04
Context
Square
Seller Community Evolution
The Seller Community is the largest gathering of Square sellers anywhere, a global, online chamber of commerce. It had barely changed since 2016. I led the redesign to modernize it and make it genuinely useful for sellers, not just a place to troubleshoot.
How might we turn a support forum into a community sellers actually want to come back to?
Role
Product Designer
Timeline
Dec 2020 – Nov 2021
Skills
UX Research · UX/UI Design · Prototyping · Testing · Project Management
Overview
A community, brought up to date.
The Seller Community is an online, global chamber of commerce and the largest gathering of Square sellers anywhere. Sellers come to ask questions about Square products, get advice on growing their business, connect with peers, and hear from Square directly. It had been running largely untouched since 2016, so I led a redesign to bring it up to Square’s current standards and make it easier to use.
User goals
Find the right answer quickly
See how the community helps their business
Connect with other sellers/business owners
Business goals
Modernize a platform untouched since 2016
Align it with Square’s design system
Improve usability and engagement
Key challenges
Resolve years of technical debt and dated design that had piled up
Highlight the pathways for connection that sellers actually valued
Align with Square's new design system
Related work
The work that set up the Evolution.
Group Hubs revamp
I reworked the community’s Group Hubs — the spaces where sellers gather around shared topics — into a cleaner, more usable layout.
Blog refresh
I refreshed the community blog, modernizing the templates so posts were easier to read and scan.
Beta community
I helped stand up a beta community to test new patterns with a small group before rolling them out to everyone.
Research & Ideation
What the research surfaced.
I ran interviews and surveys, mapped two seller journeys (a New Seller and a Troubleshooter), and benchmarked leading communities on information architecture, peer engagement, and overall experience. Two problems stood out.
Problem 01
Sellers can’t find the right answer fast
Most sellers, especially the ones arriving from Google or search, want one specific answer and not much else. Speed mattered more than browsing.
Problem 02
Sellers don’t see how it helps their business
Experienced sellers know the value of peer advice, but the design pushed troubleshooting over connection, so newer sellers never found it.
The Process
From site maps to wireframes.
01
Information architecture
I compared the original site map to a simpler one, drawing clear boundaries between support and non-support spaces so each had room to breathe.
02
Wireframing
I iterated on the homepage, landing pages, webinar sections, and modals before committing to visual design.
The Solution
Three areas I rebuilt.
Information architecture
I simplified the topic structure and rebuilt the homepage as a content hub that shows the many ways to take part.
→
Clear split between support and non-support spaces
→
Homepage as a hub, not a help desk
→
Simpler, more distinguishable topics
Design experience
I ran an audit on the 2016 design and brought the visuals in line with Square’s design system.
→
Accessibility fixes from the original design
→
Aligned to Square’s current system
→
Images and color blocks so people can scan
Peer-to-peer engagement
I made it easier for sellers to find and connect with each other across the global community.
→
Borderless spaces for global connection
→
Richer seller profiles
→
A clearer badging system, with more visible CTAs
Final Solution
The redesign, shipped.
The Evolution brought the Community onto Square’s design system with a clearer homepage, accessible patterns, and spaces built for connection, not just support.
The Impact
The numbers moved.
+4%
increase in weekly registrations.
+11.3%
increase in weekly active users.
-2%
drop in the customer-support contact rate. At about $20.70 per case, that saving adds up quickly.
Key Takeaways
What I’d carry forward.
01
Earn the work. I got the lead on Evolution by shipping smaller wins first and proving design’s value on the team.
02
Support and community are different jobs. The experience got better once each had its own space.
03
Old products carry debt. Much of the work was untangling years of decisions, not just drawing new screens.
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© 2026 Ekekela Novero. All rights reserved.
Designed with care in San Francisco.