October 2026 ยท Tasin & Claude
Summary
This is my concept for how filtering and sorting could work on Tamara's search results. It comes down to two simple ideas. Filters stay where you tapped them. And you can see how many results a filter will give you before you tap it.
I played with the filters in the Tamara app on my phone a lot, then rebuilt the screens myself. I don't have any analytics or research, so I might be wrong about why some things are the way they are. Take this as the start of a conversation, not a final answer.
What I changed
- Filter chips stay in place. They don't fold into a "3 applied" pill anymore.
- Sort gets its own spot, away from the filters.
- Every option shows how many products you'll get. If the answer is zero, it's greyed out.
- Pick-one lists use radio buttons and pick-many lists use checkboxes.
- The list updates in place with a thin loading bar, instead of the whole page going blank.
- A new Monthly budget filter, because on Tamara the monthly amount is what people care about.
- A Stores / Products switch, so you can browse by store or compare products side by side.
- An empty state that tells you what happened and gives you a way out.
Where to see it
- Try the clickable prototype.
- See the screens on the case study page.
Good to know: all the products, stores and prices are made up. The colors and fonts are my own stand-ins, not Tamara's design system.
What I noticed
Filtering in the app is quick, but the controls kept changing under my finger, and I couldn't tell what a tap would do until I'd done it.
- The chips move. After two or three taps, the chips I picked folded into one "3 applied" pill and the rest shifted left. To undo something, I had to go looking for it.
- "3 applied" doesn't say what's applied. I had to open it to understand why the list looked the way it did.
- Sort and filters share one row. "Popular" and "Deals Ending Soon" are ways to sort, but they sit next to filters like "Deals" and "6+ Payments". I could turn on both sorts at the same time.
- Every tap reloads the whole list. Three quick taps meant three blank loading screens, and I lost my place each time.
- No hint before you tap. When I tried Deals + 6+ Payments, only one store was left. I only found out after.
- The category row is unclear. I couldn't tell if it was a filter, a link or just part of the search, and it takes up a lot of space.
- Small things. A backpack showed up when I searched "Tablet", and when I cleared the filters the chip text overlapped for a second.
What already works well
- Filtering is one tap, right where you're looking.
- "6+ Payments" and "In-store" are things only Tamara can offer, so they're the right filters to lead with.
- Showing each store with its payment plan ("Up to 12 payments") is really useful.
- The summary pill saves space. I kept the idea of a compact row, I just changed how it behaves.
What I wanted to fix
I wanted to keep how fast filtering feels and fix the parts that feel unpredictable.
- Controls stay where you tapped them.
- You know what a filter will do before you use it.
- Sorting and filtering are two separate things.
- The page never goes blank just because a filter changed.
- Bring Tamara's strongest feature, paying monthly, to the front.
What I left out on purpose
- Search results and ranking (like the backpack showing up).
- How stores are ranked, and anything about paid placement.
- Eligibility, spending limits and checkout.
- Tamara's real visual style. I used purple and rounded shapes only to make before and after easy to compare.
Design decisions
For each one, here's what I did, why, and what it costs.
1. Chips never move
A chip you pick turns purple and stays exactly where it is. The Filters button shows a small number when filters are on, and a Clear all link appears at the end of the row.
Why: the chip you just tapped jumping away was the most confusing part. If chips stay put, undoing is one tap in the same place.
Trade-off: with lots of chips, an active one can sit off screen. The number on the Filters button helps with that.
2. Sort gets its own spot
Sort sits under the chips, next to the result count: "Sort: Recommended". Tapping it opens a sheet where you pick one option.
Why: you sort one way, but you can stack many filters. Keeping them apart means you can't pick two sorts by accident.
Trade-off: it's one more thing on screen, and it takes a tap to open.
3. Counts before you tap
Every option in a sheet shows how many products you'll get, like "6 payments, 3 products". If an option would give you nothing, it's greyed out and can't be tapped.
Why: nobody should land on an empty page, and you learn what's available just by looking.
Trade-off: this is the most useful change, and probably the hardest one to build, because the counts have to update as you go.
4. Results update in place
When you change a filter, the list stays on screen, fades a little, and a thin bar runs across the top. The full loading skeleton only shows the first time.
Why: you keep your place, and quick taps feel like one change instead of three reloads.
Trade-off: for a split second the list is a little out of date. That's fine as long as it's clear it's loading.
5. A Monthly budget filter
Options like "Up to AED 200 / month". Pick one and you only see what fits.
Why: on Tamara, people don't just ask "how much is it?", they ask "what can I pay each month?". No other shop can offer this filter.
Trade-off: the real monthly amount depends on the plan each person can get, so this needs care in real life.
6. Payment plan as a choice
Payments opens a sheet with Any plan, 4 payments, 6 payments or 12 payments, instead of a single "6+ Payments" chip.
Why: people think in plan lengths, and one fixed chip can't cover all of them.
Trade-off: it's two taps instead of one. The real options should come from Tamara's own plans.
7. Stores / Products switch
Stores is the default and keeps today's layout. Products shows a simple two-column grid with the store under each item.
Why: browsing by store fits how Tamara works. Comparing products side by side fits how people search for a specific thing.
Trade-off: a proper compare view needs the same product from different stores to be matched, which might not be possible yet.
8. A way out of empty results
If nothing matches, the screen says so and offers to clear the filters.
Why: a dead end should always have a next step.
Trade-off: the next step I'd like to try is suggesting which single filter to remove, like "Remove In-store, 1 tablet". That needs one more count per filter.
9. A short sort label
On the screen the sort shows a short name ("Lowest /mo"). The sheet shows the full one ("Lowest monthly payment").
Why: the full name wrapped onto three lines and broke the row.
Trade-off: "Lowest /mo" is a little tight. Happy to change it if the team has a better name.
10. No category row on results
I took it off the results screen.
Why: after you've searched, it takes up space and its job isn't clear. Categories could live inside the Filters sheet instead.
Trade-off: if people use it a lot to jump between categories, this is the first thing I'd test.
11. Radio for one, checkbox for many
Payment plan, Monthly budget and Sort use radio buttons. Brand, Deals and In-store use checkboxes. The Brand sheet also has its own Clear all, which only clears brands.
Why: in my first version everything had the same check mark, so you couldn't tell if you could pick one or many. A circle says one, a square says many.
Trade-off: rows look a bit busier. And since you can't untick a radio, the "Any plan" and "Any amount" options have to stay.