Design Decision Audit: Why We Removed Search From a Marketplace

Design · 6 min read

MarketMakers, a niche B2B services marketplace, noticed that adding a full-text global search increased false-positive matches and support friction—buyers would message vendors who didn’t provide the requested service, consuming vendor bandwidth. After mapping the buyer journey, the team decided to remove global search and replace it with curated category discovery and intent-signals-based matching.

The design replaced the search bar with a guided discovery flow: quick filters reflecting high-intent attributes, a short diagnostic questionnaire to capture details, and dynamically generated recommended vendor profiles. On the vendor side, profile prompts emphasized services offered and capacity, improving accuracy of matches. The change reduced noisy leads and set clearer expectations on both sides.

Metrics after rollout were encouraging: qualified leads per buyer increased, vendor response times improved, and dispute rates dropped because matches were more precise. There was an expected tradeoff—some power users who preferred freeform search were dissatisfied—but the net network health improved, which mattered more for long-term liquidity.

This audit highlights that removing features can be as strategic as adding them. For two-sided marketplaces, prioritizing signal quality and mutual clarity often beats broad discoverability, especially when vendor attention is a scarce resource.