Building iOS 14 Widgets for Carousell - Part 1
Article Summary
Julia Maurer and Ha Pham from Carousell reveal how they shipped their iOS 14 widget in one sprint. Their secret? Starting with power users who open the app 300 times daily.
When iOS 14 launched home screen widgets, Carousell's team had to decide what to build and for whom. They documented their entire process from user research through design principles, creating a playbook other teams could follow. This is part 1 of their implementation story.
Key Takeaways
- Power users (sellers) open the app 300x daily, need instant inbox access
- Set clear success metrics: track widget attribution for chats and reply times
- Medium widget won over small: merchants need message previews, not just counts
- Created design principles ensuring widgets stay personal, not broadcast channels
- Built reusable UI templates for future widgets across product teams
Carousell scoped their first widget to busy sellers who needed friction-free access to messages, measuring success through attributed engagement and response time reduction.
About This Article
Carousell needed to figure out which widget size and content approach would actually work for busy merchants juggling multiple conversations. The challenge was fitting useful features into limited screen space.
The team tested small and medium widget formats side by side. They went with medium because it could show message previews, letting merchants quickly see what mattered before opening the app. They built reusable UI templates that worked in both light and dark modes.
Carousell landed on four design principles: personal updates, previews that encourage app opens, celebrating achievements, and staying relevant. This framework became something other product teams could use for their own widgets, and it helped keep the brand consistent across the platform.