Ya’ll know I LOVE Fiverr. It has changed my life and it’s scary to think where I would be without it. However, I thought this would be a good forum for some friendly, unsolicited thoughts on this navigation UI change. I’ve got too many years into this to adjust my muscle memory now! High-volume sellers have a very specific way of checking orders and responding to inquiries. This new layout has proven to be wildly inefficient for me, personally. Adding time onto my rote processes diminishes my margins even more.
First of all, the “Messages” link is an unnecessary added step. I only care about what’s in my inbox. Notifications about feedback left and whether or not a buyer is new to Fiverr are quite secondary. Again, it’s a matter of using every minute of my time wisely.
Secondly, the left alignment of the menu is weird. Maybe this is a new design trend that will be the norm in 5 years but, right now, it throws me off. Stick that puppy back on the right.
I don’t speak for all sellers, but the “Gigs” link is wasting valuable space in the primary nav. I don’t need to look at my gigs that often. I need Orders, Inbox, Earnings. Also, the Dashboard link is kinda redundant. There is no valuable information in the seller’s Dashboard. In fact, I’ve never even clicked on it until today. It’s like a way less helpful Analytics page.
I don’t think I’ve ever converted a Buyer Request submission in my life so I don’t really mind that it’s hidden in a dropdown. Competing with hundreds of other sellers for a $4 order seems like a poor use of time. Reminds me of people trying to catch a bouquet at a 300-person wedding. Buyers have all the tools they need to do their own research in the marketplace before choosing a gig.
While we’re on the subject, holding feedback ratings on orders hostage until a seller reviews the buyer is strange to me. This has a level of sketchiness to it that has put Yelp on the brink of bankruptcy. More importantly, why are we reviewing buyers in the first place??? It’s not like sellers can pick and choose who purchases their gig. When that order comes through, we’re working with them - for better or worse. There are plenty of penalties for being a poorly-reviewed seller but it seems poorly-reviewed buyers continue to skate throughout the site without limitations.
In general, it doesn’t make a big difference on my workflow, so it’s not that important. It’s nice, but I would prefer if the team would put their efforts into fixing some other issues instead.