Openfair

Openfair is a platform designed to make buying and selling businesses easier. It helps users find opportunities, assess value, and manage deals through a streamlined, transparent digital experience.

The Challenge

The existing Openfair app had low user engagement and retention. It was hard to navigate, the interface felt crowded, and new users found it difficult to get started or stay active.

My Responsibilities

I led the design process from start to finish. My work covered user research, competitor analysis, mapping user flows, creating wireframes, and designing the interface and interactions. I also built a design system to keep everything consistent across the product.

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Key Features of the Redesign

Streamlined Onboarding

A context-aware flow that clarifies user roles (buyer, seller, expert) from the start. It minimizes steps to guide users to the app faster.

Deal Co-Pilot (AI Assistant)

An AI assistant that guides users with intelligent nudges, milestone tracking, and contextual advice to simplify complex negotiations.

Deal Management

All offers, key documents, messages, and deal updates are now in one organised view.

Built-in Messaging

A secure chat that keeps all deal conversations organized, transparent, and on record.

To improve the UX, my first step was to build a new foundation, starting with the sign-up process.

I mapped the key user flows and used low-fidelity wireframes to build an intuitive structure. This first phase focused on making the sign-up experience fast, clear, and welcoming.

Designing distinct onboarding flows for buyers, sellers, and experts.

The original “one-size-fits-all” flow from the original design overwhelmed users with questions. So by segmenting the journey, each user type only saw relevant fields, eliminating cognitive overload. I also introduced bite-sized screens and smart defaults, which reduced clicks and manual data entry.

Creating an intuitive and supportive business listing flow was essential for our core seller base.

Data from "Crazy Egg" showed the original listing process had high user drop-off. I mapped the flow, identified friction points around complex financial data, and broke the journey into logical steps. The redesign, which included a "save and return" feature, made the process easier, cutting seller drop-off rates by 35%.

Redesigning the homepage for better user discovery.

I redesigned the homepage to feature a 'Business Toolkit,' with tools like the deal finder, business valuation, and AI Copilot for decision-making. To make listings easier to find, I also implemented a set of advanced filters on the search page. This lets users pinpoint businesses by revenue, industry, and location, allowing them to move from thousands of listings to a qualified shortlist much faster.

A central place to manage listings and start conversations.

The listing page gives business owners control to manage their listing details and monitor performance easily. I then designed an integrated messaging platform to complete the experience. This connects buyers, sellers, and experts, streamlining negotiation and keeping all sensitive conversations in one place.

Guiding users through the high-friction deal-making process.

This unified deals dashboard is built around a dynamic transaction checklist, giving buyers and sellers a clear, step-by-step guide. I integrated the AI Copilot in the UX to answer complex questions and also a secure Deal Room to manage all sensitive files. This keeps the entire negotiation organised, compliant, and clear for everyone.

Conclusion

I redesigned the platform's most intimidating flows to be simple and guided. By introducing tailored onboarding and a step-by-step deal process, I removed the key friction points that caused users to leave. This directly led to a 35% reduction in seller drop-off and a faster average time-to-list.

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