Designing a Smarter Way to Track Diamonds

Designing a new ‘My Favorites’ page to help buyers organize and make smarter purchasing decisions.

See how I did it

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Introduction

UNI is a global diamond trading and data platform, combining an active online marketplace with daily market analytics- giving buyers real-time insights into prices, supply, demand, and trends.

The platform is primarily used by professional diamond buyers, who rely on this data to make informed purchasing decisions- when to buy, at what price, and how to identify the best opportunities.

Over time, a clear need emerged:
Buyers struggled to track and compare diamonds they were interested in, or organize them according to clients or projects.

The solution: a new “My Favorites” page, allowing users to save and manage multiple lists, rename and move stones between them, and keep their work organized and easy to manage.

The Problem

Through user interviews, several recurring behaviors became clear:

Manual price tracking:

Buyers used to add diamonds to the shopping cart just to “keep an eye” on them, checking days or weeks later if prices dropped- a tedious and error-prone process.

Ongoing comparison workflow

Diamond buyers constantly compare multiple stones, often across different sites- before making a decision. They needed a clear, organized way to track and revisit their selections.

Purchase mistakes

Some buyers accidentally purchased all the diamonds in their cart, instead of just a selected few.

Two distinct buying styles

Some buy for stock (based on long-term opportunities), while others buy on demand (to fulfill immediate client requests).
Both types need a system that supports either long-term monitoring or fast, reactive decision-making.

Beyond the practical issues, I saw a UX opportunity:
To give users a sense of control and clarity, reduce cognitive overload, and make the buying process safer and more intentional.

The Solution

I designed a new “My Favorites” page that allows buyers to:

Save diamonds directly from search results.
Organize them into multiple lists, each named and managed separately.
Edit, rename, and move diamonds between lists easily.
Perform quick actions directly from the page, such as Add to Cart or Export List.
Enjoy a clean, structured interface tailored to the real-world workflow of professional traders.

The Analysis- Did It Actually Work?

After launch, I analyzed user behavior in Mixpanel over a 12-month period, focusing on buyer-side activity. Each analysis was based on unique users.

Conversion - From “Save” to “Buy"

Funnel: add_to_favorites → cart.buy

First 5 months: 0%
Gradual increase up to ~37% in February.
Decline during summer months (June-August: 18–26%), consistent with market seasonality.
Yearly average: 16.8% (30-day window).
Extending to 60 days slightly increased conversion; 90 days showed no further change.

Insight: Buyers make thoughtful, time-based decisions- the Favorites page acts as a bridge between discovery and purchase.

Retention - Do Users Come Back?

Monthly retention: ~62% on average.
Peaks in April-May (70-75%)
Small seasonal dip in August-September (~50%)

Insight: For a non-core page, this is a remarkably high retention rate showing clear, ongoing value and habitual usage.

Frequency- How Many Diamonds Do Users Save?

Yearly average: 13 saves per user.
Spring peak (March-April): around 20 saves per user.

Insight: Continuous and consistent engagement- users see this as an essential part of their workflow, not an occasional feature.

Engagement Dept - Viewing vs. Saving

54.5% of users viewed the page.
35% performed a save action (from the search results page, not within Favorites itself).

Insight: The page serves mainly as a monitoring space- users revisit it to review previously saved stones rather than take new actions.

Time to Conversion - From Save to Purchase

Average: 5.3 days
Median: 2.9 days

Insight: Some users purchase quickly, while others track for longer periods. The page supports both fast and slow decision-making behaviors.

Key Takeaways

It was a good decision!

The data shows a clear pattern of repeated use, meaningful engagement, and contribution to smarter buying behavior.

From a user perspective

It gives buyers a sense of structure and control - reducing errors and supporting their unique workflow.

From a business perspective

It encourages users to return frequently, stay engaged, and ultimately complete more purchases.

This feature proved to be more than useful - it became part of how buyers naturally work

Reflections

Designing this page was more than solving a UX pain point - it was about understanding how diamond buyers actually think and work, and creating a feature that adapts to their professional rhythm rather than trying to change it.

Sometimes, a simple, well-timed feature can transform an entire workflow.

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