A wall of links
The Denver home page shows more than 400 small text links at once. It’s a site map, not a starting point: nothing to look at until you pick a category.
Unsolicited redesign · Mobile and web · 33 screens · 2026
CraigslistThe most useful site in town, made easier to use.
Craigslist covers more of local life than any other site: things for sale, apartments, jobs, gigs, services, events and forums, all free to browse and private by default. Before drawing a screen, I asked what was actually failing the people who use it. The answer wasn’t how it looks.
- Role
- Solo: problem framing, product audit, information architecture, interaction and visual design
- Scope
- 33 screens, each designed for mobile and desktop
- Tools
- Figma
- Platform
- iPhone and desktop web
- Setting
- Denver, with real neighborhoods. Listings, people and businesses are fictional
- Research
- A review of the live Denver site. No user testing yet; the plan is in section 06
- Status
- An independent concept, not affiliated with or endorsed by Craigslist. Features Craigslist doesn't have today are labeled “Concept” in the screens.
01
The real problem
The obvious brief was “make Craigslist look modern.” I didn’t think that was the right problem.
People keep using Craigslist despite how it looks, so the look isn’t what’s failing them. Going through the live Denver site, the friction came from the work it leaves to people: finding the right one of hundreds of categories, judging whether a post is real, working out what an apartment will actually cost, and spotting a scam at the moment it matters.
The stakes are higher than on most sites. A bad listing can cost a security deposit or mean meeting a stranger. So I reframed the brief:
How might I make it faster to find, judge and act on a local post, without giving up the privacy and simplicity that keep people coming back?
02
What I found on the live site
Mobile starts with a list
On a phone the home page is a plain list of category names, and you drill down before seeing a single post.
Key facts depend on the poster
Posts are mostly free text, so whether a rental lists its deposit and fees is up to whoever wrote it. Missing facts mean more messages before anyone can decide.
Safety advice sits far from risk
Good scam guidance exists, but in small links on the home page, not where people reply, rent or pay.
Not everything was broken. Search already has photo and map views, so I kept its model and fixed the density around it.
03
Assumptions I challenged
I wrote down the first ideas any marketplace redesign reaches for, then tested each against what Craigslist is for. Most didn’t survive.
“Add a personalized feed”
- Why not
- Personalization needs accounts and tracking. That breaks the anonymity people come for.
- Instead
- Discovery by place and time: what’s new, near you.
“Add seller ratings”
- Why not
- On an account-optional site, ratings are easy to fake and would push everyone into profiles.
- Instead
- Facts that can be checked: email confirmed, posting since, phone not verified.
“Replace email with chat”
- Why not
- Relay email works, needs no app, and hides both addresses.
- Instead
- Keep relay as the default. Offer an inbox as an option, labeled as a concept to test.
“Start with the home page”
- Why not
- The riskiest moments are replying, renting and paying, not landing.
- Instead
- Design the listing, reply and housing screens first, and put safety there.
04
Constraints I designed within
No ads, fees on a few posts
Craigslist runs without display ads and charges only in some categories, like cars by owner and jobs. So no promoted listings or boosts; instead, fees are shown up front at the start of posting.
Free-text posts, any device
Posts are written by anyone, so new structured fields are optional and the layout survives missing data. Screens stay light for older phones and slow connections.
Don’t break the regulars
Long-time users know exactly where things are. The full category list stays one tap away, and results still sort by time and distance.
05
The redesign
01 · Discover
A home page you can browse
The link wall becomes category shortcuts and what’s new nearby across for sale, homes, jobs and events. Every category is still reachable in one tap.
I kept every category, even the small ones, because they’re what make Craigslist different. The change is how they’re reached: grouped with icons, a filter on desktop, and collapsible groups with large tap targets on mobile.
02 · Search
Search, filter, then save it
Active filters are chips you remove in one tap. Filters open in a sheet with a live result count, and any search can become an email alert, which removes the need to keep checking back.
Pins mark an approximate area. A map is more useful, but not at the cost of a seller’s home address.
03 · Listing
Everything you need to decide
Big photos, structured details and an approximate area. The poster panel shows checkable facts instead of ratings, including the unflattering ones like “phone not verified.”
04 · Contact and save
Reply without giving yourself away
Relay email stays the default, with quick replies and a scam warning inside the reply sheet. The inbox is optional and labeled as a concept. Saved items sort into collections.
05 · Post
Posting in five short steps
The post type comes first, so the form only asks what that type needs and any fee is clear before you start. It ends with the post exactly as buyers will see it.
The tradeoff: five steps is more screens than one form. I accepted it because each step is short, drafts save automatically, and a seller can see what’s missing before buyers do. Whether it’s actually faster is the first thing I’d test.
06 · Housing
Apartments, with the costs up front
The listing adds up move-in costs and flags what the landlord didn’t list, so renters know what to ask before they send money.
07 · Jobs
Jobs that lead with pay
Pay, hours and type show on every result, and “Pay not listed” is said out loud. A private application tracker is a concept to test.
08 · Community
The parts only Craigslist has
Gigs, services, events, lost and found and the forums get the same care as for-sale. Forum handles keep people anonymous.
09 · Trust and states
Safety where it’s needed
Flagging is anonymous: pick a reason and send. Empty and offline states keep your filters and offer a next step. Signing in is optional, and the screen says so.
06
How I’d test it
None of this is validated yet. Each big decision is a bet, so I wrote down what would prove it wrong.
| Bet | How I’d test it | It’s wrong if |
|---|---|---|
| Long-time users aren’t slowed down | Timed tasks with 6 regular Craigslist users, today’s site against the prototype | They take longer to reach a category they already know |
| Five short steps beat one long form | Post the same item both ways; time it and count errors | Completion drops or time goes up |
| Checkable facts build more trust than ratings | Show pairs of listings and ask which seller people would meet, and why | People ignore the facts or ask for ratings anyway |
| Move-in costs reduce back-and-forth | Renters judge listings with and without the cost table | They still need to message to decide |
07
Reflection
What I learned
- The look was a symptom. Questioning the brief moved the work from styling pages to helping people decide and stay safe.
- The best ideas were the ones I dropped. A feed, ratings and chat-first replies would have made it look more modern and work less like Craigslist.
- Honest trust beats impressive trust. Showing “phone not verified” respects people more than a star score.
What I’d do next
- Run the four tests above, starting with long-time users, since they have the most to lose.
- Talk to sellers and landlords, not only buyers and renters. I designed mostly from the buyer’s side.
- Cut what doesn’t earn its place. If the inbox or tracker doesn’t beat today’s tools, they go.
Craigslist doesn’t need to become something else. It needs to be as easy to use as it is useful.