4 template photos (but replacing none of them).
I was likely doing it wrong and would likely figure out the correct way to do it after playing with it for a while. But as a customer, I would be out.

So I left my phone and went to my laptop where the card was in saved designs. It showed the new design tool but it was very easy to fix the card and slot random images into the templates. I hope people aren't doing this on their phones. Easy on my laptop using the desktop version of the design tool. Non-intuitive on my phone using the zazzle app.

It is also possible that I am too old to do it on my phone intuitively and find the laptop/desktop version of the new design tool easy to use because I don't generally shop on phone apps and don't use that sort of UI.

[Cat]

Ruh Roh! Well, let's hope that phone savvy customers are having an easier time of it. I totally suck at using my phone so I didn't even try to use the create tool option there. 

[gala]

Are you becoming Canva????

[YesItsRoy]

If we chose "NO" for "Show "Customize it" button?" when publishing past products, customers WILL NOT allowed into this design tool, correct? 

I have hundreds of published designs where I chose NO due to licensing issues.  The elements aren't locked because not offering the Customize It button should prevent the customers getting in to work with elements.  I emailed Support in May regarding the then-testing, and to date, no response.

This is a serious concern which could cause legal issues. 

[Anne]

I still don't see any test versions, thank God. It seems to me a nightmare to constantly have to search where things are today. The only things that are very noticeable are the design tool being so sluggish that it is impossible to work with (for more than a month now, despite many complaints by several people) and the steep decline in sales. In my view this thread is also a "test result" and we are being used as the lab rats. What I don't understand why there is zero action on all the results being presented here. I have yet to see anyone cheering and dancing.

[jophb]

Customers cannot change the colors of things like rectangles and similar elements. This needs to be added back.