— PLATFORM
App
— ROLE & RESPONSIBILITIES
Individual project
(Bootcamp)
Research
Ideation
Definition
Prototype
Usability Test
Branding
— TIMEFRAME
3 weeks
February 2020
Locart, a digital tool where you can buy products with special prices, find events near you and share collaborative proposals with your neighbors.
This case study explores a way to support local shops affected by the health crisis.
Play the prototype
Below you will find 3 videos with the main flows:
Offers, events and collaborations
Design Process
Process overview
The challenge
The health crisis caused by the pandemic has left local stores in a difficult position. Small businesses suffer the most from these consequences, as they are directly dependent on the restrictions.
In Spain, more than 450,000 retail businesses operate, employing more than 1.3 million workers, and 52.5% of these small business establishments had to take out loans of some kind to survive (Data from the Spanish Confederation of Commerce).
Where to
start?
Defining the main goal:
Create a revitalizing economic tool that, at the same time, serves as a meeting point for neighbors and shop owners.
Why do people shop local?
According to a survey published by Statista Research (Dec 8, 2020), the most important reasons why users choose to shop locally are proximity and product quality. However, they find limited product variety and uncompetitive prices.
Yet there is another side of the coin. Many initiatives have emerged regarding the digitalization of local commerce with features that depend on the community’s needs and culture.
How can I validate that the shops in my neighborhood would register on a digital platform?
To answer this question, I registered on the Nextdoor App, digging into how this platform works and taking it as a reference.
Then, I launched the question (Using the Catalan, of course!). 80% thought it was a good idea (42 answers).
Users
The user turned out to be very heterogeneous regarding lifestyle and needs. We could find a person who is new to the neighborhood, a busy mother or the owner of that bar who has been there since forever. Following on from this, we defined two user groups: The neighbor and the shop owner; identifying specific needs.
On the other hand, the local context had to be considered in order to define the user. This is where the community's needs and culture came in, as mentioned above.
Les Corts map, Barcelona. Radiografía veinal Les Corts , an article that helped me understand more about the local context.
Studying the local context allowed me to define the users that would serve as archetypes. As a result, the audience is segmented in a more specific way.
User personas, Empathy map and Protojourney
Findings
Looking at all the data collected and the user´s pain points, it was important to consider the following:
Solutions
So, How might we…?
After brainstorming possible features, I used the MoSCoW method to prioritize those that were most needed by users.
Design
Architecture
How is the content going to be organized?
Based on the solutions identified above, the content of our app is divided into 3 main categories:
1. Products and services with special prices
2. Collaborations
3. Events
Wireframes- Task flow
Architecture and user flows
Branding and style guide
The visual identity of the Locart was designed to create a sense of warmth and a feeling of belonging to the community, with the use of images of the people of the neighborhood and a color palette of cool and warm pastel tones.
Locart, words combination between Local (belonging to a place) and cart (shopping cart).
Style
User interface
The UI elements were designed considering technical requirements that would help usability and development, such as the size of buttons, typography hierarchy, and definition of primary and secondary colors.
High fidelity wireframes
Testing
Within the sales category, the user has the option to generate a list of favorite items and add them to the cart to make the purchase. We defined this path as a "task" for testing with users as a first approach.
The results obtained showed that it was important to:
- Prioritize tab bar buttons. To minimize the cognitive load and give more visual emphasis to the icons, the color of the tab bar was changed.
- Change the location of some tab bar buttons, such as the secondary menu. Also add "My events" and "Messages" buttons.
- Give visual emphasis to the favorites icon over image.
- Move the location of offers, events and collaborations filters to the lower area of the screen for easier accessibility, so that the user can manage them with one hand.
Conclusions
This is only a first approach presented as a future concept. To continuing with this case study, it would be necessary to keep on testing with users and to define the shop owner’s user flow.
In the meantime, I will keep this learnings:
Let the research be the guide. And this was perhaps what I found most challenging. Projects usually start with an idea and we may end up taking the research in a direction oriented to our desires and benefits, leaving the user aside.
The social component as a humanizer of technology. The value of not forgetting that we are social beings to provide solutions that allow us connect with more people.
The complexity and detail level of the design process. Every element of a digital platform has a reason. Nothing should be superfluous or distracting.