I had the opportunity to interview five of the survey participants and we met via Zoom for 30-45 minute sessions. We discussed shopping habits and preferences, technical preferences, and the information they need to feel comfortable about making a purchase. Some highlights from my discussions:
Results from the user survey and interviews as well as market research allowed me to determine our three main competitors. Studying these other apps would allow me to gain insight into the user’s mental model of a transit app as well as see which features we should emulate, as well as those which were missing.
Camera search technology
Users can also upload photos/screenshots
Quick/optional onboarding
Wide range of search results
High success rate for finding similar items in both types of search
Gives user choice in which type of search option to pursue
Clothing only
App crashes often
Unrelated sponsored content in search results
UI so minimal that it looks like something may not have loaded correctly
Designed for use with one hand
Robust social aspects
Customizable to user’s interests
Groups similar images into collections/types for easier browsing
AI suggested items based on search/browsing history
UI seems small at times, cluttered, and possibly inaccessible
Lengthy account creation process
Disorienting videos on splash screen that clash with colors of buttons and hinder accessiblity
Users can list more than clothes
Massive user base
Money back guarantee on purchases
Fast check-out flow
Personalized recommendations
History/likes readily accessible
AI driven suggestions
Global as opposed to local
Small images/cramped UI
No way to compare prices
Search feed shows unavailable/sold items, especially in sorted searches
Lenghty onboarding process before you can even search for items
Many notifications after creating an account
A user flow begins the process of converting our research into actionable screens. I separated these flows into specific actions that users would undertake to reach their goals.
I created some rough sketches based on the user flow diagram which allowed me to test the flow and experiment with some basic layout choices. Using this template was perfect for keeping my sketches in proportion and also allowed me to make a rough paper prototype for a basic usability test before I even digitized the wireframes.
Sketches were used inform the creation of wireframes in Figma. These wireframes serve as the foundation for the future UI and allowed me to conduct some user testing on key features early on, which saved me a lot of work in future iterations.
The onboarding that was a part of the wireframes was moved into a new flow that made it a function of wanting to save an item or add an item to the database. User testing indicated that users wanted to be able to see exactly what this app could do for them without having to go through a sign up process. Once the app was able to help the user, that trust would encourage them to sign up and contribute.
I envisioned the app being as legible and accessible as possible, aiming for a very clean interface that would allow the constantly shifting data to shine through, especially in the chaos of the thrift store.
I created a moodboard based on the environment of secondhand shops coupled with ideas of reuse and sustainability. Primary colors with darker tints give the app a vintage but friendly feel. These colors were cross checked against WEBAIM color standards for accessibility.
I ran preference testing for two moodboards with participants from my survey and they overwhelmingly chose the style tile below.
Since the UI features so much rich photographic content, I went with a simple text based logo featuring a fun, vintage inspired font that is bold enough to stand out without distracting from the content.
For the loading screens I created a simple animation based on some of my illustrations of items research participants mentioned searching for.
User testing was done via Zoom and with Xd'x prototyping feature. I was most interested in ensuring users could easily complete the following tasks:
Overall my test subjects were able to complete these tasks due to familiarty with similar products, but other aspects of the prototype needed to be addressed.
The initial search bar combined the text and visual search functions into one element, reminiscent of the Google search bar. With these features separated, not only was the UI on the homepage cleaner, but users were able to see that they had two search options.
Testing also alerted me to change the way the footer navigation worked on scrolling pages. Before it was at the bottom of the screen at the end of the scroll. For ease of navigation, it was made sticky at the bottom of the screen independent of the scrolling, which was particularly successful in the search results pages.
This prototype is an embedded Xd file and is clickable. This is the same version used for user testing.
This was a great challenge, and I was excited to have the opportunity to apply much more user research and testing with this project than other projects in the past. Even the breifest testing at every step saved me from wasting my time I was able to stay on scope and deliver a minimum viable product that users enjoyed. I was able to experiment with some simple animations to add user delight and was excited to make a product to solve a problem that I personally have.
I also learned I had a bit of trouble applying the color schemes from my mood board into the final product. Negotiating between the mood board and style tile which are static, and the UI of this app which will feature so many random images was very challenging. Lucky for me that design is such an iterative process.
For the next version of this app, I would want to readjust some of the color scheme as well as perform some A/B testing to test for more than just functionality. In future iterations I want to do more research on ALT text best practices and other ways to make the app as accessible as possible.
Questions? Comments?Critiques? Collabrations?
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