01. Define - The Problem
College students are not effectively utilizing their unused items, failing to find practical ways to repurpose them...
College students, especially UC San Diego students, face difficulties in obtaining necessary resources and disposing of unused items. They also have concerns regarding security and safety while using online marketplace platforms. This creates a gap in both the access to resources and a secure and safe platform for buying and selling goods.
02. Define - The Solution
Our goal was to provide college students with a secure and cost-effective second-hand platform, empowering them to transact with ease and peace of mind...
Our aim is to provide college students with a secure and cost-effective platform for accessing the second-hand items they need. We prioritize their safety and convenience by addressing their concerns related to security and affordability. By doing so, we empower them to obtain the necessary resources without incurring any unnecessary expenses.
03. User Research - Interviews
To gain a better understanding of students' struggles and how we can help them better repurpose their unused items, we conducted both user interviews and user surveys.
We reached out to 20 (8 males & 12 females) UC San Diego students to participate in one-on-one interviews...
Some of the questions we asked them included:
- Can you tell us about your experiences with accessing the resources you need on campus?
- What concerns do you have when using online marketplace platforms to buy or sell items?
- How do you think a platform that connects UCSD students to second-hand resources and items could benefit the community?
Key Insights Derived
From these one-on-one interviews, we learned that UC San Diego students experience and need:
User Research - Surveys
To further validate our findings, we conducted a user research survey with 38 UC San Diego students in which we received...
Final Findings
Based on all of our user findings, most of our interviewees expressed two main challenges and concerns they have while using second-hand marketplaces which are...
04. Empathize - Personas
To better comprehend our users' pain points and frustrations, we developed two user personas (one primary and one secondary). These personas enable us to concentrate on our users' requirements and devise solutions to address their issues.
Primary Persona
Meet Jake, a budget-conscious student who seeks a platform that is accessible and provides necessary resources. He values convenience and efficiency, and wants a secure environment for exchanging second-hand items.
Secondary Persona
Meet Maria, a full time student who seeks a user-friendly and secure platform that offers high-quality second-hand items, designed with eco-friendliness in mind.
Empathy Map
By creating an empathy map, we were able to better understand our target audience by encouraging us to view our users needs, challenges, and motivations through their perspective, which led us to gain insights that inform the development of an effective solution.
Competitive Analysis
To gain insight into our competitors and identify areas for improvement, we conducted a competitive analysis of three leading second-hand market companies: Facebook, Depop, and Etsy.
After analyzing the top 3 popular apps related to our project idea, we discovered a gap in their safety measures during transactions, providing an opportunity for our platform to prioritize safety and security.
05. Paper & Low Fidelity Wireframes
To jumpstart our design process, we began by sketching out a few paper wireframes before moving onto low-fi and high-fi prototypes. This approach allowed us to capture our initial ideas quickly and visually communicate them to others. By starting with paper wireframes, we were able to experiment with different layouts and iterate on our concepts without committing to more time-consuming and detailed designs. This approach gave us the freedom to test out multiple solutions and refine our ideas before investing more resources into the design process. Overall, paper wireframes provided an effective and efficient way to ideate and collaborate as a team, enabling us to create better designs in less time.
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Low Fidelity Wireframes
In Figma, we produced low-fidelity prototypes that facilitated rapid and cost-effective testing of our concepts and ideas. These prototypes aided in conveying the fundamental functionality and design of the product, without requiring a completely polished, finalized product. This approach allowed us to receive early feedback from users and make necessary changes before committing significant resources to high-fidelity development.
Low Fidelity Usability Testing
By leveraging low-fidelity prototypes in Figma, we were able to efficiently and cost-effectively test our product ideas and concepts. This allowed us to communicate the fundamental functionality and design of our product without investing significant resources in high-fidelity development. After conducting usability testing on 20 individuals at UC San Diego, we found that this user flow was the most effective for our participants.
In addition to being the most effective, our participants also found this information architecture to be intuitive and easy to use. We observed that they were able to complete tasks efficiently and without confusion, which indicates that the design is user-friendly. Furthermore, the feedback we received from the testing allowed us to iterate and improve on the design before investing resources in high-fidelity development. Overall, the low-fi prototypes were a valuable tool in validating our design decisions and ensuring a successful product.
During our low-fidelity usability testing, we found that participants struggled with finding profiles' ratings and reviews. As a result, we made sure to address this issue in our high-fidelity prototypes to improve the overall user experience.
07. High Fidelity Wireframes
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Style Guide
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