Striving for Trust and Balance: How to Design a Services Marketplace like Fixly.pl

When it comes to crafting a marketplace, priorities shift as you try to balance user and provider needs while keeping in mind transaction spikes. Decision-making reminds more of a journey of both experimentation and scrupulous data analysis.  And facing the unknown, you may wonder what to build your confidence on - data or intuition? In this conversation, we’ll talk over the marketplace design with Maryna Ladzhun, a Product Designer at Rebbix, who brings her expertise and insights on creating compelling marketplace experiences.

balancing user and provider needs

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Iryna: To start off, can you share what your role is at Rebbix?

Maryna: I’m Maryna, a Product Designer at Rebbix. I joined in 2021 after stumbling upon a job posting one winter evening. To be honest, I didn't expect to hear back, given Rebbix's reputation for being quite selective in recruiting. But here I am, happily settled in. You can easily find me in the kitchen chunking something. And don't take it personally if I forget your name - I’ve been known for that!

Iryna: Ha-ha. Nice intro, Maryna. It's great that you found your place here. Can you name a few projects you've worked on? 

Maryna: There’ve been lots of great projects, indeed, and you can explore them better by checking Rebbix on DesignRush, a leading B2B platform connecting businesses with top agencies through ranking lists, awards and recommendations. I believe Fixly is worth mentioning, as it is the biggest services marketplaces in Poland and it has lots of specifics. What I've noticed there is the crucial difference between working on an enterprise project versus working on a product. Designing for a product is far more engaging, challenging, and responsible. Every design decision we make has a real impact on users, for better or worse. What’s more, at Rebbix, we tackle real problems and propose data-backed solutions. Here is where I wasn’t expected to deliver a mockup, but more like a doc with ideas that we then discussed, challenged, and verified together. Mockup was the culmination, not the starting point as it is in many other companies. 

Iryna: You’ve mentioned, Fixly is a services marketplace. What are the UI/UX challenges of designing them?

Maryna: The hardest part is that you have to balance the interests of both users and service providers, ensuring a seamless experience for both to keep them coming back. The challenge lies in creating flows that cater to both parties, building trust between them and with the platform, and ensuring the perfect user experience so that nobody's scratching their heads wondering what's going on. Retaining both clients and service providers is crucial because, in a marketplace, one can't exist without the other. And, yes, your goal is to make them both need to feel like the prom queen.

designing for trust and user retention

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Iryna: Are there any practices that can make these marketplaces more competitive or a top choice among users?

Maryna: Definitely! For me, validating ideas through testing is a must and experimentation is key. We tested different versions, checked conversion rates, verified users' intent, and compared AB testing results. Having the freedom to experiment is a huge advantage, and Fixly granted us that in abundance.  Also, Fake door testing or AB testing are essential when you're uncertain about the right approach or when you're discussing ideas within a team. Sometimes, they even surprise us - once, we were torn between two options, ran two different tests, and boom, they both gave us the same result.

Iryna: in marketplace trust is the key element for a transaction to happen. Are there any strategies to build that intentionally with product design? 

‍Maryna: Building user trust involves providing safety guarantees. At Fixly, we introduced "PaywithFixly" for secure in-app payments. Then we implemented insurance to cover certain expenses for service providers. We also introduced mechanisms to verify the authenticity of service providers, such as tracking their order history and verifying their phone numbers. Also, we made sure the reviews were real - they only appeared if both parties confirmed they had worked together, and these reviews were extra verified by admins. 

Iryna: What helps you create designs that meet user expectations and needs?

‍Maryna: Research, research, research. I “stalked” users on Facebook to understand their frustrations and pain points. We conducted customer surveys, with OLX's internal research team being a huge help. AB testing was a powerful tool for quickly validating hypotheses with data. But in the end, it's all about keeping it simple: designs should be easy to grasp, intuitive, and accessible to all.