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Lent
An e-commerce platform that sells all kinds of digital electronics
My Role:
UX Design
UX Research
Interaction Design
Collaborators:
1 Product owner
1 Developer
Duration:
5 Weeks
Problem Overview
With the explosiveness of digitization and the increased use of electronic products, there is a need for digital electronic products in the market today. Due to this need in the market, a system is needed that focuses on providing different types of electronic devices from various or diverse manufacturers.
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Goal
The goal is to create a platform where users can buy and order digital electronics. The platform should be able to address user needs by improving the good aspects of the current e-commerce space and eliminating the bad.
Research
To begin the research, I started by looking into the e-commerce market and how it functions, while specifically looking into similar products that offer a similar service. The goal was to understand what was done generally and what was done well that could be maintained or improved upon, as well as what was done badly that could be stripped away.
From my research of the market, I compiled a summary of the workflow of similar products on the market, and this helped me understand the industry norm and how it can be innovated upon.
To decide what was good and what was bad, I had to go to the people who would use this product. I conducted interviews with various users and had a couple of questions, with all the answers helping me get clarity on two questions:
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Which platform(s) do the users use for a similar transaction and why?
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Why they were frustrated with the ones they didn't use
From the interviews and responses that I received, I deduced that users were faced with the various problems listed below:
Solution
From the problems identified, I was able to establish a list of solutions.
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Make the UI as simple to use and as clear as possible to avoid user confusion.
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Introduce a "brand of the week" that can help with a user's choice if they have problems choosing a particular brand.
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Create a "saved" option that a user can save certain products as they browse through and then choose from later.
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Make the user know where exactly their product is when it’s en route to them (the status).
How Does Lent Work?
Onboarding to shop
The onboarding process gives information about the service and products that Lent offers. After which it takes you directly to the store so you can begin purchasing.
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Signup and sign in
The users can choose to create an account and sign in before beginning to shop.
Search
Users can choose to perform a search either by text or by image. If they choose the image search, they have the option to choose from the gallery or take an instant photo.
Product categories
If the user wants to explore what's available, they can look for products by going through categories. The categories are organized by different product types and can be sorted and filtered by different parameters to give the user their exact product.
Saving for the future
The user has the option to save products as they are browsing the platform, just in case they need them for future use. The user can also remove these products from the saved list any time they want.
Product detail
Once the user finds a product, they can see the details of the particular product to make sure it is what they want or are interested in. Things like size, model, and capacity are some of the things a user might find here. The user can also see what other users think of this particular product by reading reviews. They can proceed to add the product to their cart if it meets their requirements.
Shopping cart and checkout
The products the user added to their cart can be seen here and they can proceed to checkout so they pay for these products. The other fees such as shipping can be found here.
Orders
After successfully placing their orders, the users can either just view the order details or track this order to know exactly how long the product will take to arrive and exactly where it is. There is also a list showing all the orders the user has made.
Notifications and Account
There is a notification page where the user can get notifications about updates and an accounts page where the user can edit account details and change settings to personalize their experience.
Error and Empty pages
The error pages show the potential troubles a user might get into while logging in, and the empty pages show pages like the order, shopping cart, and notifications when there is no information in them.
Results and Takeaways
The handoff to the developer was successfully done, and the product is currently in development, but I also learned two important things working on this project:
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I learned that listening to the user is always key. I had an unknown "knowledge bias" going into this project, thinking everybody has as much ease using products as I do, but I was shocked when users had a problem of choice, i.e., what to buy. I wouldn’t in a million years think that’s something somebody will struggle with, but people do.
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I also learned to collaborate differently than I would usually do with an owner and developer. This made me realize that every project or team you’ll work with is different, and you have to be flexible so that you’ll be able to adapt if need be. Whether it’s via handoff tools, communication mediums, or whatever, be ready to adapt.