Learn What the Best Products
Got Wrong — And How to Fix It for E-commerce
Opinionated, specific critiques of how great products could be better — the UX improvements, architectural refactors, and product decisions we'd make differently.
For e-commerce companies: Converting one-time buyers into loyal, high-LTV repeat customers.
Read CritiquesIndustry
E-commerce
Online retail and D2C brands competing on retention, LTV, and repeat purchase
Core Challenge
Converting one-time buyers into loyal, high-LTV repeat customers
Target Outcome
high repeat purchase rate and strong customer LTV
What e-commerce teams miss when studying what we'd do differently
Online retail and D2C brands competing on retention, LTV, and repeat purchase — compounded by converting one-time buyers into loyal, high-ltv repeat customers.
Learning only from success stories without understanding why good products still have flaws
No framework for structured product critique that produces actionable improvements
Cargo-culting decisions from successful products without understanding their limitations
No way to develop product taste without seeing both what works and what doesn't
What We'd Do Differently applied to e-commerce products
We give honest, specific critiques — not generic praise or vague suggestions
We explain exactly what we'd change and why — with the product thinking behind each decision
We use real products to develop the product taste that separates good from great
We show how the same problem was solved better elsewhere
What e-commerce founders gain from what we'd do differently
Sharper Product Taste
Learning to see flaws in great products develops the taste that makes your own decisions better.
Constructive Critique Framework
A structured way to evaluate any product — your own or a competitor's.
Avoid Repeated Mistakes
Learn from documented errors before you build the same anti-patterns.
Better Design Vocabulary
Specific critiques build the vocabulary for describing design decisions precisely.
The what we'd do differently process for e-commerce products
Define what the product is trying to do
Every critique starts with understanding the intended goal — before judging the execution.
Identify where it falls short
Find the specific moments where the product makes the user work harder than it should.
Propose the alternative
Describe the specific change — not just 'make it simpler' but exactly what simpler looks like.
Evaluate the trade-off
Acknowledge why the current design might have been chosen — and why the alternative is better.
What We'd Do Differently for E-commerce
e-commerce companies operate within specific constraints: Online retail and D2C brands competing on retention, LTV, and repeat purchase. Understanding what we'd do differently through this lens leads to high repeat purchase rate and strong customer LTV.
Without rigorous what we'd do differently
- ×Learning only from success stories without understanding why good products still have flaws
- ×No framework for structured product critique that produces actionable improvements
- ×Cargo-culting decisions from successful products without understanding their limitations
With Greta's what we'd do differently approach
- ✓We give honest, specific critiques — not generic praise or vague suggestions
- ✓We explain exactly what we'd change and why — with the product thinking behind each decision
- ✓We use real products to develop the product taste that separates good from great
What We'd Do Differently reading list
Learn from the best.
Build for e-commerce companies.
Greta applies the patterns from great products to build yours — shipped in days, not months.