About the Project

Project Overview: 
The coronavirus pandemic has led to a socio-economic crisis, social isolation, and a movement for social justice. To support this important movement we saw a disparity between the existing platforms as their mission. The different selling platforms encourage long-distance shipping, reselling thrift items, and tampering with prices.

Hackathon Theme: 
The theme of the hackathon was “Embracing the New”. This means embracing new ways of thinking, new perspectives, and new ways of doing things.

Duration:
24 hr Hackathon

Project Type: 
UX Design, Mobile Design, Hackathon

My Role: 
UX Designer, UI Designer

Tools: 
Figma, Miro

Group:
Nicole Fendi, Delaney Edwards, Meher Chand

As a huge fan of the show Seinfeld, the episode "The Jacket" has always fascinated me. It showcases the stark contrast in consumer behavior between the past and present. In the episode, Seinfeld purchases a costly jacket and gives his old one to Kramer, feeling that he only needs one jacket. If this were to be filmed today, it is uncertain if Seinfeld would even purchase such a pricey jacket, and it's doubtful that he would be content with only owning one.

Mentioning this theory sparked a realization in my group about our obsession with material possessions and the damaging impact of fast fashion.

Initial Ideation:

The Shocking Truth Found from Research

Fast fashion is unsustainable and has significant negative impacts on both people and the planet. Supporting more sustainable and ethical fashion practices is crucial for creating a better future.

Labor practices:

  • Workers in the fast fashion industry often earn less than a living wage and work in poor conditions.

  • In some cases, workers are subjected to forced labor and human trafficking.

Environmental Impact:

  • The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of annual global carbon emissions, which is more than international flights and maritime shipping combined.

  • The production of a single T-shirt can use up to 2,700 liters of water.

  • Approximately 85% of textiles end up in landfills or are incinerated, which contributes to air and soil pollution.

Considering the results of our research, we conducted a brainstorming session where we jotted down eight ideas in eight minutes. Afterward, we discussed and evaluated these ideas, focusing on the ones that generated the most excitement and had the potential to create the greatest impact. We then cast our votes for the ideas that we felt the most strongly about.

Brainstorming

Target Users:

Sierra (21)
Lifestyle and fashion Youtuber/Tik toker at UW looking for new clothes to wear.

Needs and Values:

  • Sierra is always looking for ways to expand her wardrobe and feels like she can’t wear the same outfits to parties.

  • Sierra wants to inspire her followers to also shop locally and limit their purchases from fast fashion companies such as Shein, Zara, and H&M.

Mia (42)
A mother with 3 kids, looking for ways to live a more sustainable lifestyle for her and her family.

Needs and Values:

  • Because her kids keep growing, Mia notices purchasing new clothes often is inevitable. To limit her carbon footprint and the money she spends, she is looking for ways to get new clothes in a sustainable matter.

  • Mia is currently redecorating her house, she hopes to find new unique pieces to put up.

User Research

Our user research process involved each team member conducting two interviews with their friends and family to gather feedback on our problem statement and initial idea. Through these interviews, we discovered that many users want to purchase clothes sustainably but find it challenging and costly.

Out of the six individuals we interviewed:

  • Four mentioned the high prices of items in thrift stores.

  • Two reported feeling unsafe when using Facebook Marketplace.

  • They all said they are open to the idea of trade

Market Research

Depop

Features:
Built-in chat system, user profiles, searchable hashtags, and easy listing process

Pain points:
Shipping costs and concerns about item authenticity, overprice, and shipping is bad for the environment

Facebook Market Place

Features:
Local pick-up option, direct messaging, product categorization, and ability to leverage Facebook's social network

Pain points:
Limited seller protections, the potential for scams or fraud, and lack of specialized niche market, safety risk

Thrift shops

Features:
In-person browsing and try-ons, low prices, unique and vintage items, and the ability to support local charities or causes.

Pain points:
Limited selection, lack of convenience, time-consuming search process, high cost

Drawings & Wire Frames:

User workflow:

  1. Aviv looks for and finds a shirt he wants

  2. Aviv taps the “I’d Like to Trade” bottom. The app then prompts a direct message between Aviv and the individual who owns the item of interest. Pre-written messages to save time and limit social anxiety.

  3. The owner of the item can now look at Aviv’s inventory and see what goods they might be interested in. They select the items they want for the shirt.

  4. Aviv can then see what the user wants for the shirt and decides whether

  5. The owner would like to trade. Aviv then sends the user a preselected location to meet up to trade.

Features:

Trade instead of buy:
The community of users is enabled to exchange items they no longer need in a convenient and effortless manner. They can effortlessly peruse a range of items on the Explore page, and initiate a trade with just a simple tap.

The process is simple: find a desired item, receive an offer, and arrange a meeting to complete the trade.

Pre-filled Chats:
We developed a straightforward and streamlined method for initiating contact with other users by creating pre-populated chats. This approach supports users who may feel nervous about initiating contact and creates a smooth and efficient experience for both participants in the conversation.

Pre-approved meetup locations:
To enhance safety and productivity, we have introduced pre-selected meetup locations. This allows users to easily select a location for their meetup, as the insights we got showed that finding a suitable place can be a challenge, based on our analysis of Craigslist.

Star Rating:
Due to safety concerns, similar to Uber and Lyft, we have decided to add an accountability feature in our platform. Now, after a trade, both sides can rate each other. This is to ensure they are satisfied with the product and the trade experience.

 Takeaways:

  • I thoroughly enjoyed collaborating with my team although the tight deadline. Despite pulling an all-nighter, we made the most of it and had a great time.

  • We quickly realized the significance and value of mentor feedback, which proved to be immensely helpful.

  • Managing screen consistency while working in a team can be a challenge, but thanks to our constant communication, using components, and our design library, we were able to overcome it.

  • Developing multiple user personas was instrumental in visualizing the user experience and identifying the issues that our app needed to address.

  • Given more time, we would have made some modifications to the app. Specifically, we would replace the word "Trade" with "Swap" to reduce its association with financial transactions.

My amazing hackathon team.