Pinterest is a visual bookmarking and discovery platform. Think of it like a mood board app for the internet.
Millennials 25-35 planning home projects
Save pins, build boards, discover ideas
Problem
Pinterest users searching for home decor face high drop-offs, low save rates, and poor search-to-discovery conversion on user-initiated search journeys.
Solution
Revamped the Pinterest search experience to prioritize intent-driven discovery and help users engage with home decor content more meaningfully.
Results
38% increase in successful search sessions, 27% decrease in search abandonment, 44% increase in filter usage
01
RESEARCH
User reviews, Reddit threads, and usability sessions revealed users could not find specific styles, room types, or products
home decor searchers didn't find what they were looking for
8 out of 10
Pinterest fails the specific searcher
Pinterest fails the specific searcher
02
Design Process
Research and audit of Pinterest's search experience defined three focus areas for the redesign.
Explore methods to allow users to refine searches by style, color palette, and budget on Pinterest, with appropriate filters for each to reduce frustration with drop-offs from irrelevant results.
Lead users to relevant pins when their specific search returns poor results, while surfacing smart suggestions that reflect their saved boards and style history.
Introduce style-based content grouping, filters, a dedicated search results page to match the mental models of intentional home decor searchers.
03
User journeys
User journeys and iterative wireframes leading to final designs
Mapped the end-to-end search journey to identify where intent breaks down and designed solutions that meet user needs at every decision point.
User journey - Pinterest search redesign
04
FINAL DESIGNS
Style-based content grouping, persistent filters, and expandable categories replace the flat undifferentiated grid
Pinterest search redesign
From object to room, visual search for the whole space
Pinterest's visual search exists but is limited to object-level search within existing pins. The redesign brings visual search to the main web search bar, letting users upload a photo of their own space and find pins that match their full room aesthetic not just a single item.
From object to room, visual search for the whole space
05
USABILITY TESTING
Feedback from user testing (Millennial home decor searchers aged 25–35)
05
RESULT AND IMPACT
Hold and swipe to see the before and after
The revamped search experience made it easier for users to find what they are looking for, content that matched their intent, ultimately contributing to deeper engagement and more saves on Pinterest.
in time taken to find a style matched pin or board
*Metrics are projected based on moderated usability testing with 6 participants and benchmarked against published search UX research.
