NWT.
Second-hand fashion resale platform that connects sellers and buyers of pre-owned New-With-Tag items.
Introduction
Choosing a second-hand resale business model for my first UI/UX project wasn’t random. I’ve been a user of online resale platforms for many years and very aware of the pros and cons of selling and buying pre-owned items online.
After conducting secondary research it became more clear that there are barriers and pain points when it comes to reselling online that still need to be addressed.
Some of which are: lack of trust, lack of transparency, lack of convenience and hygiene issues.
My Role
User Research, Ideation, Design and Usability testing
Tools & Methods
Figma, User stories, User persona, Empathy map, Site map, User flows, Sketching, Wireframing, Prototyping, High fidelity mockups, User testing
Problem & Solution
I didn’t realize right away that I took on quite the challenge.
I have two types of users to interview - buyers and sellers.
Which potentially could mean that I need to solve twice as many problems.
Screener survey analysis showed that nearly 100% of the users do both - they sell and buy, facing similar challenges and pain points when navigating existing platforms.
Problem #1
NWT platform aims to solve sellers' and buyers' main problem - lack of trust around item condition. Sellers may receive returns or disputes if buyers are dissatisfied with the quality of the item, even if the description was accurate.
At the same time, buyers often worry about whether the seller accurately represents the condition of the item. There's a risk of receiving an item that doesn't match the description or photos.
Solution #1
NWT resale platform is dedicated to new-with-tag items specifically, which attempts to solve this problem
Problem #2
The second problem that we aim to solve is outdated, cluttered platforms that make the experience of selling and buying pre-owned rather dreadful.
Solution #2
The solution to this creating platform with minimalistic UI that would make selling and buying online an aesthetically pleasing experience.
Addressing these trust and usability issues is crucial for the success of online second-hand resale platforms.
The Process
Discover
I started by conducting secondary research which made it evident:
Demand - Results of the Statista Global Consumer Survey conducted in 2022 show that The United States top the ranking of worldwide second-hand consumption with 57% of respondents stating that they had bought second hand articles in the past 12 months. Millennials and Gen Z were found to be most driven to participate in the second-hand market.
Impact - the global market value of second-hand and resale apparel is projected to reach a value of 218 billion dollars in 2026.
Existing market - younger generations buy their second-hand clothes via smartphone apps, which give shoppers greater choice and convenience. During research I looked into different business models ( peer-to-peer to consignment options, from “male only” to “kids only” platforms etc.
Barriers - there are three types of barriers to consumer engagement in second-hand fashion: functional, psychological and social. For the purpose of this project we are going to look into functional barriers some of which are: lack of trust, lack of transparency, lack of convenience and hygiene issues.
Next step in the discovery phase was to conduct primary research.
So I started getting ready for user interviews by developing a research plan.
I aimed to find out:
Who are the users of second-hand online platforms?
What platforms do they prefer to use and why?
What are the most relevant tools and features of online resell platforms?
What are the pain points when using / considering the use of online tools to sell / buy apparel on the second-hand market ?
I designed and sent out a screener survey in search of users of second-hand resale platforms that buy or/and sell previously used clothing online, age group 23 - 55.
As a result I recruited 5 participants to interview via phone and in person.
My discussion guide for the interviews was split in two aspects - selling and buying second-hand clothing online.
Define
Affinity Map
In this step I had to analyze information from the notes and interview voice recordings to make connections around them so that I could draw some conclusions.
To make sense of data collected during research I created affinity map.
As a result I was able to extract several themes.
Affinity Map Themes
Who? What? Why?
How? (the process)
Platforms pros
Platforms cons
Condition of items
Reviews
Price
The most relevant insights:
Cluttered / outdated / not very aesthetically pleasing platforms
Users feel overwhelmed with the amount of notifications
Sellers don’t want to deal with/accept returns
Sellers find that buyers have lots of loopholes if they don’t want to keep an item
Users find it hard to describe items with imperfections, so rather sell items in perfect conditions
Empathy Map
To better understand user’s pain points, goals, feelings, thoughts, and behaviors I used empathy map.
Pains
Manual work
Cluttered, outdated platforms
Needing to deal with returns
Sometimes the effort isn’t worth it
Gains
Fast & easy selling process
Visually pleasing platforms
Less or no returns
Earnings transparency
User Persona
User persona happened to be my most insightful tool during the synthesis phase. Creating a user persona helped me to better understand and empathize with users needs and frustrations, leading to more thoughtful user-centric design.
Jobs-to-be-done
To understand the motivation behind why people use a product or service I used Jobs-to-be-done framework. It helped me to understand the “job” costumer is trying to accomplish while using a certain product. In the case of resale platforms the main job is to make extra income by completing related job - sell second-hand clothes.
Problem Statements
I have to admit creating a HMW statement got me feeling lost at the beginning. The goal was to come up with questions to frame a problem in an open-ended and solution-oriented way, while being specific about what needs to be addressed and at the same time avoiding solutions and assumptions. The hardest part was to avoid solutions and assumptions, because on the back of the mind ideas were already surfacing. I had to rework it several times and this is what I came up with.
How might we help create more trust between buyers and sellers?
How might we make selling visually pleasing?
How might we make second-hand selling more efficient?
How might we support peer-to-peer model of resale platforms?
Ideate
Coming up with ideas and solutions was quite challenging as well.
One of the reasons why it was hard - I didn't know what was technically possible. Second - I had a false expectation to invent something that doesn't exist already.
I envisioned a very minimalist peer-to-peer resale app where users will make profit by reselling their new with tags apparel.
Users will create a profile, add a profile picture, and a little summary about them.
The listing process will be more efficient for the sellers because usually most of the time creating listings is spent taking lots of detailed pictures and describing little imperfections that item might have.
It will also be efficient for the buyers as they won’t have to sift through lots of items to find what they need in perfect condition.
It will be a platform where you specifically resell “impulse purchases”, ‘’forgot to return” buys at a much lower price.
It will help create more trust between buyers and sellers with the rating system it will have. It will give buyers the opportunity to shop with more confidence that item condition will meet their expectations and there are going to be no surprises.
Since we can’t control the quality of the pictures sellers will post, the platform should have a very minimalistic and clean UI. Black and white color theme, simple UI elements. This will improve the platform's aesthetics.
All of the above will make it more appealing to shop and sell pre-owned online, which will contribute to the growth of peer-to-peer resale culture.
Sitemap
User Flows
To visualize the path that a user takes through the app to accomplish specific task I created two user flows:
Seller lists an item
Buyer makes a purchase
Design
Creating low fidelity design sketches was the first step towards high fidelity designs. Sketching is a fast and affordable way to get your ideas out of your head and onto paper. I was able to explore various layout options, user interactions and visual concepts.
Sketches
Wireframes
1.Seller listing an item
2.Buyer makes a purchase
NWT brand platform
Mission/Vision
Our mission is to create a sustainable and convenient platform that exclusively focuses on the resale of new-with-tag items, revolutionizing the way people think about and engage with second-hand fashion.
Brand Personality
By connecting buyers and sellers, we want to promote conscious consumerism and contribute to a more sustainable future.
Brand Attributes
Convenient, simple, sustainable, trustworthy
NWT Mood board
NWT UI
High Fidelity Mockups
I used Figma to create High Fidelity mockups. It was the most iterative process of all - create, receive feedback, adjust and repeat. High Fidelity mockups gave a very realistic preview of the final product in terms of visual appearance, including colors, typography, imagery and design elements.
1.Seller is listing an item
2.Buyer makes a purchase
Test and Implement
Next step was to create and test prototypes to identify aspects of NWT that could be improved.
In the first round of usability testing I conducted 5 remote tests during which I discovered 3 main issues in my design:
During first round of testing I discovered 3 main issues in my design:
Issue #1
Sellers struggled with the “price set” screen.
I am assuming that it happened because the screen looked very different from the rest and was asking users to complete 2 separate tasks on the same screen - to set the price and to decide on offer options.
Solution: to iterate the screen and make a flow similar to the rest of the screens.
Finding 1 - Price setting screen
Sellers struggled to set the price.
I am assuming that it happened because the screen looked very different from the rest and was asking users to complete 2 separate tasks on the same screen - to set the price and to decide on offer options.
Solution: to iterate the screen and make a flow similar to the rest of the screens.
Finding 2 - Filter & sort screens
Filter and sort buttons didn't have prototype screens and users kept trying to use them, which made it clear that it should be included in MVP.
Solution: create additional screens for sort and filter.
Outcomes and lessons
NWT aims to address trust issues between sellers and buyers. The platform facilitates connections between buyers and sellers of new-with-tag items, instilling confidence in both parties. Buyers can trust that they are purchasing items in excellent condition, as they are second-hand but new by default. Sellers, on the other hand, are assured that they won't face returns due to poorly described item conditions.
The NWT project presented a significant learning curve in every aspect. Through it, I acquired new skills such as using Figma, conducting UX research, and interpreting user feedback. I learned how to identify problems and devise effective solutions, as well as how to generate and refine ideas to produce tangible results.
This project constantly pushed me out of my comfort zone, challenging me to navigate unfamiliar territory. Despite uncertainties along the way, everything eventually fell into place, culminating in a successful outcome.