ROLE
Product designer
COLLABORATORS
- Lauren
- Keiko
- Valerie
- Alex
TOOLS
Figma
v0
ChatGPT
TIMELINE
10 weeks
San Francisco (Remote)
Overview
Building an unified inbox to turn missed comments into sales
E-commerce teams are expected to manage multiple social channels, respond to customer comments, and keep engagement high, all while running the rest of their business. This often means juggling dozens of messages at once and trying not to miss anything important. Keeping up can be exhausting, especially for businesses without a dedicated social media team. Missed comments can lead to lost sales, frustrated customers, or inconsistent brand messaging.
This is why we built Blueberry Social, a tool that brings every interaction into one clear inbox and surfaces the most important messages first. With AI assistance, teams can respond faster, maintain their brand voice, and turn everyday conversations into sales opportunities.
Challenge
The Pivot that Changed Everything
The project first began as Socialite, a social listening tool for startup founders. Halfway through the research sprint, the product took a sharp turn. The founders decided to pivot and rebrand the platform as Blueberry Social, now focused on e-commerce teams who needed to manage comments and direct messages at scale. It caught everyone off guard and required us to revisit assumptions, revamp our ideal customer profile, and design a product that felt familiar enough to build on existing insights but specific enough to address the needs of a completely different market. All within 5 weeks!
Challenge
The Pivot that Changed Everything
The project first began as Socialite, a social listening tool for startup founders. Halfway through the research sprint, the product took a sharp turn. The founders decided to pivot and rebrand the platform as Blueberry Social, now focused on e-commerce teams who needed to manage comments and direct messages at scale. It caught everyone off guard and required us to revisit assumptions, revamp our ideal customer profile, and design a product that felt familiar enough to build on existing insights but specific enough to address the needs of a completely different market. All within 5 weeks!
So what's the problem now?
Understanding the ICP
Research showed that e-commerce teams were most concerned about missing critical comments during off hours. Instead of treating all messages equally, we redesigned the inbox experience to surface high value or time sensitive comments first. Teams could quickly identify opportunities or risks without combing through a wall of noise.
Inbox familarity
Early prototypes asked too much of users, creating friction before they could see value. We stripped onboarding to the essentials: connect a brand account, set messaging preferences, and link Meta Business integration. Testing showed that this shorter flow made onboarding feel like a fast track rather than a chore, and retention improved immediately.
Uncertainty with AI
We discovered that while many were open to using AI to save time, they needed a sense of control. Some industries required strict oversight of brand messaging, so full automation for the inbox is out of the table. To address this, we designed a rules engine that allowed users to toggle and customize the level of AI assistance. Automation felt helpful only when teams could step in and decide how far it should go.
Onboarding that sticks
Early prototypes asked too much of users, creating friction before they could see value. We stripped onboarding to the essentials: connect a brand account, set messaging preferences, and link Meta Business integration. Testing showed that this shorter flow made onboarding feel like a fast track rather than a chore, and retention improved immediately.
Onboarding that sticks
Early prototypes asked too much of users, creating friction before they could see value. We stripped onboarding to the essentials: connect a brand account, set messaging preferences, and link Meta Business integration. Testing showed that this shorter flow made onboarding feel like a fast track rather than a chore, and retention improved immediately.
Onboarding that sticks
Early prototypes asked too much of users, creating friction before they could see value. We stripped onboarding to the essentials: connect a brand account, set messaging preferences, and link Meta Business integration. Testing showed that this shorter flow made onboarding feel like a fast track rather than a chore, and retention improved immediately.