ToysXchange
Resale and Donation of Used Toys for Sustainability
A mobile app offering parents, teachers, and retailers a convenient platform for exchanging used toys, promoting sustainability and reuse.
MY ROLE
Research, UX Design and UI Design
Duration
Dec 2020 - Jan 2021
Tools
TEAM
Naishi Shah(me!)
+ 4 team members
+ a mentor
Introduction
What are we trying to solve?
The toy industry uses 40 tons of plastic for every $1 million in revenues* and is the most plastic-intensive industry in the world.
With advances in technology and innovations in the toy industry, toys and games have become quite expensive. Additionally, parents find it difficult to entertain their children with the same toys for longer periods. On the other hand, if children are not entertained, parents’ life becomes very difficult. This problem mainly affects middle-class families who cannot afford to buy new toys every 3-6 months.
*according to theworldcounts.com as of July 2022
How might we assist the resale and donation of used toys in the user's vicinity?
Outcome and Impact
Coming soon
Roadmap
Research
Why are we trying to solve this problem?
Competitive Analysis
There are a lot of online stores for the resale of used products, but there aren't many stores targeted towards the resale of children's toys. The apps available are global and hence lack region specificity. The existing had an unsatisfactory user flow and experience according to reviews provided by users.
User Personas
Ideation
Wireframes
Features that solve user problems
Feature 1
Area-wise product listing
A way for users to view toys listed in their vicinity by choosing their location beforehand. The survey showed that users would be more comfortable delivering or picking up toys near them.
Feature 2
Easy 5-step posting
A 5-step process for users to post their toys on the platform. If the uploading process is tedious and unnecessarily long, the user will lose interest and eventually give up.
Feature 3
Saving details
A way for users to store commonly used information like payment method and address. Short term memory load is hence reduced and the process becomes smoother.
Design
Design Principles
Screen Usability
When using a smartphone, a user has varying levels of comfort touching different area on the screen, based on whether they are right or left-handed. For purposes of usability, it is best to place elements on the screen accordingly.
Heirarchy
The content should be organized on the screen such that the navigation is easy for the user. In case of mobile screens, the users’ eyes usually go from top left to bottom right of the screen. The important content should be displayed prominently.Buttons are highlighted and placed at the end of the page so that the user works through the information or form and can perform an action at the end.
Prototype
ToysXchange - an app concept for the resale and donation of used toys with an appealing, consistent and visually clean design, familiar user task flow and smooth user experience.
Interact with prototype
Designed in Figma
reflection
Learnings
1. Designing for customers is different from designing for users
The customers of this app are children but the users are mostly their parents and teachers. The interface and experience design would differ greatly if they were catered towards children instead. This changes the approach towards user research, experience and interface design.
2. UX can make or break a product
From our market research, we deduced that products with great propositions and features fail if they have a poor user experience and implementation. The crucial role of user-centered design and user research became apparent. Design should be intuitive to the extent that the user feels as if they have been using the product all their life.
Improvements
1. Visual Design
The visual design of the app can be improved by focusing on color theory, typography and graphics for lesser distraction and higher conversion rates for shopping apps.
2. More extensive user research
Because of the short span of the project and the hectic timeline, the project sould not incorporate thorough user research. If user research and testing can be conducted, the app will have a more user-centered design and experience.