Topps Pro Overhaul
Modernizing a Legacy Platform in the Wake of Acquisition
Fanatics Collectibles began with an experimental division called Zero Cool — a small, culture-driven company founded by the creator of StockX and built around reimagining trading cards through music, fashion, art, and entertainment instead of traditional sports. Zero Cool was later acquired by Fanatics, becoming the foundation for what would grow into Fanatics Collectibles. Soon after, Fanatics purchased Topps, bringing decades of trading-card heritage and a wide ecosystem of legacy digital products into the fold. As part of this transition, the original Zero Cool technology group was restructured into a dedicated tech team for Fanatics Collectibles. Our mandate was clear: modernize outdated Topps digital tools, platforms, and workflows, and transform them into streamlined, future-ready products that elevated usability, improved scalability, and enhanced the overall experience for customers and internal teams alike.
Client
Fanatics Collectibles
Services
Product Design
Industries
Technology
Date
2022-2025
As a Product Designer for Fanatics Collectibles, I played a key role in shaping the strategy and development of our new B2B platform by grounding every decision in real collector insights. I partnered closely with product, research, and engineering teams to lead user interviews with current customers, digging deep into their frustrations with the outdated external tools they relied on to purchase product and communicate with account teams. These conversations revealed critical pain points around ordering inefficiencies, lack of transparency, and poor communication workflows. Using those findings, I helped define and prioritize the features that mattered most—streamlining purchasing flows, improving account communication tools, and building intuitive, modern interactions that elevated the collector experience. This user-driven approach ensured our redesign didn’t just modernize the platform—it directly solved the problems collectors had been battling for years.
During the overhaul of the Topps Pro platform, our user research surfaced several critical pain points that shaped the direction of the redesign. Collectors consistently shared frustrations with limited communication from their account managers, making it difficult to stay informed or resolve issues quickly. Many also found the previous platform difficult to navigate, especially when trying to discover or purchase additional products. A major blocker was the inability to buy anything beyond solicited items, leaving users feeling restricted and disconnected from the full product ecosystem. To address this, we introduced evergreen products that gave collectors more flexibility and autonomy in their purchasing. Users also voiced concerns about not knowing where their orders were in the fulfillment process, which we solved by adding end-to-end order tracking—allowing them to see real-time updates from “received” to “shipped” to “delivered.” On the internal side, account managers struggled with sending only one solicitation at a time, which slowed their workflow and limited outreach. We resolved this by enabling multi-solicitation capabilities with customization options, giving them the tools to communicate more efficiently and personally with their customers. Together, these solutions transformed the platform into a more transparent, flexible, and user-centered experience for both collectors and internal teams.