UI/UX User-Centered Design
The second project we’ve had to complete online was a research project designed with the user in mind. For this project, my team had to research the future of retail to fond gaps that could be filled. To collect this data, we surveyed almost 40 people and interviewed 6. Out of those 6 interviews, one was a gallery owner and one was a local store in NYC called Cafe Forgot.
We discovered a hole: online shopping doesn’t translate the experience of going in a store. Like not at all…
The journey map is a timeline of a users journey while shopping. The red box refers to the two areas we are trying to reinvent. To push for an experience online that promotes a personal connection and discovery of new products.
Below is a landscape map of our “competition”. Essentially, there are two types of online shopping platforms. Ones that regulate their sellers too much, like Bloomingdales and Violet Grey, and ones like eBay or Craigslist that don’t regulate their sellers at all, allowing them to sell things from the very first day upon making an account.
In the vertical axis, we have the amount of discovery; this is the ease of discovering new products that are unrelated to the products you are currently looking at. This is done well with unregulated sellers because they are allowed to sell anything at all. On the other hand, platforms that curate their products don’t have much discovery, as they don’t give the sellers room to breathe and experiment.
However, none of these platforms match our vision. We want to redefine the marketplace. Primarily, we want to focus on the experience of shopping and translate the emotions that you get when you enter a store in person. The market is changing, things are different. This is an exciting new space that has recently evolved into existence.
Spot!
The Opportunity
Discovery! Redefine the way we shop on our mobile phones!
Changing the way we mobile shop will bring more context to our products, it will attach a face and an idea to an object. Sustainability and transparency. It will bring attention to smaller, local stores that don’t get enough of it, and it will hopefully force bigger stores to adapt to similar methods and, ultimately, help save the planet.
It will make shopping online much more entertaining and translate the experience of shopping in-person better. It will also help small business owners sell their products and establish a name for themselves.
The Solution
An exploration-based mobile shopping platform that...
Focuses on transparency, connecting producers with consumers and discovery of sustainable, local products with an...
Apple watch inspired exploration feature that allows the user to scan through inventory in a satisfying and informative way.
Quick walk through
When you swipe up on the bottom menu, a box designed to be used with your thumb appears. This box is designed to allow the user to catch a glimpse of everything in stock, similar to how you would in a store you just you walked in. The algorithm takes into account local stores with inventory in your area, popular products in this category and recommended products for the user. Thus, redefining mobile product-based exploration adventure.
Click me to try the prototype!
or