Mark Meacher
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CASE STUDY
Photo Step Reminders
Reframing how we ask sellers to set a reminder
Year: 2026
Category: Seller experience
AI Assisted
Overview
The reminder on the photo step was asking sellers "when suits you?", but for most sellers, the real blocker isn't time, it's car access. To test that, I ran a page-load micro-survey asking a range of questions. 91.5% of sellers said they couldn't add photos right now, and among them, not having the car nearby was the single biggest reason, ahead of time pressure and poor conditions like light or a dirty car. 88.5% also said they'd happily finish the rest of the listing now and add photos later if given the choice. Together, that validated reframing the reminder from a vague time question to "when will you next be with your car?", with car-context options, so the commitment we ask for actually matches what's stopping the seller.
User Testing
The survey fired on page load for a 10–20% sample of sellers arriving at the photo step. Across 610 responses, 91.5% said they couldn’t add photos now. Of those, 41.6% said their car wasn't with them or nearby, 23.4% didn't have time, and 21.9% said it wasn't a good time or place (dark, raining, a dirty car). All of this data spoke more to car access and timing rather than a simple scheduling gap. Asked when they'd next be with their car, 78.7% said later today or in the next few days, and 88.5% said they'd finish the rest of the listing now and add photos later if given the choice, confirming photos, not the whole listing, are the actual blocker. The remaining 8.5% who could add photos right now mostly said they planned to.
Approach
This built on an existing hypothesis: sellers set a reminder because it's the lowest-effort option, but the reminder itself asks the wrong question. "When suits you?" assumes the blocker is scheduling, when for most sellers it's whether their car is actually accessible. I reframed the question to "When will you next be with your car?", with car-context time options, tonight at home, tomorrow before work, Saturday morning, so the commitment sellers make matches the constraint that's actually stopping them, rather than a time they might not be able to act on anyway. Before comitting to this larger build, I ran a quicker test first to just change the title of the reminder modal to the newly reframed "When will you next be with your car?". This proved successful as a test with more sellers completing the reminder and returning to add photos.
Outcome
The survey confirmed the hypothesis: car access, not scheduling, is what's actually blocking sellers at the photo step, and most would happily finish the rest of their listing now if photos could wait. That validation is the basis for a smaller, reframed reminder test which changed only the heading of the reminder modal to "when will you next be with your car?". This test was successful with more sellers actively setting a reminder and returning to their listing. The next stage is to then build on the extra time contextual selections shown here and test the impact.
Next Project
Mark Meacher
mark.meacher@gmail.com
Mark Meacher
Home
CASE STUDY
Photo Step Reminders
Reframing how we ask sellers to set a reminder
AI Assisted
Year: 2026
Category: Seller experience
Overview
The reminder on the photo step was asking sellers "when suits you?", but for most sellers, the real blocker isn't time, it's car access. To test that, I ran a page-load micro-survey asking a range of questions. 91.5% of sellers said they couldn't add photos right now, and among them, not having the car nearby was the single biggest reason, ahead of time pressure and poor conditions like light or a dirty car. 88.5% also said they'd happily finish the rest of the listing now and add photos later if given the choice. Together, that validated reframing the reminder from a vague time question to "when will you next be with your car?", with car-context options, so the commitment we ask for actually matches what's stopping the seller.
User Testing
The survey fired on page load for a 10–20% sample of sellers arriving at the photo step. Across 610 responses, 91.5% said they couldn’t add photos now. Of those, 41.6% said their car wasn't with them or nearby, 23.4% didn't have time, and 21.9% said it wasn't a good time or place (dark, raining, a dirty car). All of this data spoke more to car access and timing rather than a simple scheduling gap. Asked when they'd next be with their car, 78.7% said later today or in the next few days, and 88.5% said they'd finish the rest of the listing now and add photos later if given the choice, confirming photos, not the whole listing, are the actual blocker. The remaining 8.5% who could add photos right now mostly said they planned to.
Approach
This built on an existing hypothesis: sellers set a reminder because it's the lowest-effort option, but the reminder itself asks the wrong question. "When suits you?" assumes the blocker is scheduling, when for most sellers it's whether their car is actually accessible. I reframed the question to "When will you next be with your car?", with car-context time options, tonight at home, tomorrow before work, Saturday morning, so the commitment sellers make matches the constraint that's actually stopping them, rather than a time they might not be able to act on anyway.
Outcome
The survey confirmed the hypothesis: car access, not scheduling, is what's actually blocking sellers at the photo step, and most would happily finish the rest of their listing now if photos could wait. That validation is the basis for a smaller, reframed reminder test which changed only the heading of the reminder modal to "when will you next be with your car?". This test was successful with more sellers actively setting a reminder and returning to their listing. The next stage is to then build on the extra time contextual selections shown here and test the impact.
Next Project
Mark Meacher
mark.meacher@gmail.com