Arbit
The design of a new app that transforms the sneaker resale market space through transparent price verification and community building.
Project Overview
Role: UX Researcher Lead | Duration: 2 Weeks | Tools: Figma, Miro, Optimal Sort, Asana
Problem
Goals
Results
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Finding prices of sneakers across various platforms is time-consuming
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Users want one platform to verify prices, connect to others and organize their collections.
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The community aspect of sneaker culture is very important to users that sometimes gets lost
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Design an app that allows users easy access to data on sneakers
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Design an app that fosters community and connection between users
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Provide users with a place to organize their collection of sneakers and products they want to track
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Ease of use in finding data related to price history, quantity of sales, etc.
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100% of users were able to connect to others in the community
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100% of users were able to scan shoes they owned and upload to site
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Access to search at all times
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Comparison feature incorporated for users to be able to compare sneakers for data
The resale sneaker market has grown exponentially in the last decade with an estimated 10 billion dollars in market value. But there is a lack of transparency in prices in the sneaker resale market, a problem that Arbit aims to solve. Arbit is a new platform where users are able to find accurate data on their phones before making an investment in sneakers. Users will have insights into the market with proven, trustworthy data and a place where the community could connect.
The Process
Discover
As the Research lead, I conducted the research in 3 phases:
1. User Survey
2. User Interviews
3. Competitive and Comparative Analysis
User Survey
We conducted a user survey that accrued 81 participants, mostly between the ages of 18 and 35. The majority of the participants were male.
Here are some main takeaways:
1. 82% of users thought sneakers defined someone’s character and personality.
2. 91.4% of users bought and sold sneakers online.
3. 80.8% of our participants indicated that they used some combination of websites to verify prices before they sold or bought sneakers. While they used different websites, this highlighted the need for pricing authentication platforms
4. For many, sneakers are much more than a pair of shoes. They are a marker of personality & style and indicate being part of a group of trend-setters and a unique community.
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In order to gain more in-depth insight into how the users felt about the resale market and their main needs, the team conducted user interviews.
User Interviews
We interviewed 14 potential users. The data was placed in an affinity map that helped us determine the user's main pain points and needs.
Our main takeaways were:
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71% (10/14) of users wished they could have access to more data to reduce pain point in buying/selling sneakers
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64% (9/14) of users need to see price data across various platforms before they buy/sell sneakers
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50% (7/14) of users expressed frustration with how long it takes them to research the market
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57% (8/14) of users felt they belong to a community through sneakers
Competitive & Comparative Analysis
To expand our research, I looked at some competitors who provided similar services.
I studies two competitors, StockX and Sole Collector, who provide information on pricing of sneakers.
Additionally, I conducted a comparative analysis with AirDNA and Moody’s- two platforms that provide data unrelated to sneakers but relevant to the experience.
In addition of taking note of shared and most common features, I also took note of features that seemed to be working for these platforms, and those which caused frustrations.
Our takeaway from this study was as follows:
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Most of these competitors are selective in the amount of data they display to users, which can lead to frustrations.
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User account, a search bar, and a primary navigation that allows users to quickly find products were positive features
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Some platforms use filters to let users control the amount of data/information they want to see
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Define
The next phase in the process was to define the problem based off of the research I had conducted:
1. Persona
2. Problem and Solution Statements
Persona
In order to better understand the users, the team developed two persona types, based off of the research that we had done.
Persona One
Alex is a part time fashion photographer and full time sneakerhead. He has found his path in buying and selling sneakers for a profit. Alex loves his business but he wishes there was an easy way to see the price and demand forecast for sneakers before buying or selling a pair.
Goals:
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Needs a quick and convenient way to track the sneaker market
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Honest valuations on sneakers so he can fairly price the shoes he resells
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A trustworthy resource that will save him time on researching
Pain points:
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There is no clear answer on what the price of a pair of sneakers should be when reselling them
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Alex feels that there is not a good breakdown of the sneaker market and where a specific shoe may fall in that market
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It is difficult to trust the platforms pricing on product because of how many different resources there are.
Persona Two
Dan is a DJ from Florida who collects sneakers because of the love he has for the culture itself. Since the sneaker market has exploded in the last few years, Dan's collection is now a very important investment that can supplement his dwindling income which took a big hit during Covid. He needs a platform where he not only can check prices but where he can also organize his own collection and keep track of its total value.
Goals:
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Platform to save his own collection to compare price trends
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Give and receive advice about new drops, trends, and prices
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Follow up with the market to determine if it’s worth selling his sneakers or trade them for the ones he wants
Pain points:
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Hard time finding the right price to buy new additions to his already existing collection
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Misinformation on new drops & old trends since the sneakers market has too many new comers who have no idea about the culture itself
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Lack of a platform where his sneaker collection and their market value is well organized and easily accessible
Based on the research and the needs of our target users, we could could now define the main problems and brainstorm on solutions.
Problem Statements
1. Alex is a sneaker enthusiast who needs a platform he can trust to track the pricing of sneakers easily because he wants to determine their projected long-term and short value.
2. Dan is a sneaker collector who needs an app that provides him easy access to his collections and the data analytics of each item, because he wants to better manage his collection and investment.
Solution Statement
Design an app that provides reliable data analytics, easy organization of sneaker collection and a space for community members to connect.
Develop
Now that the main problems were defined, the team needed to brainstorm and ideate. But research is an ongoing process, so I ran a card sorting exercise to understand what features most users wished for on the app. Card sorting is a tool in the service of information architecture.
Card Sorting
In order to determine the global navigations in the app, I turned to users again for card sorting.
14 Participants completed a hybrid card sorting exercise in which they were tasked with categorizing the different tasks and features of the app into groups.
After synthesizing the data, there emerged some clear preferences for the global navigation and how users preferred to flow throw the app:
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Profile
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Notifications
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Search
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Data Analytics
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Chat/Community option
This table shows categories formed by users, with the blue boxes highlighting the top categories made.
Site Map
Using the data from the card sorting method as well as information architecture best practices and data from the competitive analyses, I created a new site map for the app that provided a user-friendly navigation through the app.
All the data from the research and information architecture provided us with a foundation to begin the design phase.
Sketches
Sketches helped us visualize the app and ideate our different ideas.
Design & Test
The sketches were then turned into low-fidelity wireframes in Figma. After the first round of usability testing and reiteration, the team created high-fidelity wireframes. Another round of usability testing provided important feedback for the app.
Wireframes & Usability Testing
Our design went through two rounds of usability testing at different stages.
In the first round, 13 users were asked to accomplish the following tasks:
Task 1. Login and scan a pair of shoes they had recently acquired in order to view its data analytics. Then they were asked to add the shoes to their watchlist.
Task 2. The second task was for users to find a recently dropped pair of shoes and compare its data analytics to a similar item.
Iteration 1
Positive Takeaways:
In the first usability test, we had some positive results:
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92% of users were able to accomplish all tasks
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All users were able to scan a pair to check data on that certain pair
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All users were able to view data for their collections
Room for Growth:
However, there was room for improvement on the design.
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77% of our users questioned why notifications were under the fire sign instead of their own watchlist
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Users were not clear on what the comments sections did
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92% of our users had difficulty finding the scan button
After consulting with our client who encouraged us to highlight the community aspect of the app per user needs, we added a third task for the user:
Task 3. User joins the community called Sneakersarereal, and follows to participate in a conversation between other users about a new drop.
Iteration 2
Based on feedback from our testing, the team made adjustments to the design and created high-fidelity wireframes.
Adjustments:
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The user’s Watchlist and Notifications were combined under the fire icon
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A community feature was added as a bottom navigation tab and the comments section under the profile was removed
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The search was utilized more throughout the app to make searches easier for users
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The scanning icon on the bottom navigation bar was changed to make its function clearer.
Next Steps
Next Steps
There is more to be done for this project.
Here are some initial thoughts for next steps:
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Test hierarchy of information on Home screen with users
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Add text to bottom navigation to clarify icons’ functions
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Re-work the icon (notifications and camera) to make more clear
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Adjust the Comparison button, to make more visible to users use
What I learned...
This project was so rewarding to work on and I learnt so much from interacting with my team and the client.The process of working with a client who was in the midst of raising money to start this project was pretty illuminating. There were some misconceptions about UX Research v. Market Research initially, that our team had to clarify for the client, but once those kinks had been ironed out, the work became so fulfilling.
Overall, the experience of working with a client who had a clear vision of what they wished for from the project, helped me understand so much about the stakeholder-designer relationship and was a wonderful growth experience.
Here is some of what I learned:
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Communication is key. Whether between team members or the design team and stakeholder, being on the same page about goals and objectives and paths forward is very important.
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Working in teams can be so rewarding and we learn so much from each other.
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Research should be ongoing throughout the project, since at every step we need data from users.