Before Desertcart Bet on a New App, We Handed It to Real Shoppers.

A global marketplace, betting on a bolder experience

Desertcart lets shoppers in the UAE and beyond buy products that are otherwise hard to find in the region - a huge, global catalog delivered locally. To grow, the team had reimagined the mobile experience: a cleaner, more expressive design, new AI-powered features, and a paid “Pro” membership. It was a big bet - and betting on a redesign without testing it is how good ideas quietly lose money.

Eight shoppers, thinking out loud

We ran eight moderated, remote think-aloud sessions - four with existing Desertcart shoppers and four with first-time visitors - watching real people use the prototype live, narrating every hesitation, misread, and “wait, where's the search?” moment. We recruited across four distinct shopping behaviors too, so the findings held across the customer base, not just one type of buyer.

The same app, two different jobs to do

The sharpest finding wasn't about a button - it was about who's tapping it. Existing shoppers had already banked their trust, so they optimized for speed. For first-timers, trust was the whole task. Same prototype, two very different jobs to do.

Our synthesis for the team: one core funnel, three tuning dials - show instant value to heavy buyers, surface legitimacy signals for first-timers, and localize fees and payment methods per market. (One caveat we flagged honestly: existing users skewed UAE and new users India, so tenure and market overlap - worth isolating in a follow-up round.)

Expressive or minimalistic? Wrong question.

Turning a nice-to-have into a yes

The paid membership had real appeal - but doubt was quietly winning. Shoppers were pulled in by free shipping, a visible savings tracker, priority-delivery badges, and risk-free cancellation. They were held back by three things: “it's not worth it if I only shop now and then,” fuzzy benefit math, and a real fear of hidden auto-renewals. The play we recommended: surface the savings, prove the flexibility up front, and time the upsell to a moment that already stings - like a big shipping fee at checkout.

A redesign you haven't tested is just an expensive opinion

It's easy to fall in love with a new design in Figma. It's expensive to find out - after launch - that shoppers can't find the search bar or don't trust the price. Four well-run sessions cost a fraction of a botched relaunch, and they turn “we think” into “we watched them.” If you're about to bet on a redesign, a rebrand, or a new paid tier, that's the cheapest insurance you can buy.