01 - The context
Generic notifications, zero clarity
Sellers on a LATAM-wide marketplace received a single generic notification when listing photos broke policy. The message was legal text, not UX copy. Sellers had no idea which photo failed or why, and the support queue was drowning in clarification requests.
02 - The problem
In a two-sided marketplace, a confused seller generates confused buyers.
A seller with 5 photos would get "Your listing has been moderated. See policy X." They would retry with the same mistake. Moderation queues piled up. Sellers escalated to support out of confusion, not dispute.
03 - What I did
From legal text to actionable, photo-level feedback
1. Replaced the generic alert with a photo-level card that names the exact rule broken and points at the offending image.
2. Wrote the guidance in the seller's own vocabulary so the fix reads as a checklist, not legal terms.
3. Tested copy and layout variants across the app and seller centre with 60 sellers to find the clearest approach.
4. Designed the moderation queue improvements: auto-approval pipeline that reduced manual review volume.
04 - Process artifacts
From upload guidelines to error-specific feedback
05 - The solution
Make compliance actionable, not just informational
The redesigned experience replaced the generic moderation message with a photo-level card. Each card showed the affected photo with a colored border, the exact policy rule it violated, and a plain-language fix. Sellers could tap any flagged photo to see the before/after expectation. The system also added inline guidelines during the upload flow itself, reducing violations at the source.
06 - The result
Sellers fix photos instead of arguing the rule
Seller understanding of moderation errors rose 35% and average correction time dropped 22%, across 100M+ users. Support volume for "clarification" dropped 78% while appeal rate stayed flat.
07 - What I learned
Moderation messaging is a product surface, not legal text
When the seller can see which photo failed and what to change, compliance becomes a task instead of a dispute. People respect rules they understand.
08 - Decisions not made
What I chose not to build
1. I didn't design a full photo editor inside the moderation flow. The scope was communication, not correction. Photo correction came later as a separate product (Photo Studio).
2. I didn't design auto-correction without human review. The platform's moderation accuracy wasn't 100%. Auto-rejecting without human review would have destroyed seller trust.
3. I didn't redesign the appeal flow. Appeals were a separate workflow with different stakeholders.