Ravi Fascinating how easy it is to make a proposal disappear with that thumbs-down (or thumbs-up) appearing to be the first thing the UX intends you to consider doing... before considering clicking through to a full proposal! I'd love an eye-tracking test of this, but I think Upwork and I both know what it would show. Profile photo, thumbs-choice. Nobody gets much further.
Reading even the brief teaser copy is nearly the last choice, and clicking through is literally last in each listing. No wonder no one clicks.
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Imagine if the center two columns were simply moved to the right, and the right-hand column was moved to the center—not perfect, perhaps, but people would be much more encouraged to read what a freelancer wrote (teaser and full message).
(And imagine if the thumbs were all the way to the right as well, making them seem to be what a user should do LAST.)
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I wonder how different this client view was 2 & 4 years ago, when my experience on the freelancer side was vastly different. I suspect the UX pulled clients to other actions first, at that time.