Creps House

Primary Research

User Interview

By understanding the market and potential users, it is time to dig in deeper and get real insights from our users by doing primary research.

Here’s an interview Guide I created to facilitate the user interview process, with 9 questions listed to invite the participants to share their experiences.

5 participants were interviewed about selling or bidding online (if they had any) and if they will use Creps House to buy or sell their trainers.

Assumptions Validated

• People’s shopping experience has changed since the pandemic.

  Validated. Two users mentioned how they’ve become more interested in selling unwanted items online for extra cash. They don’t just want to spend money online but also make extra money.

• People know about our competitors but find some of them too complicated.

  Validated. More people will like a simple platform where they can place bids.

• More people are happy using online websites to sell items rather than throwing them away.

  Validated. People find it easier to sell online rather than face to face.

• People are frustrated by the complexity of selling online.

  Validated. People want a platform that makes it easier to sell online.

• People want trainers to be authenticated.

  Validated. People have had bad experiences buying items online. Some items don’t look the same as the image.
  

Empathy Map

To synthesise the qualitative data gathered from user interviews, I created an empathy map to identify patterns across users, uncover insights and generate needs.

User Persona

My research helped me gather important information about our potential users, as well as their goals and needs. The persona will help to represent key user segments. The person will solve important problems and also to address the major needs of the most important user groups. It is both fictional and realistic (thanks to research).

Here is Lucas, a 27-year-old Content Writer in London. He is a sneaker-head, who enjoys keeping trends with the latest trainers and is very serious about his passion. He wants to turn his passion into a side business.

How Might We.

1. How might we provide useful information for users to find the trainers they are looking for?

2. How might we help users sell their trainers?

3. How might we ensure sellers that their trainers will be seen by everyone else?

4. How might we let users know which trainers are selling the most?

Product Goals

With the solutions that I gathered from ‘How Might We’ questions, I decided to list my project goals as a guidance for the future development of the product.

I summarised user goals from my user persona and empathy map, and established business goals based on our competitors.

Business Goals

1. Charge fees once customer sell their trainers.

2. Ensure sellers trainers are seen by everyone.

3. Quick process to sell trainers.

4. Show amount of trainers selling per brand.

User Goals

1. To make extra money outside work.

2. To build a reputation at selling great trainers.

3. Pay less charging fees.

4. Easy process to sell on the website.

Sitemap

After completing the product goals deciding on which features to include, I want to continue building up the structure using the sitemap. The sitemap helps to visualise the relationship between the content and examine the hierarchy.

Creps House is an upcoming E-commerce platform, I made sure of keeping the sitemap simple and straight to the point.

User Flow

I created a user flow to help me think through what actions users would take based on their feelings with the website. Here is the complete user flow.

Wireframes

Sketching Low-Fidelity Wireframes

In order to help me sketch out my ideas, I created a UI Requirement Document with a to-do list for sketching the key screens identified in the user flow. I start sketching low-fidelity pages. Sketching always helps to examine my ideas before moving on to the next process.

Mid Fidelity Wireframes

Upon completing my visual direction of the layout, I started to add more details and precisions to the sketches by turning them into mid-fidelity wireframes.

Mid-fidelity wireframes always help me to focus on the visual consistency and hierarchy before applying styles. I tried to incorporate common design patterns that have been tested on my competitor’s website. I also included elements that directly address the user's goals, needs and motivations.

In order to ensure that users have a consistent experience across different devices, I created responsive wireframes for desktop and mobile.

High-Fidelity Wireframes

My next process was to design the high fidelity wireframes. I had to make sure that I was consistent with my designs, as well as typography and ensuring that the colours used for the design were accessible for all users.

Style Guide

I developed a visual style guide for Creps House. The style guide helped to serve as a guide for creative ideas and inspirations. I incorporated the logo design, typography, colour palette and imagery that brings the visual element to life.

Branding

To get a better understanding of the brand, I first created a mood board for inspirations around the attributes that summarised the product goals and features. I made sure to keep the number of attributes to bare minimum in order for Creps House to stand out from our competitors.

• Creative

• Minimalist

• Sporty

Logo

I created several logos to help choose the right logo that will fit the brand the way I imagined it. I took inspiration from other known brands such as StockX. My goal was to keep the logo simple and be appealing enough to attract more users. I believe this logo reflects the brand value properly.

Usability Testing

Prepare for the Usability Testing

Before I started testing, It was important for me to set up test objectives, subjects and tasks, which I believe will help me and the participants. Therefore, I wrote a usability testing plan to help define what and why the test is important.

I expect a 100% completion rate since the tasks are basic steps for an E-commerce platform. I do expect some errors because the prototype is not fully functioning and also users might take alternatives that have not been built up.

Conduct Usability Testing

I conducted in-person usability testing with 5 participants, and created transcripts based on my observation of their interaction with the prototype. I wrote down mistakes and confusions they expressed in the process. This transcript is a perfect for summarising the user’s patterns with the prototype.

Usability Test Results Summarised

• Patterns

1. 2-5 users tried to sign up instead of logging in.

2. 4-5 users browse the homepage before they make any decision.

3. 3-5 commented on why the buy or bid button was the same.

• Insights

1. The buy or bid button should be separate.

2. Users want to know how to go back once they’ve completed their task.

3. Users expect an automatic redirection to the Dashboard after selling or buying an item.

• Recommendations

1. Change the Buy or Bid button

2. Add to Basket button for those buying items

3. Have an About page
   
   

Prototype

Final Thoughts

Based on the final prototype I created, I believe my goals were met, I added features based on my user’s needs. Furthermore, I will be looking to continue iterating this project, as I believe there are many features that could benefit the platform but it’s also important to continue having user’s feedback. Their feedback will help me to continue building this platform in order to satisfy their needs.