Barter Out
00 My Role
I am a UX Designer for Barter Out, a startup created by students at the University of Rochester that provides a platform to make buying and selling second-hand textbooks easier. My primary role is conducting user research, creating wireframes and prototypes to work on improving the overall experience of using their platform.
01 The Problem
To re-design the platform such that it optimizes a user’s experience of using the platform - ensuring that both buyers and sellers are able to access relevant information easily.
02 What needs to change? Conducting User studies
To learn more about users’ experiences with the platform I am currently conducting user studies among two groups of users:
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Existing users who have accounts on the platform and may have successful transactions. These users can talk towards their positive/negative experiences.
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New users to interact with the site and perform a set number of tasks - during the time I am attempting to observe where the expectations vs reality of the platform do not synch up.
GROUP 1: EXISTING USERS
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How was your experience buying/selling through Barter Out?
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Was there any particular function that you wish was possible but you were unable to do it?
GROUP 2: NEW USERS
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Ask Users to do following tasks
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Sign In/Log In
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Browse for a book they might need
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Add their own book to the list
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Delete the book from the list
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Request an unavailable book
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Note: If interested, I want to consider asking users to interact with the site for a week after the interview and log their experience or discuss the experience with me over a follow up interview.
03 What's Coming Next?
Through my user testing I want to further flesh out two things:
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User Personas - what is a typical seller/buyer looking for?
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Platform Pain Points - what are some areas where the platform is hindering user activity rather than facilitating it?
04 Got Feedback for Me?
Project in Progress: More to come soon!