Blog Update #5a – Rationale of prototyping approach
Our experiment involves comparing user performance on two different interfaces. We created two prototypes that are different in appearance, but have the same functionality. Mainly their appearance differs on the home page of the application, and the accessibility of the ‘edit listing’ section when a user selects one of the items that they are selling. We also decided that a mobile application would be the best way to represent our system, as users already have access to other platforms that let them list items (Facebook Messenger, eBay, Craigslist, etc.), and a phone gives them all in one access to taking pictures and uploading an item on the spot. Our prototypes are mocked up on the iPhone 14 to maintain consistency.
Both of our prototypes are vertical in scope and provide enough functionality to execute 2 tasks of 1 trial per prototype. While users do not have the freedom to explore external listings on other marketplace platforms, the prototype gives users a realistic feel for what a typical workflow would be. A user creating a profile and linking external platforms is simulated, and users would also be able to sort their listings by categories if they have many items for sale. Some components of the prototypes are “Wizard of Oz’d”. For example, when a user chooses to delete a listing, a pop-up confirming deletion will appear, along with our text input and photo upload functionality for adding/editing a listing. By simulating these components of our application, we are able to narrow our focus and evaluate only the user’s ability to add and edit a listing.
After sufficiently curating a smaller focus from our experiment, we were able to synthesize a medium-fi prototype with different high-level functionality covering a decent vertical scope as mentioned above. The aim of the design and the goal of the features deduced from the experiment insights as well were used to better our design in terms of simplicity, accessibility and functionality. By creating two separate designs we were able to build a solid comparison for understanding the vertical and horizontal scope, consequently, we ensured a good ground-level functionality for both specifications. The horizontal depth of the design can be observed in the display of the “Edit Listing” and “Add Listing” pages as well. Moreover, using Figma allowed the users to interact with the different high-level features and functions of Sell 24/7 providing clearer and more accurate results, we believe. This also established an iterative process for improving our design and implementation process by creating a visual design workflow.
Blog Update #5b - Prototype demonstration
Design - 1: “Quicklist”
The current seller items listed on both the pages for this design, each listing can be accessed individually by selecting the separate item. This is demonstrated in the “Add New Listing” page.
The different platforms to be posted can be selected on both pages in this design as well, allowing users for easier access.
Design - 2: "Boxed"
The home page items are in a tile format. When a user clicks on one of the tiles, it leads to the ‘Edit Listing’ screen.
On the ‘Edit Listing’ screen, the user can input a name for their item, upload a photo, and add a description. Analytics about the item are present on the screen, and there is a delete button at the bottom.
When a user adds an item using the ‘Add New Listing’ screen, they can input a name for their item, upload a photo, and add a description. Then they can select which platforms they want to upload their item to.
This design doesn’t allow for changing the platforms once it's been added.
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