Upwork counteroffers

My role in this project: Lead Content Designer

The challenge: 26% of freelancers ignore or decline clients’ job offers

My contributions: Research, user testing, taxonomy, UX copy, and content strategy

The outcome: A 15.5% reduction in declined offers and 94% offer acceptance

A bit about Upwork

Upwork is a global, two-sided platform that connects businesses and independent professionals across thousands of skill sets, such as software and web development. The core SaaS product includes HR tech and financial services that span the entire lifecycle of a given job contract, from interview to offer to payment across dozens of currencies.

The problem

Before an Upwork contract begins, clients and freelancers need to align on the job offer. Freelancers are usually the subject matter experts on the platform UI and the work itself. This is especially true when working with new clients. And yet, there’s significant friction in this negotiation process, because only clients can create and edit offers on Upwork.

The hypothesis

If freelancers can counter their offers directly in the platform UI, they can negotiate faster and more easily. Furthermore, giving freelancers the ability to directly negotiate offers in the interface will improve contract terms, increase scope alignment, and generally improve contract outcomes.

Key surfaces in this new E2E user flow

Offer SMS

In-product tooltip

Toast with education

Rejection email

Offer notification

Offer email with new feature education

Comparison table

Approval notification

Approval email

Content glossary to establish a controlled vocabulary

Experiment results

15.5% reduction in declined offers

Significantly fewer clients had their offers declined, signaling better alignment on contract terms.

79% approval of counteroffers

A high approval rate indicates that negotiation is mutually beneficial to both clients and freelancers in finding the ideal contract terms.

94% offer acceptance

Nearly all freelancers accepted offers after the client approved their change requests, compared to 80% in the control group.

19.3% increase in offer revisions

Significantly more clients revised their offers, pointing to increased negotiation and better project outcomes.

User verbatims

“This feature is extremely useful and exactly what I have been hoping Upwork would implement! Many clients have trouble executing the steps to change an offer even if there is agreement on the substance.”

—Sam P., Top Rated Plus freelancer

“I do like the feature—I especially like the notification it sends when there are changes made to an offer from the freelancer side.”

—Victoria M., new client

“My experience using this feature was very positive. It was clear and intuitive. I appreciated the simplicity of the process, and it gave me confidence in managing the details of the offer directly.”