TARIFF GUIDE is a tool built to help merchants find applicable tariff rates and Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) codes for goods imported into the United States.

I joined a team of two engineers, one other designer, and one product manager for a two-week sprint using Cursor and Figma

Uncertainty for small businesses

In February 2025, tariff announcements in the US created widespread disruption which affected 56% of Shopify merchants.

Tariff rates fluctuated daily and finding the correct one required manually going through complex government websites, staying up to date with changing regulations, and already knowing the correct HTS codes.

Having this information upfront would help merchants estimate costs accurately, price products fairly, and avoid customs delays or penalties.

Merchants first

We set out to build a standalone resource that could help all merchants identify tariff rates quickly, not just those in Shopify's network. The goal was simple: be clear and be calm so that we can continue to be a trusted partner during times of chaos.

Design considerations

Since the tool was powered by an LLM, we drew inspiration from the conversational simplicity of chat interfaces. That became the foundation of our design system.

We explored a light and approachable visual style with rounded corners, soft shadows and using color to signal system activity. For example, when the model was processing and moving to the next step the background would fade into a different color.