Affiliates UX Revamp
Redesigned the AfterShip Affiliate product from fragmented AI search tools into a unified creator discovery and outreach workflow — lifting outreach initiation rate from 0.5% toward a ≥10% target.
Context
AfterShip Affiliates lets e-commerce brands discover and partner with creators. Before the revamp, the product had launched AI-powered search features — but the experience was fragmented across disconnected tools. Merchants had nowhere coherent to go from finding a creator to sending an outreach message.
The data confirmed it: out of 199 users who accessed the feature, only 1 initiated outreach — a 0.5% initiation rate. The product had reach; it lacked flow.
At a glance
From near-zero adoption to a measurable workflow.
| Signal | Before | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Outreach initiation rate | 0.5% (1 / 199 users) | ≥10% |
| Creator search entry modes | 1 generic search bar | 3 intent-driven modes |
| Search-to-outreach path | Fragmented, no continuity | End-to-end guided flow |
| Creator list management | Not present | Integrated with outreach wizard |
| Result view options | Table only | Table / Card / Drawer |
UX Audit
Five failure points in the existing flow.
Reviewing usage recordings, support tickets, and direct walkthroughs revealed where merchants fell off. The problems weren't in one place — they were compounded across every stage of the journey.
Full 5-stage journey audit — drop-off mapped at each stage
| Stage | Problem | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Entry | No clear starting point. Cold page with empty search, no guidance. | High bounce, low exploration |
| Discovery | Generic search only. No intent-differentiated modes for different merchant goals. | Low relevance, low trust in results |
| Evaluation | Table-only view. No quick scan of creator profile details. | Merchants couldn't efficiently compare |
| Initiation | No outreach action from results. Path to contact was buried and disconnected. | 0.5% initiation rate |
| Management | No creator list or outreach status tracking. Nothing persisted. | No follow-through after outreach |
Design Solutions · Part 1
Redesigning the Find Creators experience.
The cold-start problem was killing entry. We replaced the empty search page with an intent-driven landing — giving merchants a clear choice between three distinct discovery modes based on what they actually know about their goals.
Default entry — three clear paths instead of one empty search bar
Each mode addresses a different merchant intent. Similar Creators works when you already have a high-performing creator as reference. Match by Product uses the catalog to find creators whose content aligns with what you're selling. Trending gives new merchants a confident starting point with no reference required.
Mode 1 — Similar creators
Mode 2 — Match by product
Mode 3 — Trending creators (no reference needed)
Design Solutions · Part 2
Search that teaches as it runs.
Once a merchant enters a mode, the search experience needs to guide them without requiring them to know the right query upfront. We redesigned the search UX with progressive guidance — placeholder states explain what's possible, autocomplete narrows intent, and results adapt to what the merchant actually cares about.
Search placeholder — explains how to search
Autocomplete — narrows intent in context
Search in progress — clear feedback during AI processing
Search results land in a filterable, multi-view surface. The filter panel surfaces the dimensions that matter most — niche, follower tier, engagement rate, platform — without overwhelming the page. Merchants can switch between three result views depending on their evaluation style: quick scan in table, visual browsing in card, deep-read in drawer.
Results — similar creators mode
Results — product match mode
Filter panel — compact, contextual
Filter panel — expanded state
Result view — table
Result view — card
Result view — drawer
Design Solutions · Part 3
Closing the loop: from result to outreach.
The biggest gap was between discovery and action. We introduced a persistent outreach action bar at the bottom of the results surface — visible once a creator is selected — to make the transition from search to outreach feel immediate and low-friction.
Outreach action bar — surfaces as creators are selected from results
Selected creators go into a saved list — a persistent staging area between discovery and outreach. The list lets merchants review, compare, and remove before committing. From the list, they enter a multi-step outreach wizard that structures message composition, template selection, and send confirmation into a guided, low-error flow.
Creator list — saved selections from search
Wizard entry — staged outreach configuration
List details — full creator profile within the workflow context
The outreach wizard breaks message composition into discrete, confirmable steps. Each step handles one decision — who to reach, with what template, through which channel, and when. This prevents the anxiety of a blank page and reduces error rate before send.
Step 1 — Select recipients
Step 2 — Choose template
Step 3 — Customize message
Step 4 — Confirm and send
Outreach management — status after send
Follow-up tracking — reply and status
Outcome
A coherent system where none existed.
The revamp replaced five disconnected surfaces with a single end-to-end workflow. The key design decisions — intent-differentiated entry modes, multi-view results, a persistent action bar, and a wizard-guided send flow — each addressed a specific drop-off point identified in the audit.
Final state — unified Find Creators experience
Outreach initiation rate baseline: 0.5%. Target: ≥10%. The design work created the precondition for that measurement to exist at all.
| Metric | Before | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Outreach initiation rate | 0.5% (1 / 199) | Target ≥10% post-launch |
| Entry bounce | High — cold empty page | ↓ with intent-driven modes |
| Search-to-save conversion | No persistent state | Tracked via creator list |
| Wizard completion rate | Feature didn't exist | Baseline set at launch |