Aa
BOOTS.com
Top reviews
Most recent
Amazon Customer
My favorite winter boots
Aa
My favorite winter boots
Aa
BOOTS.com
Top reviews
Most recent
Amazon Customer
My favorite winter boots
AMAZON
Customizing Amazon reviews
See process in Figma Slides
Aa
BOOTS.com
Top reviews
Most recent
Amazon Customer
My favorite winter boots
Aa
My favorite winter boots
Aa
BOOTS.com
Top reviews
Most recent
Amazon Customer
My favorite winter boots
AMAZON
Customizing Amazon reviews
See process in Figma Slides
Aa
BOOTS.com
Top reviews
Most recent
Amazon Customer
My favorite winter boots
Aa
My favorite winter boots
Aa
BOOTS.com
Top reviews
Most recent
Amazon Customer
My favorite winter boots
AMAZON
Customizing Amazon reviews
See process in Figma Slides
AMAZON
Customizing Amazon reviews
See process in Figma Slides
People often don't trust the reviews on direct-to-consumer (DTC) sites, because they think merchants filter out the bad ones, so they seek external reviews on Amazon to get a holistic view before purchasing. Reviews from Amazon closes that gap by bringing Amazon reviews onto DTC sites, helping merchants increase conversion by 38% on average. However, the reviews looked so much like Amazon that they felt out of place on merchants' sites, leading to lower product adoption.
I led the customization strategy for how reviews and ratings appear to shoppers by partnering with the merchant UX team to find the balance: what merchants could customize, and what stayed protected so the reviews remained recognizable and trusted as real Amazon reviews. This work helped drive product adoption and shaped design principles for how Amazon reviews appear outside Amazon.com.
People often don't trust the reviews on direct-to-consumer (DTC) sites, because they think merchants filter out the bad ones, so they seek external reviews on Amazon to get a holistic view before purchasing. Reviews from Amazon closes that gap by bringing Amazon reviews onto DTC sites, helping merchants increase conversion by 38% on average. However, the reviews looked so much like Amazon that they felt out of place on merchants' sites, leading to lower product adoption.
I led the customization strategy for how reviews and ratings appear to shoppers by partnering with the merchant UX team to find the balance: what merchants could customize, and what stayed protected so the reviews remained recognizable and trusted as real Amazon reviews. This work helped drive product adoption and shaped design principles for how Amazon reviews appear outside Amazon.com.
People often don't trust the reviews on direct-to-consumer (DTC) sites, because they think merchants filter out the bad ones, so they seek external reviews on Amazon to get a holistic view before purchasing. Reviews from Amazon closes that gap by bringing Amazon reviews onto DTC sites, helping merchants increase conversion by 38% on average. However, the reviews looked so much like Amazon that they felt out of place on merchants' sites, leading to lower product adoption.
I led the customization strategy for how reviews and ratings appear to shoppers by partnering with the merchant UX team to find the balance: what merchants could customize, and what stayed protected so the reviews remained recognizable and trusted as real Amazon reviews. This work helped drive product adoption and shaped design principles for how Amazon reviews appear outside Amazon.com.
ROLE
ROLE
Lead UX Designer
Lead UX Designer
PLATFORMS
PLATFORMS
Mobile web & desktop
Mobile web & desktop
YEAR
YEAR
2024
2024
TEAM
TEAM
Buy with Prime
Buy with Prime
ROLE
ROLE
Lead UX Designer
Lead UX Designer
PLATFORMS
PLATFORMS
Mobile web & desktop
Mobile web & desktop
YEAR
YEAR
2024
2024
CONTRIBUTIONS
CONTRIBUTIONS
Product Strategy, UX, Visual Design
Product Strategy, UX, Visual Design
Font
Source Serif Pro
Font
Source Serif Pro
CHALLENGE
CHALLENGE
Merchants wanted to display Amazon reviews on their sites, but the MVP only allowed changing the corner radius, the number of reviews shown, and light/dark mode. With no other way to make the reviews and ratings blend in on their sites, Amazon's branding took over their product pages.
As we introduced more customization, we needed to balance four competing needs:
Emerging merchants wanted to lean on Amazon's branding for credibility.
Established merchants wanted the reviews to look like their own brand.
Amazon needed to protect the recognition they've built over 30+ years.
Shoppers needed to know the reviews were real Amazon reviews.
Merchants wanted to display Amazon reviews on their sites, but the MVP only allowed changing the corner radius, the number of reviews shown, and light/dark mode. With no other way to make the reviews and ratings blend in on their sites, Amazon's branding took over their product pages.
As we introduced more customization, we needed to balance four competing needs:
Emerging merchants wanted to lean on Amazon's branding for credibility.
Established merchants wanted the reviews to look like their own brand.
Amazon needed to protect the recognition they've built over 30+ years.
Shoppers needed to know the reviews were real Amazon reviews.
Merchants wanted Amazon reviews on their sites, but the MVP only let them change the corner radius, the number of reviews shown, and light or dark mode. With no real way to make the widget fit their brand, Amazon's branding took over their product pages.
As we introduced more customization, we needed to balance four competing needs:
Emerging merchants wanted to lean on Amazon's branding for credibility.
Established merchants wanted the reviews to look like their own brand.
Amazon needed to protect the recognition they've built over 30+ years.
Shoppers needed to know the reviews were real Amazon reviews.
The MVP experience on DTC site
APPROACH
APPROACH
Identify Amazon brand recognition signals
Identify Amazon brand recognition signals
I hypothesized that shopper trust and Amazon brand recognition were tied to specific signals. To identify them, I ran unmoderated studies testing the styling changes merchants requested most: fonts, background color, and star rating colors. We learned that much of what merchants wanted was safe within the right constraints, like limiting fonts to four research-backed presets or allowing transparent backgrounds with accessibility guardrails. And we found the key recognition signals, like the classic Amazon orange stars, had to remain consistent across different merchant sites.
I hypothesized that shopper trust and Amazon brand recognition were tied to specific signals. To identify them, I ran unmoderated studies testing the styling changes merchants requested most: fonts, background color, and star rating colors. We learned that much of what merchants wanted was safe within the right constraints, like limiting fonts to four research-backed presets or allowing transparent backgrounds with accessibility guardrails. And we found the key recognition signals, like the classic Amazon orange stars, had to remain consistent across different merchant sites.
Offer flexibility within guardrails
Offer flexibility within guardrails
We turned the findings into a simple model: protect the elements that carry trust or Amazon brand recognition, and offer flexible controls for the rest, like buttons, links, and expanders, to match the merchant's site. Once I defined what shoppers see on merchant sites, the merchant UX designer shaped how merchants configure those controls in their editor. As a result, reviews looked integrated into the merchant's site without losing Amazon's trust signals.
We turned the findings into a simple model: protect the elements that carry trust or Amazon brand recognition, and offer flexible controls for the rest, like buttons, links, and expanders, to match the merchant's site. Once I defined what shoppers see on merchant sites, the merchant UX designer shaped how merchants configure those controls in their editor. As a result, reviews looked integrated into the merchant's site without losing Amazon's trust signals.
Build a system, not one-off decisions
Build a system, not one-off decisions
As we took an iterative approach to find how much customization was too much, I designed a framework to help the team assess each new request against brand recognition and shopper trust at scale. Partnering with a technical writer, PM, and legal, I published the first guidelines for how Amazon reviews appear outside Amazon, now referenced by merchants and partner teams.
As we took an iterative approach to find how much customization was too much, I designed a framework to help the team assess each new request against brand recognition and shopper trust at scale. Partnering with a technical writer, PM, and legal, I published the first guidelines for how Amazon reviews appear outside Amazon, now referenced by merchants and partner teams.
Default vs. Customized
IMPACT
IMPACT
Adoption
Adoption
Increased merchant adoption after introducing customization controls.
Increased merchant adoption after introducing customization controls.
Scale
Scale
Created the first framework for how Amazon reviews appear outside Amazon, now used for every new feature.
Created the first framework for how Amazon reviews appear outside Amazon, now used for every new feature.
Collaboration model
Collaboration model
Established the working model between the off-Amazon and Amazon.com orgs.
Established the working model between the off-Amazon and Amazon.com orgs.
Alignment
Alignment
Defined design principles for customization, reviewed and aligned across orgs and leadership.
Defined design principles for customization, reviewed and aligned across orgs and leadership.
LOOKING BACK
LOOKING BACK
This work was less about styling widgets and more about designing for surfaces we don't own. When you don't control where your product lives, design shifts from delivering pixels to designing the building blocks and guardrails that scale to every new merchant and surface. It changed the question I start with, from "what should this look like" to "what rules produce the right outcomes."
This work was less about styling widgets and more about designing for surfaces we don't own. When you don't control where your product lives, design shifts from delivering pixels to designing the building blocks and guardrails that scale to every new merchant and surface. It changed the question I start with, from "what should this look like" to "what rules produce the right outcomes."
IMPACT
IMPACT
Adoption
Adoption
Increased merchant adoption after introducing customization controls.
Scale
Scale
Created the first framework for how Amazon reviews appear outside Amazon, now used for every new feature.
Collaboration model
Collaboration model
Established the working model between the off-Amazon and Amazon.com orgs.
Established the working model between the off-Amazon and Amazon.com orgs.
Alignment
Alignment
Defined design principles for customization, reviewed and aligned across orgs and leadership.
Looking back
This work was less about styling widgets and more about designing for surfaces we don't own. When you don't control where your product lives, design shifts from delivering pixels to designing the building blocks and guardrails that scale to every new merchant and surface. It changed the question I start with, from "what should this look like" to "what rules produce the right outcomes."
See complete project breakdown in Figma Slides.
See complete project breakdown in Figma Slides.
Continue to Figma
