Product design

Product design

Product design

Swapp

Swapp

Simple method to exchange your unused household goods for something fresh via barter.

Simple method to exchange your unused household goods for something fresh via barter.

Simple method to exchange your unused household goods for something fresh via barter.

View prototype

Project overview

Swapp allows users in proximity to swap items in a digital marketplace by bartering their own items of choice that they do not find purpose for anymore in their household.

By digitalizing the barter marketplace and creating one environment for a money-free economy, Swapp can help to reduce waste emissions in production globally as well as save money for each individual using this app.

Challange exploration

The problem

For historical and social reasons barter has been a widely used practice around Latvia.
Barter channels can be many different ones. Starting from basic physical closets, where people leave their unwanted household items and take something in exchange. Nowadays many different Facebook groups for neighbourhoods or cities. Those are just two, there are many more types of barter channels between Latvians, which makes the barter economy scattered, which therefore renders it to be less productive than it could be.

The solution

A user-friendly mobile application which conveniently allows for an everyday city inhabitant to find and trade items on a daily basis.

The timeline

September - November, 2023

The process

  • Scope and Research

  • Personas and User Stories

  • Wireframing

  • Hi-fi design

  • Further considerations

The scope

Initially, the project idea was born as a solution for a Sustainability Hackaton in Riga in the fall of 2023. This concept was developed by me. It will also soon be available on different application marketplaces.

Scope and research

The research scope was created by combining several selected research methods. The selection includes:


  1. General research about sustainability initiatives in Latvia

  2. Competitor analysis

  3. User Interviews

The research scope was created by combining several selected research methods. The selection includes:


  1. General research about sustainability initiatives in Latvia

  2. Competitor analysis

  3. User Interviews

The research scope was created by combining several selected research methods. The selection includes:


  1. General research about sustainability initiatives in Latvia

  2. Competitor analysis

  3. User Interviews

General research has shown - Latvians love to barter their old goods!

We have Countless Facebook groups for exchanging products, we have a site called atdot.lv, which allows us to publish our swappable items. We also have several physical locations, which allow people to drop by, explore what is available, and swap their items on the spot. And of course, each autumn, once the pickles and jams and other conserved goods are ready to hibernate in our basements, we tend to swap between friends and family as well.

However, with all these options available most of the interviewed users (7/10 people) do not consider having any routines regarding their barter habits. The most common way of exchanging goods is simply to exchange between friends and family, as the existing solutions tend to be unusable due to different reasons. (Read below.)

What is more, most (9/10 respondents) think that with an easy-to-use product for berter, they would see a benefit for bartering on a bi-daily or daily basis.

Personas

In order to lay out my research findings in a more concise and actionable way and have a better overview for the stakeholders, I decided to create two User Personas - Lana and Alexis.

In order to lay out my research findings in a more concise and actionable way and have a better overview for the stakeholders, I decided to create two User Personas - Lana and Alexis.

In order to lay out my research findings in a more concise and actionable way and have a better overview for the stakeholders, I decided to create two User Personas - Lana and Alexis.

User stories

Based on the research results I had set myself a couple of goals I wanted to reach with this project.

To fulfill the business and technical requirements, I also created lists for those requirements, however as those are typically not user-facing requirements, we will leave those lists out of here to keep it clean!

To make sure I include all user needs in the best way possible I was tracking my work with the User Stories added below.

Based on the research results I had set myself a couple of goals I wanted to reach with this project.

To fulfill the business and technical requirements, I also created lists for those requirements, however as those are typically not user-facing requirements, we will leave those lists out of here to keep it clean!

To make sure I include all user needs in the best way possible I was tracking my work with the User Stories added below.

Based on the research results I had set myself a couple of goals I wanted to reach with this project.

To fulfill the business and technical requirements, I also created lists for those requirements, however as those are typically not user-facing requirements, we will leave those lists out of here to keep it clean!

To make sure I include all user needs in the best way possible I was tracking my work with the User Stories added below.

  • As a user, I would like to be able to barter my items in a dynamic and modern way.

  • As a user, I would like to be able to see what items are available without leaving my home.

  • As a user, I would like to be able to choose trustworthy sellers and good items to barter.

  • As a user, I would like to be able to manage my item exchanges in a relatively short period without hesitation.

  • As a user, I would like to be able to barter my items without leaving my home.

  • As a user, I would like to be able to have a nice selection of items I could barter with.

  • As a user, I would like to be able to be engaged in the barter community daily.

  • As a user, I would like to be able to view the sustainability impact of the item swaps that have happened.

  • As a user, I would like to be able to view the items that I would actually be interested in buying only if needed.

Wireframing

I will have to be honest, wireframing isn't always my first choice of action when getting to the design phase, like most designers, I also like to jump straight into the UI part and create my concepts right away, simply because I think I will be saving some time. (Which unfortunately isn't always the case :) ).

However, as this time the product/user/business requirements list is getting a little out of hand, I wanted to be sure I have my application skeleton and all the functionalities in place before I jump to designing.

These wireframes are almost a 1:1 copy of the high-fidelity design you can view in the Figma prototype, with a few extra changes I am noting here below.

I will have to be honest, wireframing isn't always my first choice of action when getting to the design phase, like most designers, I also like to jump straight into the UI part and create my concepts right away, simply because I think I will be saving some time. (Which unfortunately isn't always the case :) ).

However, as this time the product/user/business requirements list is getting a little out of hand, I wanted to be sure I have my application skeleton and all the functionalities in place before I jump to designing.

These wireframes are almost a 1:1 copy of the high-fidelity design you can view in the Figma prototype, with a few extra changes I am noting here below.

I will have to be honest, wireframing isn't always my first choice of action when getting to the design phase, like most designers, I also like to jump straight into the UI part and create my concepts right away, simply because I think I will be saving some time. (Which unfortunately isn't always the case :) ).

However, as this time the product/user/business requirements list is getting a little out of hand, I wanted to be sure I have my application skeleton and all the functionalities in place before I jump to designing.

These wireframes are almost a 1:1 copy of the high-fidelity design you can view in the Figma prototype, with a few extra changes I am noting here below.

  • In hi-fi prototype, in comparison with wireframes, the user is able to upload a new item also when making a Swapp offer to another user.

  • In the homepage, under made and received offers, user can view all of their items that are uploaded in the application.

  • Statistics section in the hi-fi prototype allows the user to filter their results based on a specific time scale of their choice.

  • Hi-fi prototype has more added statistics KPI's to increase user engagement and motivation to participate.

  • And after more consideration some design patterns have been changed, without losing any of the app's functionalities. (e.g. using dimples rather than a slider for picture carousels.)

High-fidelity design

A high-fidelity design was created based on the wireframes with a few additions discussed in the Wireframing section. Below I will showcase the screens, however, to experience the full functionality and feel of the design, please view the interactive prototype.

A high-fidelity design was created based on the wireframes with a few additions discussed in the Wireframing section. Below I will showcase the screens, however, to experience the full functionality and feel of the design, please view the interactive prototype.

A high-fidelity design was created based on the wireframes with a few additions discussed in the Wireframing section. Below I will showcase the screens, however, to experience the full functionality and feel of the design, please view the interactive prototype.

Further considerations

All in all, the application is in it's early development stages and in order to be sure of it's UX validity, it should be thoroughly tested with possible users.

Testing framework should involve the following questions:

  1. Card sorting - ask user to group products in respective groups to get insight on how the user considers product groups, so the experience when opening the application can be truly tailored to their expected experience.

  2. Application testing should focus on

    1. Onboarding

      1. Are all the used terms clear to the user, are their expectations reached?

      2. Will the user be engaged to set up their profile before entering the application, do they realize the need of uploading the item before exploring the In-app functionalities?

    2. In-app experience

      1. Does the UI successfully replicate the "swiping pattern" used accross other applications (e.g. Tinder)?

      2. Does the user see the benefit of using this application? Where and how does that benefit appear?

      3. Can the user successfully find the most important functionalities

        1. Add new item

        2. View offers (given/received)

        3. Can the user find an item they want and make an offer on it?

All in all, the application is in it's early development stages and in order to be sure of it's UX validity, it should be thoroughly tested with possible users.

Testing framework should involve the following questions:

  1. Card sorting - ask user to group products in respective groups to get insight on how the user considers product groups, so the experience when opening the application can be truly tailored to their expected experience.

  2. Application testing should focus on

    1. Onboarding

      1. Are all the used terms clear to the user, are their expectations reached?

      2. Will the user be engaged to set up their profile before entering the application, do they realize the need of uploading the item before exploring the In-app functionalities?

    2. In-app experience

      1. Does the UI successfully replicate the "swiping pattern" used accross other applications (e.g. Tinder)?

      2. Does the user see the benefit of using this application? Where and how does that benefit appear?

      3. Can the user successfully find the most important functionalities

        1. Add new item

        2. View offers (given/received)

        3. Can the user find an item they want and make an offer on it?

All in all, the application is in it's early development stages and in order to be sure of it's UX validity, it should be thoroughly tested with possible users.

Testing framework should involve the following questions:

  1. Card sorting - ask user to group products in respective groups to get insight on how the user considers product groups, so the experience when opening the application can be truly tailored to their expected experience.

  2. Application testing should focus on

    1. Onboarding

      1. Are all the used terms clear to the user, are their expectations reached?

      2. Will the user be engaged to set up their profile before entering the application, do they realize the need of uploading the item before exploring the In-app functionalities?

    2. In-app experience

      1. Does the UI successfully replicate the "swiping pattern" used accross other applications (e.g. Tinder)?

      2. Does the user see the benefit of using this application? Where and how does that benefit appear?

      3. Can the user successfully find the most important functionalities

        1. Add new item

        2. View offers (given/received)

        3. Can the user find an item they want and make an offer on it?

Regardless of these testing results in the next Iteration phase the following should be considered:

  1. Security - the possibility to report unwanted behavior, such as inappropriate item placement or communication.

  2. Engagement and transparency - Introduce the possibility to rate happened swapps, to ensure users are being objective about their item conditions as well as always communicate with respect toward others.

Regardless of these testing results in the next Iteration phase the following should be considered:

  1. Security - the possibility to report unwanted behavior, such as inappropriate item placement or communication.

  2. Engagement and transparency - Introduce the possibility to rate happened swapps, to ensure users are being objective about their item conditions as well as always communicate with respect toward others.

Regardless of these testing results in the next Iteration phase the following should be considered:

  1. Security - the possibility to report unwanted behavior, such as inappropriate item placement or communication.

  2. Engagement and transparency - Introduce the possibility to rate happened swapps, to ensure users are being objective about their item conditions as well as always communicate with respect toward others.

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I am always happy to hear constructive feedback or cool ideas. Let's chat!

I am always happy to hear constructive feedback or cool ideas. Let's chat!