Services redesign
H1 2025
Gumtree.com
Redesigned the Services experience across multiple journeys as part of a strategic initiative to improve engagement and outcomes for service providers. The project delivered consistent growth compared to the previous version, achieving a 9% increase in replies and a 15% uplift in service leads. Worked closely with stakeholders and cross-functional teams to align on requirements, ensure design consistency, and implement improvements that enhanced both usability and business performance.
Impact
Problem
Services were a small fraction of Gumtree's traffic and listings but represented a significant share of revenue. Despite the market opportunity (£71bn annual household spend on services, with strong demand in home improvements), Gumtree's Services vertical was in decline.
High churn
High churn (78%) and declining leads.
Poor user experience
Journeys copied from For Sale, not tailored to Services.
Low trust
Lowest rated provider on trust (3.9/10), with no ID verification, vetting, reviews or guarantees. This limited buyer confidence and drove churn.
Limited supply
84% of listings concentrated in 4 categories.
Outdated monetisation
Flat pricing for 2+ years, heavy discounts to retain revenue.
Low awareness
Gumtree wasn't top-of-mind for Services; weak SEO and little cross-sell meant users overlooked it compared to competitors.
Goals
To reverse decline and capture a share of the growing market, the Services strategy focused on five priorities:
Trust
Build confidence through verification, reviews and guarantees.
Liquidity
Expand supply across categories to give buyers real choice.
Awareness
Strengthen Gumtree's association with Services and drive cross-sell from other verticals.
Job Completion
Design curated journeys that help users complete tasks successfully.
Monetisation
Evolve pricing to better align with performance and value.
My role
I was responsible for the Product Design of the Services initiative, focusing on creating better journeys for both buyers and sellers while balancing user experience with business requirements. This involved close collaboration with cross-functional teams, third-party partners, and stakeholders across Gumtree to align on goals, technical constraints, and revenue considerations.
Introducing Seller Skills
We introduced Seller Skills to highlight provider expertise, improve buyer matching, and strengthen Gumtree's position before integrating with Bark's richer service profiles.
Problem
Buyers struggled to identify the right service providers. Sellers had no easy way to showcase their expertise.
Goal
Introduce Seller Skills to highlight provider expertise. Help buyers find relevant providers faster.
Strategic Context
Seller Skills were a key step ahead of the strategic partnership with Bark. This ensured Gumtree's listings could match Bark's richer profiles.
Impact & Measures
Success was defined by improved SRP→VIP (Search Results Page to View Item Page) conversions. Success was also defined by improved VIP→Reply conversions.
Risks & Considerations
- Standardisation across 350+ categories.
- Overlap between categories and skills.
- Moderation of custom skills.
- Ensuring existing users update their profiles.
Seller journey
Skills added during listing creation, saved per category, and manageable at account level.
Buyer journey
Skills displayed on VIP (View item) pages and SRP cards, with future plans for filters and search integration.
Outcome
100% adoption of Seller skills, 27% change rate (how many sellers edit the suggested skills).
Improving UI for Gumtree Service professionals
Gumtree's Services pages were inherited from 'For Sale' and did not meet the expectations of service providers or buyers. Competitors offered optimised and structured profiles, while Gumtree did not. With the Bark integration on the horizon we needed to improve Gumtree's UI to ensure consistency, enhance the user experience and avoid negative sentiment among sellers.
Search results page redesign
I updated the Services SRP to make provider details clearer and more actionable. CTAs (request a quote, call) were surfaced on cards, skills and ratings added, image prominence reduced, and edge cases addressed for a consistent experience.
View item page redesign
I restructured the Services VIP page to prioritise key details and improve clarity. Changes included highlighting essential information, adding reviews (via the Trust team's Google Reviews integration), enhancing navigation, and improving the Portfolio section to better showcase provider work.
Outcome
+6.4% SRP to VIP, +9% VIP to reply.
Gumtree × Bark Strategic Partnership
Gumtree's first strategic partnership in the services space connected 10M monthly Gumtree users with 30K+ trusted Bark professionals across more than 1,000 categories.
The collaboration expanded the Services vertical fivefold and introduced richer Bark profiles – including verified skills, ratings and reviews – directly into Gumtree. To support the integration, the home services UX was overhauled, making it easier for users to discover, filter and book trusted providers.
Post a job feature
While Request a Quote connects buyers with a single provider, Post a Job lets them submit one job description and share it with multiple relevant service providers at once. The form appears at the top of category search results and can be enabled or disabled depending on the category.
Request a quote feature
We introduced a new flow that lets buyers send job details directly to service providers. It captures essential information and makes it easier for users to connect with the right professionals, allowing them to message a specific provider directly.
Search results page. Bark
The Search Results Page was redesigned to integrate Bark's rich provider profiles seamlessly into Gumtree's interface. The new design prioritizes key information like ratings, skills, and availability while maintaining Gumtree's familiar navigation patterns. Enhanced CTAs for "Request a quote" and "Request a call back" were prominently featured to drive conversions.
View item page. Bark
The View Item Page was restructured to showcase Bark's comprehensive provider profiles with enhanced trust signals. The redesign prioritized key information like verified skills, detailed ratings, and portfolio examples while maintaining clear navigation and prominent action buttons for quote requests and direct contact.
Outcome
+15% new leads, +30K new listings, partnership revenue growth.
Thank you for your time
This is only a snapshot of the design work behind the project. I'd love to share more of the process and discuss any questions you may have.