Project Brief
Timeline
May - July 2022 (7 weeks)
Role
UX Designer and Researcher
Tools
Adobe XD, Google Meet
Context
Project for the UX Design Master's program
at Maryland Institute College of Art
Skills
UX Research
Personas
Prototyping
Usability Testing
Faculty Advisor
Kafi Waters
Problem
Etsy buyers need assistance with purchasing a unique gift because Etsy's catalog of shops and items can be overwhelming and can take hours to browse through. How might we aid buyers with comparing their options when planning their gift so they can make their purchasing decisions more quickly and decisively?
Etsy is an e-commerce platform, founded in 2005. Etsy's products are its website and mobile app. They offer sellers a platform to create their own digital storefront and sell their unique products to buyers looking for specialty items. These items can range from handmade craft goods to vintage products.
Solution
Planning Board is a feature for Etsy that allows users to save and compare various products side by side.
Approach
User Survey and Interviews
To understand my target audience's needs, pain points, and goals.
Personas and User Flow
To empathize with the target audience and understand their future state journey.
Sketches
To brainstorm solutions to the target audience's problem.
Wireflows, Prototyping, and Usability Testing
To outline, create, and test the usability of my product's features to help achieve my target audience's needs and goals.
Persona & User Flow
I created Persona and User flow to get an understanding of my target audience and their pain points.
Sketches
Based on my research, it was clear that there needed to be an enhanced visual hierarchy and feature that would allow buyers to have a dedicated and organized space for the comparison of saved items.
Usability Testing
Methodology
•4 moderated tests
•Google Meet
Participants
•4 women and 1 man
•Ages 20- Late 30s
•Ages 20- Late 30s
Objectives
To understand whether the addition of this new feature will be useful in aiding both viewers’ and streamers’ in maintaining their entertainment and community building needs.
Buyer Insights
Across the board, all participants gave positive feedback on the overall experience and interactions. Buyers would describe the features as clean, easy, and helpful. Comparison space prevented users from having multiple tabs open.
Users expressed wanting to use the planning boards for personal projects or as a wishlist.
The average number of items users would like to compare was 4 items.
There was an emphasis on potential sharing capabilities.
Users wanted another method to add items to the space to aid in adding lower-listed items easier.
“It's like Etsy meets Pinterest”
"I would use this, especially for holiday shopping"
Final Prototype
Reflections
Focus on Feedback
During testing, users were keen to see the finer details I missed that could aid in refining the feature
Focus on Buyer's experience
DuThere was great value in taking the Buyer's experience into account, as it felt like Etsy was a Seller-first platform
Peer feedback
Getting feedback from peers allowed me to further my design thinking from an outside and different perspective
What I'd do differently
Keep in mind various desktop devices
During interviews, users had various devices that I did not account for, i.e. Microsoft Surface, and MacBook Air.
Take time to go through Buyer's journey
This would allow additional user flows to account for features that would be more beneficial to the buyer's experience
Users expressed interest in collaboration abilities with others
