How a 3-Day Design Workshop helped Fiverr kickoff their AI product, Fiverr GO
Intro
The global AI market is booming, set to grow by 38% in 2025. Currently, 55% of companies are using AI, and another 45% are exploring it (CompTIA). This shift means businesses must adapt quickly—using AI to create personalized customer experiences and boost efficiency.
Fiverr, the global freelance marketplace, faced a big challenge in this AI-driven world. With AI tools threatening to replace freelancers, Fiverr had to act fast to stay relevant. Their solution? Integrate AI into their platform in a way that still supports freelancers.
To do this, Fiverr hosted a 3-day workshop with product managers, designers, AI experts, and technologists. The goal was to align AI innovation with their mission and solve user problems. By the end, they had a clear vision, actionable solutions, and a plan. Within three months, they launched their first AI product.
This post explores how Fiverr embraced AI through teamwork, user-first innovation, and staying true to their core mission—a roadmap for any business looking to innovate without losing what makes them unique.
Setting the stage: the pre-workshop reality
Integrating ai without losing the human touch
Fiverr faced growing competition and the rise of AI tools, which threatened its business model by potentially reducing the demand for freelance services. While the platform introduced small AI tools like templates and keyword suggestions, these didn’t fully address user concerns or key pain points. Poor communication about these features also led to skepticism, emphasizing the need for a better strategy.
A collaborative approach to responsible AI
To address these challenges, Fiverr asked me to run a design workshop with product managers, AI experts, designers, user researchers, and community reps. The goal? To create tools that improve the platform while staying true to its values of fairness, trust, and community.
Building trust and addressing concerns: preparing stakeholders for a Design Workshop
Before the workshop, I spoke one-on-one with stakeholders to understand their concerns, goals, and expectations. To break the ice, I asked everyone about their favorite music—a simple question that lightened the mood and made people feel comfortable. This connection helped address their concerns, shape the workshop around their priorities, and build trust so everyone felt heard and valued.
I also learned the team had recently been reorganized, bringing together people who hadn’t worked together before on a top-secret project. My role was to help them build trust and collaborate smoothly. With a tight timeline, the focus was on generating creative ideas and staying open to inspiration.
A standard workshop wouldn’t work here. This needed a custom approach that went beyond just defining a problem and finding one solution.
Discovery and definition
We started the morning with introductions and fun icebreaker questions to get everyone smiling. Most people enjoyed it, though some seemed distracted—likely feeling the pressure of coming up with innovative ideas in just three days, along with usual project stress. One challenge was a missing participant who stayed home for parenting duties, which left the group feeling incomplete.
The discussion then moved to why the project matters to Fiverr. It was positive and productive, though uncertainty around AI advancements made some uneasy.
Day 1 - problem space and inspirations
Understanding buyer needs and challenges
The workshop focused on understanding the needs of Fiverr Buyers—those seeking services on the platform. Using the Value Proposition Canvas, we identified what buyers are trying to get done (JTBD) along with their pains and gains. Key challenges included difficulty finding the right freelancer, uncertainty about work quality, delivery delays, and poor communication. These pain points formed the foundation for improving the buyer experience.
We shifted to a buyer-first approach, prioritizing trust building, improving reliability, and resolving communication issues, instead of simply adding features or expanding offerings.
Empowering buyers with AI
The "How Might We" (HMW) exercises helped us turn defined problems, desires, and needs into actionable opportunities, reimagining buyer-seller interactions with a focus on trust, creativity, and seamless experiences. This approach inspired innovative ideas for enhancing AI capabilities while prioritizing human talent.
For example:
Enhancing AI for buyers and sellers
- HMW Use AI to improve matching and decision-making for buyers.
- HMW Create solutions for diverse buyer categories across multiple industries.
Balancing AI and human talent
- HMW Promote human talent as a core value while integrating AI effectively.
- HMW Showcase freelancer skills to build credibility and trust.
Simplifying communication with AI
- HMW Make it easier for buyers, even those less tech-savvy, to leverage AI tools.
- HMW Decrease friction in buyer-seller communication by blending AI support with direct engagement.
The goal is clear: leverage AI to build trust, simplify interactions, and offer buyers more control and flexibility. By combining AI's efficiency with human creativity, we're creating an experience that supports confidence, transparency, and value for all.
Sparking innovation with inspiration and collaboration
The second half of the day was all about finding inspiration. One big challenge was the lack of UI pattern references for AI solutions, which made it harder to come up with fresh design ideas. To tackle this, I created an inspiration board before the workshop using Product Hunt, a super organized platform with the latest AI apps. It helped me gather unique examples to spark ideas for visuals and UI. Honestly, it’s a great tool to get creative juices flowing.
Building the board took some time, but it was worth it. Wrapping up day one with these examples gave participants something solid to reflect on overnight. Good inspiration has a way of sticking, and by the next day, people often come back with fresh and unique ideas.
By the end of the first day, everyone was on the same page about the problem we were solving, but each person brought their own ideas and perspectives. This collaboration, fueled by teamwork and empathy, set the stage for innovative solutions to improve the buyer experience.
Day 2 - Ideation
Day one: focusing on ideas without limits
At the start of day two, someone pointed out that we hadn’t tackled the “can we” questions yet. These are super important—they help everyone think about KPIs, constraints, measurable goals, and the outcomes we’re aiming for. But I left them out on purpose. On day one, my goal was to focus on generating as many ideas as possible—quantity over quality—without worrying about limits or expectations.
Turning ideas into concepts
UX journey hacking: the process
Day two was different. I had a special plan: a mix of exercises I’ve developed into an activity I call “UX Journey Hacking.”
The original Design Sprint framework lays out the ideation process in a strict, step-by-step way. But in my experience, creativity doesn’t work like that—it’s more of a structured kind of chaos. That’s how my mind works, and that’s exactly why I designed this exercise for team settings. Instead of the usual order of finding inspiration → jotting down ideas → sketching rough concepts → making a detailed one-page sketch → picking the final idea, my approach takes a more flexible path.
I asked everyone to choose a flow of 8-10 screens from the buyer's perspective. I told them they didn’t need to stick to one solution for the whole process. Instead, they should build on the ideas that inspired them yesterday while continuing to look for fresh ones. Yesterday was just a warm-up. I also made it clear they could use ugly screenshots, rough sketches, change the order, or adapt things as needed. This isn’t about being logical—it’s about exploring creatively, and that’s where the magic happens.
I trust the process, but it’s time-boxed. They have 30 minutes. People started smiling as they saw their ideas making an impact and building on others' ideas. Instead of just thinking or sketching on paper, they began working with new design flows that make sense, to everyone—and that’s when the magic happened. The energy shifted, breakthroughs started flowing, and everyone was fully in the zone. All of this happened with Mark Knopfler’s "The Ragpicker’s Dream" playing softly in the background, adding a little extra inspiration.
Refinement and collaboration
After 30 minutes, each participant took turns presenting their ideas to the group. Once they were done, the group had a few minutes to share their feedback. Once everyone was done, we voted on the top 5 ideas. After that, everyone started working on those 5 selected ideas, refining and improving them.
By the end of day two, the team had turned the top 5 ideas into solid, detailed concepts. Everyone worked independently to refine details, tackle challenges, and plan next steps. There were moments of laughter and focused discussions, but most of the work was done solo. Before finishing up, the team shared their progress, covering the key elements and next actions for each idea. The day wrapped up with a strong sense of achievement, and everyone left feeling energized and ready for the next phase.
Day 3: Iterations and alignment
Day 3 kicked off with fresh energy. Participants came ready with new ideas and concerns, looking to build on the progress we’d made so far. We started with a quick sticky note exercise—just like on Day 1. Everyone wrote down their concerns and pinned them to a board. This simple activity helped clear the air and flagged any potential issues early.
Next, we dove into iterations and prototyping. The team focused on refining the top five ideas from Day 2, breaking them into smaller pieces to better understand and develop them.
The goal wasn’t to create a perfect prototype—this wasn’t about polished results. Instead, we explored ideas at different stages, sparking inspiration and meaningful discussions. These rough prototypes gave the team more clarity and helped move the product thinking forward. By the end, everyone left with a clear action plan and next steps for each solution.
To wrap up, the teams presented their work. The prototypes showed actionable ideas the team could focus on over the next three months. It was amazing to see how much progress we made in just three days.
Balancing creativity, focus, and practical solutions
Disruption can drive real innovation when handled well. Here’s one key takeaway: shorter timelines can actually boost creativity and focus. Tight deadlines push teams to prioritize, make quick decisions, and deliver results faster. But this only works if the solutions are practical and match your organization’s resources and goals.
Now, while teams can run their own sprints, bringing in an outside perspective can really make a difference. A fresh set of eyes cuts through internal biases and ensures a collaborative, not combative, environment. External facilitators can guide the process, adjust when things don’t go as planned, and keep the momentum going.
It’s also about balancing big ideas with steps you can actually take. Big visions drive change, but without a clear plan, they can get stuck. Teams should aim for ambitious goals but stay realistic about what’s achievable.
Conclusion
Fiverr’s 3-day workshop gave them a whole new perspective on what they’re planning to build over the next 3 months. In just three days, the team came together, aligned on a shared purpose, and collaborated in ways they hadn’t before. They didn’t just tackle problems—they built a clear vision and walked away with a solid action plan to bring their ideas to life. This session showed how powerful a purpose-driven team can be in the right setting. With stronger connections and a sharper focus, Fiverr is ready to take on what’s next.
