Project status: This case study reflects the product discovery, design exploration, and strategic direction of the project during my time at Wix. The project was still in progress when I left the company, so the concepts presented here represent the team's thinking and design direction at that stage rather than a final shipped solution.
Project status: This case study reflects the product discovery, design exploration, and strategic direction of the project during my time at Wix. The project was still in progress when I left the company, so the concepts presented here represent the team's thinking and design direction at that stage rather than a final shipped solution.
Building a Flexible Table for Different User Needs
Creating the next generation of tables at Wix by balancing simplicity for everyday creators with the flexibility of advanced CMS-powered workflows.
My Role:
Research
Discovery
UX Design
Data-Driven Product Decisions
My Role:
Research
Discovery
Data-Driven Product Decisions
UX Design
THE OPPORTUNITY
Migrating to a New Platform Created an Opportunity to Rethink the Product
With the launch of Harmony, we took a step back to question the existing table experience instead of simply rebuilding it.
82.3K
total tables added
47.11%
of the added tables were deleted
50%
deleted the table after 3 minutes or less
Data range: Apr 2025 – Apr 2026
THE PROBLEM
The Real Challenge Was How People Added and Managed Content
Users creating simple websites had no built-in way to create a basic table. Instead, they were required to use CMS tools designed for dynamic content - even when all they needed was a simple 5-row table.
The high deletion rate revealed significant friction early in the experience, suggesting that many users struggled to create or populate their tables successfully.
1. Creating a simple table started with CMS
Even the simplest table required connecting to a CMS collection, making the CMS the only place where users could add and manage table content.
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Studio Editor
The Existing Experience Failed Users in 3 Key Moments
2. Table editing was limited to basic panel controls
The existing Settings and Layout panels provided only basic editing capabilities. Users couldn't directly resize rows or columns, or add new ones from the canvas, making even simple structural edits less intuitive.
Studio Editor
3. The first interaction led users down the wrong path
70% of users opened ×´Manage Table×´ as their first action, expecting it to be the primary place to edit their table. However, the panel gave no indication that its content would be replaced after connecting to CMS, leading users to invest time in edits that ultimately became irrelevant.
Studio Editor
RESEARCH
The Data Confirmed What We Suspected
To validate these findings, I analyzed FullStory recordings and User Voice feedback to better understand how users created, edited, and managed tables in real-world scenarios.
Users naturally expected direct, on-canvas editing
User Voice reinforced the same patterns
Support forums and feature requests consistently pointed to the same unmet user expectations.
1
Users wanted simple tables without CMS
"Just let me type into cells
like a spreadsheet, no CMS needed."
2
Users expected spreadsheet
-like editing
-
Direct cell editing
-
Rich cell content
-
Inline modifications
3
Users expected built-in table capabilities
-
Sorting
-
Filtering
-
Search
-
Responsive behavior
Key Insights
Combining insights from FullStory, User Voice, and community discussions uncovered four recurring themes that shaped the product strategy and guided the proposed solution.
1
Users expect a table to behave like a spreadsheet/Excel
Evidence: repeated requests for direct cell editing, inline modifications, and Excel-like interactions.
2
The CMS connection creates significant friction for users with simple content needs
Evidence: users struggle to connect content collections and frequently abandon and deletes the table
3
Users expect tables to be fully responsive, in all screen sizes
Evidence: responsive table behavior (table that breaks on mobile) is a recurring issue that appears in feature requests and forum discussions.
4
Want UoU to be able to edit the content and have features like: sort, filter and search
Evidence: multiple threads asking for that throughout the years
From Insights to Product Goals
The research highlighted two key opportunities that shaped the product direction.
Content Creation
Support different content creation workflows
Enable both simple, static content creation and scalable CMS-powered content management.
Editing Experience
Make editing fast, familiar, and flexible
Provide spreadsheet-like interactions that make creating and customizing tables feel natural and efficient.
Product Strategy
To address these different needs, we introduced two complementary table experiences - each optimized for a different content creation workflow.
Static table
Edit table content directly on the canvas - no CMS required
-
Small, static datasets
-
Simple page content
-
No content reuse
-
Fast, low-friction setup
CMS table
Manage structured, reusable content powered by a CMS collection
-
Large, growing datasets
-
Reusable content
-
Cross-page consistency
-
Structured content management
Key Product Decisions
Based on the research findings, four core product decisions were defined to address user pain points while ensuring a scalable and maintainable solution.
Separate Static and CMS Tables
Research showed two fundamentally different user needs with different mental models.
Responsive overflow handling
Allow scrolling, pagination, or stacked layout as there is no single responsive pattern that works for all table types.
AI assistant CMS setup
CMS setup was identified as a major friction point.
No transition between table types
Switching between static and CMS tables introduces complexity, edge cases, and unclear ownership of data.
Proposed Experience
Instead of forcing all users into a CMS-based flow, the proposed experience separates tables into two paths: Static table for simple content creation, and CMS table for structured, reusable content. Each path is optimized for a different need while maintaining a familiar editing experience.
Users choose the table type that fits their content workflow
Static Table
Direct editing on the canvas
The Static table experience was designed for fast, direct content creation. Users can edit cells, adjust rows and columns, and add new structure directly on the canvas through familiar, spreadsheet-like interactions.
Editing starts where users expect it to
Instead of sending users to a separate panel or CMS workflow, static table content can be edited directly in the cell - matching the familiar behavior users expected from spreadsheets.
Double-clicking a cell enables inline text editing directly on the canvas. The selection state shifts from the full table to the individual cell, allowing users to customize cell-level design through contextual actions.
CMS Table
For users choosing the CMS table path, Aria provides contextual guidance directly in the editor. The assistant suggests relevant next steps, such as connecting the table to a data collection or generating a new design, helping users move through a more advanced setup flow with less friction.
AI-assisted guidance reduces setup friction
CMS Table
Connecting to a collection unlocks a dedicated management workflow
After the table is connected to a CMS collection, the experience shifts into a CMS-managed workflow. The pink bounding box signals the connected state, while the Manage Table action becomes available for managing content and connections.
Manage panel
Once the table is connected to a CMS collection, a dedicated “Manage Table” entry point becomes available in the top action bar. This opens a dedicated panel for managing the table structure, allowing users to rename columns and remove fields that are not needed.
The panel provides two key actions:
1. Manage Connections - Opens the CMS panel, allowing users to manage the table’s data connections
2. Manage Content - Opens the connected data collection, where users can view, edit, and manage the table’s content.
A shared editing foundation across both table types
The updated Settings, Layout, and Design panels create a more flexible editing experience for both Static and CMS tables, giving users better control over structure, behavior, responsiveness, and visual styling.
Current
New settings panel
Current
New layout capabilities
Project Status & Next Steps
When I left Wix, the project was still in progress and the direction was not yet finalized. At that stage, the leading approach was to separate the experience into two workflows: Static table for simple content creation and CMS table for structured, reusable content.
Next steps would have included validating the proposed flows, aligning on technical feasibility, and defining implementation scope with product and engineering.
Thank You!
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