There's a growing demand for accessible avenues to support local businesses and eco-friendly products. How can we help environmentally conscious consumers connect online with local small businesses to explore and purchase new products?

Role: UX Designer, UI Designer

Time: 6 weeks

Team: Akhila Mahesh, Beena Hemkar, Godfred Richardson, Radhhikka Jadcherlla, Laurel Spurgeon

Tools: Figma, Figjam, Qualtrics, Google Suite, Adobe Creative Suite, Zoom

Exploring the problem

We surveyed to understand the dynamics of sustainable e-commerce from both the buyer's and sellers' viewpoints, highlighting preferences, behaviors, and sustainability considerations in the digital marketplace. The questions followed the themes listed below and covered qualitative and quantitative questions.

• Demographics

• Buyer Behavior and Preferences

• Sustainability Perception

• Preferences and Priorities

• Seller Insights

Through extensive surveys and interviews with 91 respondents, we identified fundamental user needs and market demands. Our findings revealed a significant demand for a platform like Ecofy, which facilitates the purchase of eco-friendly products and educates and engages users in sustainable practices.

Buyer major takeaway: While there is a strong demand for sustainable products and a preference for ethical, transparent brands, buyers face challenges related to cost, information clarity, accessibility, product discovery, and variety.

Seller major takeaway: Sellers highlighted the intricate balance between maintaining sustainable practices, managing operational challenges, and effectively reaching and engaging eco-conscious consumers...

Classification of buyer & Seller pain points 

Through extensive surveys and interviews with 91 respondents, we identified fundamental user needs and market demands. Our findings revealed a significant demand for a platform like Ecofy, which facilitates the purchase of eco-friendly products and educates and engages users in sustainable practices.

A notable majority strongly preferred products made from eco-friendly materials and ethically sourced goods, underscoring Ecofy's potential to connect buyers with local sellers committed to sustainability. Our survey data identified specific user needs and pain points, including cost and competition, awareness and communication, logistics and supply chain challenges, and market differentiation. These insights were pivotal in shaping the development of Ecofy, ensuring that our platform addresses these user challenges while promoting sustainable commerce.

Competitive Analysis

Our competitor analysis evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of similar marketplace platforms like Etsy, EarthHero, Patagonia, InstaCart, and Thrive Market. While these platforms are in the business of selling green products, they lack a strong sustainability focus that drives community engagement and eco-friendly transparency. Our analysis revealed that these platforms excel in product diversity and global reach but fall short in community building and sustainability education tools.

Our Insights

Considering the problem statement we selected, conducting our research (survey, Interviews), along brainstorming we were able to refine our problem statement, and our solution will focus on the current gaps & opportunities to build our MVP  - An exclusive eco-friendly products & services market place that encourages all buyers & sellers (agnostic of size income & revenue)  to connect on one common platform & experience one-stop-shop for all environmentally friendly products, services & initiatives 

Information Architecture & User Flows

Following our research and competitive analysis, we refined our problem statement to:

"Buyers and sellers of environmentally friendly products struggle to connect due to the lack of a common platform to buy, sell, promote, educate, and learn easily."

Key Decisions & Highlighting 

• Mobile friendly application 

• Buyer & seller friendly interfaces 

• Verified Sustainable products marketplace only 

• Adaptive mobile application to fit different device screens 

• Desktop application as an alternate option for both buyers & sellers (to cover all demographics and technology challenges & users)

• The journey is built for both mobile & desktop and includes Home, Nav bar, product, Community, Checkout, and an option for buyer & seller to set up profiles 

• Enable buyer-relevant key features

• Enable seller-relevant key features

Generic overall features for the product roadmap as we scale

The user flows selected resonate with our user needs, addressing some of the requirements & pain points identified through our surveys and interviews, and is critical for most e-commerce platforms. Each page selected will showcase the features defined in our MVP that tie back to our original thought of promoting & bringing forth the sustainability market and making it available to our users at their fingertips. This we can give not just a complete E2E shopping experience but also highlight the uniqueness of our product. 

The user flows are listed to map the buyer and the seller's journey.

User flow 01: Product Page

Brian is a new user who recently registered on our website and is now using our mobile app for the first time. He intends to purchase a pack of eco-friendly books for his children. While Brian has a particular brand in mind, he is also open to exploring alternative options that align with his sustainability preferences. In this scenario, our primary objective is to guide Brian through the product search process, provide detailed information about specific products of interest, and facilitate adding items to his cart. Additionally, we aim to offer personalized recommendations based on his established sustainability preferences. It's important to note that Brian has already configured his sustainability settings and set up his payment details through our website.

User flow 02: Home Page & Navigation Bar

In the findings of the research buyers said they wanted to buy a good product easily and want clarity on the sustainability attributes in making a decision. This user flow depicts a first-time user who has signed up on the website and is using the mobile app for the first time to buy a pack of eco-friendly tableware for a party they are hosting.They have an idea of what they are looking for and a few options for how to achieve the task. Open to complimentary products and ideas that might help efforts to achieve this task while supporting local Eco-friendly businesses. They have already set up sustainability preferences and payment details using the website to sign up.

User flow 03: Community Page

Brian is a new user who wants to buy eco-friendly books on our sustainability app. Now, he wants to learn more by connecting with others who may have bought previously or reviewed them. He wants to know what he should buy and learn more about the sustainability practices involved to share with his family and friends. In this scenario, our primary objective is to guide Brian in the app's community forum and show where he can post or learn and share sustainability practices and become part of the community.

User flow 04: Cart & Checkout

Brian has now found the books he came looking for. He has selected a few books that he likes and had added to the cart. Brian is now ready to make the purchase and he cant wait to read his books. Here the assumption is: Brian has gone through the process where he has not logged in. In this user flow,our goal is to walk Brian through a check out process that is similar to most of the current e-commerce apps, but also give him options to select his preference towards the packaging & gift wrap material, a simplified payment process that offers a quick checkout to a detailed process ( based on Brian’s preference). The check out process also has been simplified with an option to either login or go as a guest and at milestone junctions show case the contribution that Brian did by using our marketplace. In addition, give an opportunity for Brian to express how his experience was by writing a review, or calling customer service if he has concerns

User flow 05: Sign up Page

Alex is an environmentally conscious individual who regularly purchases eco-friendly products online. After using the marketplace app as a buyer and experiencing the benefits of sustainable shopping, The primary goal is to assist Alex in smoothly transitioning from his role as a buyer to becoming a seller on the platform, ensuring he can set up his seller profile without any hassle and start listing his products. Alex opens the app and logs in using his existing buyer account credentials in this scenario. He reviews his previous purchases and updates his personal information to ensure everything is current. Interested in selling his products, Alex navigates to the “Become a Seller” information page accessible through the app’s main menu. He reads about the benefits, responsibilities, and sustainability commitments required for sellers on the platform. Alex clicks the “Sign Up to Sell” button, initiating the transition from a buyer to a seller account. He fills out the application form, providing additional business-related details such as business names, product categories, and sustainability practices. He agrees to the marketplace’s terms and conditions for sellers, which emphasize ethical business practices and ecological sustainability. After his seller account is approved, Alex sets up his seller profile. He uploads images of his products, writes detailed descriptions highlighting his skincare range's organic and local sourcing, and specifies eco-friendly packaging options. Alex configures his account settings to receive sales, customer inquiries, and notifications about promotional opportunities. He also sets up preferences for receiving payments and managing orders. With his seller profile complete, Alex lists his first organic face cream product. He carefully chooses categories and tags that align with the product’s sustainable attributes to ensure it reaches the right audience. Once the listing is live, Alex receives a confirmation message. He explores the seller dashboard, where he can track his sales, view customer reviews, and access resources on enhancing product visibility and sustainability practices.

Low-fidelity wireframes

Following the journey, we defend the wireframes that map to our user flows. The low-fidelity wireframes are mapped from the lens of a buyer & seller, wherein he/she can go through the entire shopping journey.

Design systems

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Prototype

Our high-fidelity wireframes map to our low-fidelity wireframes and portray a complete journey of a buyer & seller experience at key touch points. To showcase the journey of each wireframe, we have put prototypes for each flow to help experience the journey.

These prototypes give a complete walkthrough of the experience to help not just give good insights but also add confidence to the seller in circling back to enlist on the platform as a potential seller and bring more earth-friendly products to the buyer.