Designing bartering experiences where people can trade goods, skills & services.
Bartering is a powerful community builder, and in a densely populated city like New York, the pandemic made the disconnect between neighbors apparent. During the pandemic lockdown, Xi’an residents in China turned to WhatsApp to barter supplies within the same building as resources started dwindling down. How might we foster community building through trading goods?
Timeline
2022 (2 months)
Role
Product Designer
Home Page / Messaging / Confirm Trade
- Seamlessly showcased a variety of available trades with filters on top for easy navigation
-Pre-selected messaging prompts help facilitate initial conversations
-GPS determines public meeting spaces, eliminating the back-and-forth on where to meet
Usability Feedback
“ Everything is clear and visually appealing. I had no issues navigating from one screen to the next. I appreciate the pre-selected messaging prompts because I’m not sure how to start the conversation with a stranger.”
Confirmation / Map / Rate User
-Confirmation page with options to cancel, message the trader, and view the public meeting spot on a map
-Accountability: When the trader next signs into the app, a smiley rating system will indicate whether the trade went well or not
Usability Feedback
“I like the emojis for rating instead of the 5 star rating because it simplifies the overall process.”
Service Design / Customer Journey
-Considers touchpoint between Tradesies and the user experience
-Showcases the registration process & user dashboard
-Goes through the flow of the user creating a new post
Usability Feedback
“The dashboard is helpful by showing stats of how many views the trades are getting, and I like the simplicity of the “create a post.”
Tablet design: Scaling up from mobile provided more opportunity to showcase additional items like map of current location and displaying tips for a positive trade experience.
How can we create an exchange without money while teaching community building and support at the same time?Relevant research insights
01/ Pain Point
Users dislike the idea of meeting up at each others homes for exchanges.
“How might we prioritize safety so that users can have a positive experience during the exchange?”
02/ Pain Point
Users are often annoyed during the negotiation process because it takes too long.
“How might we focus on accessibility for the user to ensure clear communication throughout the process to avoid confusion?
03/ Pain Point
Users liked the idea of being friendly with their neighbors but are unsure of how they can get to know them.
“How might we foster a positive environment for the user so that they can find common ground with their neighbor during the exchange?
High level goals
After the interviews, I created an affinity map to converge our findings. I discarded the idea of showcasing community events, as most users disliked non-trading engagement aspects.
01/ Prioritize Safety
Direct traders to a public meet up location based on their current locations to avoid meet ups at their homes. Also providing safety tips and best trading practices on the app.
02/ Make it Accountable
Focus on accountability and ensures all communication to be done through Tradesies.
03/ Make it Accessible
Help guide the bartering process by requiring a clear explanation of trade being offered in order to eliminate any unwanted surprises.
Understanding the market
Synthesis: App map
Tradesies will be a bartering only platform for a unique experience while prioritizing location based trades and keeping user safety in mind.
I created an app map to further understand how the users will navigate the main user flow in order to inform my design decisions on the overall structure.
Mobile iterations
All designs for iOS were created following Apple’s HIG guidelines when applicable. This helps streamline the development process and creates a better user experience.
Home (Wireframe > Hi-Fi Iteration > Final)
❗ “Am I searching through the entire app or just for trades?”
The search bar caused initial confusion for users so I re-visited the hierarchy of the layout.
❗ “Where does the back arrow take me back to?”
The back arrow is removed from the final iteration because there was no need to go back once you’re logged in.
✅ Filters were clear, slight modifications in terms of spacing for the final design.
Message (Wireframe > Hi-Fi Iteration > Final)
❌ “I thought the confirm trade button was the send button. When do I use that button vs. the send button in the chat box?”
This screen was a challenge because my attempt to streamline the exchange process ended up making it more cumbersome.
Tablet dashboard iterations
Lo-Fi Iteration
❌ What users said: Vertical navigation bar was quickly abandoned as it took up too much real estate.
✅ What I did: With this feedback, I proceed to create my first round of hi-fi iterations with changes before doing another round of usability testing.
Hi-Fi Iteration
❌ What users said: There are too many trades listed throughout the dashboard and users don’t know where to look.
❌ What users said: “Popular Near You” felt like spam and would not browse.
Final Design
✅ Carousel style cards for each trade are enlarged to address information overload and to avoid overwhelming the user.
✅ Search bar features auto suggestions to help users predict based on entered characters with a limit cap at no more than 10 auto suggestions to not overwhelm the user.
✅ Cleaned up the overall layout for a cohesive experience.
Design handoff example
Learnings & next steps
Usability Testing is Key
Every time I thought I was settled on a design idea, I would do a round of usability testing to confirm but would end up re-iterating to make the concept better.
It’s Okay to Pivot
At the start of the project, my teammates and I had the intention of prioritizing the community bonding/social interaction aspect of this app by using bartering as a tool. After our user interviews and new findings, we quickly abandoned this approach and re-evaluated the new priorities.
What about Monetization?
-Raise funds by aligning with a foundation and their grants
-Exist under an umbrella of a mutual aid, non-profit
-Utilize crowdfunding platforms