Revamping 58 Local: Design Strategies that Raised Retention in the Down‑Market

Introduction

The "sinking market" concept has surged in recent years, especially with the rise of Pinduoduo, prompting many companies to shift focus toward lower‑tier user segments. 58 Local, a lifestyle service product built for this market, leverages the 58 brand and has surpassed 3 million daily active users. Rapid DAU growth and strategic shifts revealed numerous issues in the old homepage that required a redesign.

Old Version Issues and Challenges

Continuity Gap : Since 2019, 58 Group introduced the "Efficiency & Service" concept and launched 58.com 10.0. The Local version diverged from the main brand, resulting in weak brand gene continuity.

Weak Brand Differentiation : User research showed low brand awareness for the Local version. The original design’s light‑fresh style and overly round icons did not match the older target audience’s aesthetic preferences.

Outdated Content Framework : Existing layout cannot meet expanding business needs and limits operational slots, such as adding red‑packet effects for sharing, expanding map background, or inserting a live‑stream entry for the social module.

The redesign must preserve the main brand’s visual language while achieving “unity with distinction” to create a localized visual identity that resonates with lower‑tier users.

User Persona

Interviews with sinking‑market users revealed a broad age range, relatively low education, a preference for familiar social circles, cautious online‑offline consumption, and a strong aspiration for a premium, clean, orderly lifestyle.

From these insights, the design keywords for 58 Local were defined as concrete , reliable , and friendly .

Design Strategy

Establish Brand Gene Continuity : The visual language aligns with the group’s strategic vision, emphasizing brand values while adding distinctive visual symbols to maintain high recognizability and build a combined brand architecture for the main site and Local version.

Strengthen Local Attributes : Localization does not mean “rural”; it respects universal aesthetic standards while reflecting local mental models. Visual symbols were extracted from user characteristics to create a language that feels native yet modern.

Design Execution

Icon System

The core “golden position” icon serves as the strategic entry point. Existing 58 icons were dissected by composition, color, and shape to retain brand genes while adapting to local needs.

Graphic Brainstorming

Design teams held brainstorming sessions to translate business attributes into concrete visual symbols, especially for the golden‑position icon, enhancing local relevance.

Design Proposals

Continuity Version : Follows the main site’s color palette, adds Z‑axis depth and reduced corner radius for realism, but lacks sufficient local characteristics.

Story Version : Incorporates many local symbols while retaining 58’s overall color scheme; uses layered color blocks for a friendly, narrative feel.

3D Version : Utilizes gradient blocks and volumetric composition, adding tangible local life imagery for stronger visual weight.

Clean Version : Offers high icon recognizability, refined yet lively style, redefines color combinations within a single hue family, and was voted the final solution.

Operational Slots and Animation

The homepage head image originally experimented with architectural scenes to emphasize locality, but a simplified background was chosen to improve text readability. New customizable operational slots and a “second floor” recommendation area are planned.

Animated GIFs were introduced to enhance engagement. The red‑packet animation on the top‑right corner was optimized to increase appeal and drive user acquisition, with a gradient background that separates it from the head image.

Results and Outlook

The redesign spanned just over a month and was more than a visual skin‑change; it redefined the visual language based on brand strategy and user persona. One month after launch, the next‑day retention of the golden‑position icon increased from 29% to 33%.

Future improvements include expanding operational entry points, adding configurable icons with GIF effects, and inserting more mid‑page flow entrances to further boost conversion.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to all project participants: Xu Wenjia, Xu Ya, Nan Xiaofei, Wu Sisheng, Sun Fei, and other teammates.