Reimagining the online secondhand shopping experience
Supervisor
Sarah Olsen, Senior Product Designer
Timeline
Aug - Dec 2022
Tool
Figma
Role
Designer
ABOUT THREDUP
thredUP, a leading online consignment and thrift store, is on a mission to combat fashion waste by making secondhand shopping the first choice for a new generation.
To support this vision, we explored opportunities within the app to expand thredUP’s user base and drive engagement, resulting in three feature recommendations and 170 high-fidelity wireframes.
THE ASK
How might we make secondhand shopping on thredUP more social to drive user growth and engagement?
INTRODUCING SOCIAL FEATURES
We pitched three features and delivered an end-to-end prototype with a total of 170 Hi-fi wireframes of proposed features using thredUP’s design system.
Collaborative Collections
Allowing users to make collaborative collections that allows others to edit, comment, and react to the collection.
Group Orders
Incentivizing shoppers to view and add items to the same cart, while also working towards group discounts.
Public Profiles
Giving users the opportunity to curate a unique profile to showcase their public collections, and gain inspiration from others’ profiles.
Public Profiles
Collaborative Collections
Group Ordering
By exploring the features of collaborative collections, group ordering, and public profiles, we hope to bring forth a more fun and social shopping experience on thredUP’s mobile platform.
Online secondhand shopping lacks the social gratification that consumers love about an in-person shopping experience. 64% of adults said they end up spending more money when they shop with friends.” - Daily news: Lifestyle
UNDERSTANDING ONLINE SHOPPING EXPECTATIONS IN COLLEGE STUDENTS
Affinity Map
User Personas
Key Insights
College students want an online shopping experience that prioritizes affordability and social gratification, while also having the opportunity to share opinions and receive direct feedback on their purchases.
How do we group our research findings so we can efficiently derive key insights?
How can we categorize users’ behavioral patterns to keep the users at the heart of our design decisions?
College students…
View secondhand shopping as a therapeutic pastime, social experience, and leisure activity
Rely on their friends for recommendations and feedback in order to feel more confident in their purchases
Thrift because of its uniqueness, affordability, and sustainability
Shopping experiences can be impacted both positively and negatively by their friends’ presence.
UNDERSTANDING ONLINE SHOPPING EXPERIENCE IN COLLEGE STUDENTS
Overarching Research Goals
Quantitative & Qualitative Data
Evaluate the user impact of a social online shopping experience on thredUP
Identify how social routines or habits inform online shopping behaviors for college students, and whether they shop for (and return) secondhand items in groups
Describe the process—what are the circumstances, environment, and goals—college students have for shopping secondhand items in groups
Ultimately, we want to understand, through the gathering of quantitative and qualitative research methodology, why college students would choose one form of shopping method or another and to learn about their desires for social features on online shopping platforms.
112 survey responses collected
6 competitive analysis conducted
10 literature pieces reviewed
12 user interviews conducted
Ideation
crazy amount of crazy 8’s
Pugh Matrix
Final Concepts
We adopted diverge-and-converge cycles to structure our design-thinking and to refine and narrow down to our best ideas.
Which ideas actually tackle our problem space and fit our needs best?
Proposed features that got cut: Competitive & collaborative loyalty system, Style boxes/gifts, Fashionista + Indecisive big/little pairing, campus pop-ups.
Iteration
Initial Design
User Flows
Mid-Fidelity Wireframes
Usability Testing
Brainstorming system entry/exit points, user tasks, and user decisions of our initial concepts
We found that…
Social features are more compatible with mobile interfaces.
Invitation
Wishlist
We conducted four sessions of usability testing.
social group overview
shared shopping cart while browsing
Reactions
Reflection & Takeaways
Transformed the secondhand shopping experience by adding social elements that helped users connect with the brand and each other, all while keeping sustainability at the heart of the design.
Worked within thredUP’s established design system to build seamless, scalable features that felt natural and consistent throughout the app.
Bridged fashion, sustainability, and UX to craft a design that not only improved the user experience but also promoted long-term, sustainable shopping habits.
Teamed up with product managers to ensure the design vision was aligned with business goals, resulting in features that were both user-friendly and impactful for growth.
Adapted quickly to project shifts, moving from a marketing focus to prioritizing interaction design, ensuring our final deliverables maximized user engagement.
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