Mobile app screen showing a profile to become a Top Pro, with evaluation info, current search ranking status, and guidance on improving rank.

Top Pro Program

Top Pro sits at the intersection of search, monetization, and marketplace trust. I treated this project as a strategic effort to make marketplace success transparent, explainable, and actionable, while using design to influence behaviors that drive revenue.

From a growth perspective, this work focused on increasing monetization and engagement. From a strategic lens, it aligned incentives, ranking logic, and product surfaces into a cohesive system.

Project Objective

Create a transparent, action-driven Top Pro experience that builds trust, clarifies success criteria, and motivates Pros to take behaviors that improve their ranking, bookings, and earnings.

My Role

Design lead partnering with Product, Engineering, and Data to align on strategy, validate solutions, and drive execution.

User Research

Discovery

Ideation

Brainstorm facilitation

Design

Design QA

Problem & Opportunities

Pros lacked a clear goalpost for marketplace success.

  • No transparent way to understand performance relative to peers

  • Top Pro status and search ranking were driven by different attributes

  • System felt opaque and unfair

  • Pros didn’t know which behaviors improved ranking, contributing to mistrust and disintermediation

This created an opportunity to turn Top Pro into a clear, motivating feedback loop that connects actions to outcomes.

Strategy

Growth lens

  • Use ranking transparency to drive behavior change

  • Create repeat engagement loops around improvement

Strategic product lens

  • Align search algorithm, Top Pro status, and UI into a single system

  • Turn abstract ranking signals into clear, actionable guidance

Solution

Mobile app screen displaying a profile evaluation for becoming a Top Pro, including status, search ranking, and evaluation period from June 1 to July 31.
A woman getting box braids done at a salon, smiling with her eyes closed, with a hairstylist styling her hair.

  • Aligned Top Pro directly with search ranking signals

  • Introduced progress-based Top Pro experience

  • Surfaced relative position and thresholds

  • Added actionable tips tied to ranking factors (profile strength, availability, photos, reviews, pricing)

  • Provided real-time feedback connecting actions to outcomes

Mobile phone screen displaying a user profile for 'STYLESEAT' with a 'Become a Top Pro' promotion, evaluation period from June 1 to July 31, at the top there are icons for messages, notifications, and user profile. The status indicates the profile is live, with a green label. The main section explains maintaining high search ranking for two months to earn a Top Pro Badge, with a reminder of the next evaluation date. The current status shows a medium search ranking with a bar indicating medium level, and a note about re-evaluation on August 31. A section at the bottom explains how search rankings work based on profile strength and marketplace behavior.
Screen showing a marketplace behavior dashboard with a medium activity level, including sections on accepting new clients and keeping new clients on StyleSeat, both marked as medium.
Dashboard displaying profile strength as low, with metrics including client ratings of 15 out of 30 reviews, overall rating of 4.8 stars based on 15 reviews, 3 service photos of 100 goal, and availability of 3 hours per week out of 32 goal.

Impact

+9.75

monetization among non–Top Pros

+4.5%

monetization for grandfathered Top Pros

+16%

monetization for non–Top Pros after interacting with tips

4.5X

4.5× increase in bookings after interacting with profile strength tips

Selected Projects

  • Mobile app interface showing a new client appointment request for Blow Dry with stylist Cassi C scheduled for Monday, January 22, from 1:15 to 3:00 pm, with an estimated earnings of $148.75. There are options to approve or decline the request.

    StyleSeat New Client Connection

    An accept/decline experience for New Client Connections that balances pro control with marketplace health—resulting in a +12% increase in client monetization.

    View Case Study
  • Screenshots of a mobile app setup process with instructions to earn a 30-day pro search boost, including setting up payments, managing gallery, and getting reviews.

    StyleSeat Onboarding

    A streamlined, outcome-driven Pro onboarding experience that helps new professionals understand value quickly and take the right first steps—driving +46% activation and 25% faster time to first booking.

    View Case StUdy
  • Two smartphones displaying beauty app interfaces for virtual eyebrow and makeup try-ons, featuring photos of women with different makeup styles and color options.

    Benefit Cosmetics

    High-impact campaign and e-commerce design work that blends bold brand storytelling with performance-focused UX to support launches and growth.

    View Work