May 16, 2021
OurNewOldPlace — The app that will rediscover you with the small neighbourhood store
I am from a small land in the Atlantic where, in addition to being very rich in natural beauty, so is the warmth of our people. Since I was going to buy sweets at the neighbourhood store until now, I have seen how practically all the stores that I visited as a child have closed and with it the possibility of seeing again the smile of those wonderful people who gave me some one more treat for free.
Therefore, I had no doubts and decided that I had to find a solution to this problem to help the small business to reconnect with buyers.
Sprint 1: Research
At the beginning, it was difficult for me to determine the scope of my possibilities since it is not in my power to change the legislation, such as: the customs law or the contributions of the self-employed. So I focused on asking myself questions that I could solve by doing research. Questions arose such as: What things do people usually buy more online and what in physical stores? What is the reason that people buy online if they could have it immediately by shopping in the store?
After outlining all these questions, I sort them by topics and considered what research techniques I could use to answer each one of them. Some questions such as What is the current situation of small businesses? I was able to solve them with a Desk Research and I grouped others to be able to solve them with questionnaires or interviews.
Desk Research
Researching the current situation in the sector, I discovered data that worried me.
To my surprise the situation was even worse than I imagined and also the covid 19 pandemic has made things more difficult
Interviews
Once I understood what the general situation in Spain was like, I decided to take investigation to the streets to ask businesses in different towns how they were experiencing the situation and thus contrast that information. I began my interview with three small business owners and three consumers.
At the beginning, it was a bit difficult for the interviewees to tell me about their situation since in the case of the three businesses they were going through a very difficult situation in their businesses. Finally, I was able to generate an atmosphere of trust so that they opened up so that I could empathise with them. In the case of the clothing and accessories store, the owner confessed to me that she did not know every month if she could continue with her business. Which made it very clear to me that the situation is serious.
In addition, interviewing consumers, I realised that there were other ways of consuming that I had not taken into account in the initial phase. As for example, those who provide recreational activities services
Surveys
After these interviews, a range of new questions opened up for me, which I added to the research and posed as a survey. A total of 45 people participated in the surveys and it was launched mainly through the network of entrepreneurs in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
Thanks to this survey, I discovered that the main reason that online shopping is winning the battle with the small business is not a mere question of price. The main reason why people buy less locally is that when they need to buy something they don’t know where to buy it and they don’t want to go store by store looking and comparing prices.
Benchmarking
With a clear idea of where the focus of the problem is, I focused on the search for other services that will try to tackle this problem as well, to develop the benchmarking
In general, I realised that none of them are really focused on solving the problem. The most similar app only focus on announcing offers of articles.
Best practices
For the rest of the actions that need a solution such as: business information or their geolocation, I focused in Google.
I understood that it was important that for the user, when adding new content, it had to be a graphically very clear app and also that it would be familiar to them.
Stakeholders Map
To understand which people or entities influenced the sector, I decided to make a Stakeholder map to be able to have a graphic idea of the scope and influence that they could have.
With this, I realised that the trade associations in the areas have a great impact on small businesses. Since on many occasions they are the benchmarks for some merchants and they also carry out activities to encourage consumption.
Affinity Map
To end the research phase, I organised all the information collected and grouped it into categories in order to get the design insights.
Focusing on these groups, I lean on what the interviewees themselves told me, as well as some comments they gave me in the surveys regarding these topics, to gain design insights.
Design Insights
Some of the design insights I got were:
“I want to sell more, but I don’t know how to create a website”
Most sellers think that selling online is not for them. In some cases, it is because it seems very complex to them. Others simply do not consider that possibility.
“I don’t waste time going store by store looking for what I need, I just search for it on aliexpress”
Shoppers feel stressed when they have to buy something and don’t know where to find it
“Most of my clients are from the area or even other workers from other businesses. I don’t have an online store so I publish the most interesting things on instagram, they contact me and I keep them until they leave their jobs and come to look for it “
Buyers feel more confident when they can reserve an item to go see and test it in person.
“If I have to upload all my products to all existing platforms, I would need to hire someone just for that work and with this situation we are experiencing, I see it impossible”
Merchants usually have a lot of workload and uploading each of their products to all online platforms is a job that they do not want and cannot do.
Sprint2: Ideation and conceptualization
In this phase, I focused on finding solutions to the problems posed. I proposed different hypotheses for solutions, which I was able to obtain thanks to the “UX Strategy Guide Canva” tool.
Once these hypotheses were obtained, I questioned them and for this I relied on the 3 interviewees who were buyers to find out what opinion they had about the hypotheses and what risks there were.
Business model Canvas
With clear ideas about what solutions could be effective, I set out to develop the business model. Although the solution has a very strong social foundation, it is not a solution supported by a charity or government organization so it needs income to coexist and maintain itself. Therefore, I developed a business model using the Business model canvas tool.
Filling in the Canvas, I benchmarked again to understand how other applications monetized and I was very clear about the ideal way to monetize. The fact that I needed the purchase service to be easy to access at any time by the user made it clear to me that the ideal platform to develop this solution was a mobile application and I saw that applications such as Etsy monetized with each item uploaded by the seller to the platform. In addition, I stated that for each transaction carried out when someone signs up for a payment activity, a commission is charged.
By the time I finished the business model canvas, I saw that the solution could hold up well since it had a way to monetize and also the community created content on its own. But reviewing the model I realized one very important thing. The value proposition needed more. I realised that I had lost focus of the solution. And I asked myself:
What does a small business have that an online platform cannot provide?
It is a very simple question with an easy answer. People. People make a difference, the human being behind each business or each product, if they are made by hand, has a value far above what can be consumed online. People are capable of making a user experience memorable.
This led me to have to rethink the entire research and ideation phase that I had until now. But that’s what design thinking is all about, it’s a cyclical process.
After conducting a new research process and doing two new interviews with the owner of a cafeteria and the manager of a trade association, I got some new design insights.
User Personas
In order to understand how potential users of the application think, feel and what they need. I defined 4 user archetypes and created the user personas.
27-year-old Marie collins has just moved to a small town in Tenerife. She is a digital nomad and she doesn’t know anyone from the area. She is ready to find out what she has to offer the little town in which she now lives.
Alexander Lopez, 32, has lived his whole life in the town where he was born and knows the people where he lives very well. He is really concerned and aware of the bad situation of the small business.
Kilian Alfonso, 15 years old, is a teenager who suffers first-hand from the problems of depopulation in Spanish towns. He feels they have no playful options in his area.
Carmen Bethancour, 56, is greatly affected by the precariousness of the small business. Her business falters and she sees how she cannot get new customers because they have switched to online shopping.
In order to understand who our possible users could really be, I placed these user person in a matrix. Understanding that our app will serve those buyers who are in a new place and who are interested in the added value that people generate to products and services, I defined the axes of the matrix according to how much users travel and how sociable they are.
Thanks to this tool, I could see that our heavy users would be: Marie as the user who would use the app to consume and Carmen would be the archetype of the user who would need the app to improve her business.
Empathy Map
Additionally, I made an empathy map of the 4 user personas to be able to understand in depth what the needs of these users are. I highlight two mainly, which would be Marie, our heavy user who consumes, and Carmen, our user who wants to sell.
Customer Journey
In order to define the value proposition well, I designed customer journeys according to the navigation flows that best reflected the operation of the application. Of these I highlight the two most important.
When completing the customer journey, I found as an opportunity for improvement that, for someone to be encouraged to do a group activity where they do not know anyone, it is necessary for the user to feel comfortable. And for this you have to give him as much information as possible to lose certain fears. I deduced that it is necessary to include videos of how the organizers are and also motivational messages so that people go with an attitude of socializing.
Knowing the stories of the sellers is the great value proposition of this App, but how it had been raised at the beginning was too tedious for a buyer who wants to find what to buy quickly. For this reason, as a design opportunity in this customer journey, I found that it would be more convenient for the stories to be told on video and not very long.
Value Proposition
The application will encourage consumption in towns and neighborhoods, but several key tools are necessary to achieve this arduous task.
It will show live everything that is happening in the region in which you are, we do this to show users that there is something of their interest about to happen and how long it will be available. In addition, agreements will be created with consumer associations so that they can create events and display it in the application. The tools will be: map of activities, stories of the people of the region and explorer section.
Create communities. Activities are another way of consuming and they also deserve to be supported since, in general, small companies or freelancers organize it. They also present a key tool since with the formation of groups local consumption intensifies. People create links with other people in the area and start consuming more in that area. The tools: motivational messages and proposals for group activities to common users.
Unify products by regions. Everything that can be purchased in a region will be grouped in the same marketplace. You will know instantly if what you need to acquire is in your town or neighborhood and who can offer it to you. Tool: marketplace
Create corners to visit. Increasing the appeal of a place is sometimes just a matter of showing the hidden charm. Users will be able to create corners to visit. Tools: Stories, Map
Show the human side. There is only one thing that an online marketplace can never offer you and that is the human side of the employees in your area. A small talk with a clerk or shop assistant can turn a seemingly banal activity into a beautiful, memorable experience. For this reason, the application will show merchants’ stories and experiences with video that you can later comment with them when you go to pick up your order. Tool: Stories
Sprint 3: Information Architecture
Once the entire ideation and conceptualization phase had been well defined, it was clear how this problem could be solved. So now it was time to organize the content of that solution. To do this, I created a sitemap with all the content that our application should include.
With the bases defined, I finally set out to develop the low-fidelity wireframes and for this I relied on the navigation flows that I had created.
Style Guide
Before starting with the prototype, it was time to give color and shape to our solution. Our application seeks to transport you to that feeling of being in a small town on the Spanish coast with its blue sky, white houses and tile roof.
For this I took this image of a corner of the north of Tenerife to extract the range of colors.
Sprint 4: Prototype and Testing
Wireframes
It is time for drawing, having clear and well define our objetives and architecture I started building up our prototype.
I conduct the wireframing design focused on the customer journeys I have designed. Before prototyping I designed the app in middle fidelity wireframes using Sketch.
And Finally the prototype has been done! OurNewOldPlace the app for helping small commerces to grow up.
Thank you!
Life is a way of learning, user experience designer is a profession which I fell in love because I can design solution for real problem and help people with them. Thank you for reading this project till the end.
