Project Duration

March 2021 – August 2021

The Product

Local Altcoin is new app for a fictional alt-coin project which aims to allow users to pay for goods and services in local business through the app using a city/community alternative currency, to impulse local commerce and improve the local economy.

The Problem

Some local business face a very aggressive online competition like Amazon, which has a big negative economic impact in the local economy of certain cities. Alternatives are needed.

The Goal

Design and app for a Local Altcoin that will allow users to easily pay in local business with this new local currency. The goal is to become an alternative for merchants and shoppers in small cities and villages to impulse the local economy

My Role

UX designer designing an app for this Local Altcoin project from conception to delivery

Responsibilities

Conducting interviews, paper and digital wireframing, low and high fidelity prototyping, conducting usability studies, accounting for accessibility, and iterating on designs

User Research: summary

I conducted interviews and created empathy maps to undestand the users I’m designing for and their needs. A primary user group identified through research was young socially aware individuals who are into crypto and want to make a positive impact in their communities. Another group is less concerned about local issues and just basically want comfort and a direct monetary benefit while buying goods and services.

This user group confirmed initial assumptions about the Local Altcoin idea, but research also revealed that civism and commitment with local business werent the only factors motivating users, but other users also wanted an easy way to spend crypto benefiting from good prices, special offers, quick and cheap delivery, etc..

User Research: pain points

Lack of Options

Finding shops that accept crypto is hard nowadays. Inability to find shops to pay directly with crypto

Privacy & Legal Concerns

Paying with Crypto Visa Cards can be privacy issues. Bureaucracy and lack of legal clarity when using crypto to buy stuff is a problem.

Amazon Effect

Witnessing the damage of ecommerce and Amazon to local business and economy

Outdated Stores

Some local shops and business are expensive and old fashioned. They offer less for more

User Research: Personas

User Journey Map

Big Picture Storyboard

Francisco’s journey to buy locally with crypto using the app and help  his neighbourhood thrive.

Close-up Storyboard

This storyboard shows how the app actually works

User Journey

Paper Wireframes

Taking the time to draft iterations of each screen of the app on paper ensured that the elements that made it to digital wireframes would be well-suited to address user pain points. For the homepage i prioritized a quick and easy access to the main areas of the app

Digital Wireframes

Low Fidelity Prototype

Usability Study: findings

Mockups

After usability study, I added an offer section within the local store screen in order to facilitate navigation

Mockups

Added an initial tutorial in the main screen of the app in order to help new “confused” users to understand better how to use the app at the beginning

Mockups

Adjusted colours and contrast of elements- Texts of the map weren't readable in the previous version

1st High-fidelity Prototype (Old Iteration)

The first high-fidelity prototype presented cleaner user flows for paying with local crypto and checkout. It also met user need for pickup or delivery option as well as more options. It was also created with Figma

View the Local Altcoin 

High-fidelity prototype

2nd High-fidelity Prototype (New Iteration)

In this second iteration of the design, a more polished and cleaner version of the prototype was created.

All the content was redesigned in 360x767px and adapted to the XS – 4 columns – Grid in order to adapt to more modern devices with larger screens

To achieve that new upgrade, all the components used were redesigned entirely, updating all their states, using a more balanced type family and color palette, as well as more consistent sizes of elements and distribution of spaces.

New connections and interactions between the main screens of the app were created

View the New Local Altcoin Design

High-fidelity prototype

Impact: 

The app offers a straightforward process  to purchase goods and services with this alternative local currency. The app makes users feel the app really thinks about how to meet theri needs

One quote from peer feedback:

“The app makes everything easy. It is a great idea. It can definitely become a solution for many local business”.

What I learned:

While designing the Local Altcoin app, I learned that the first ideas for the app are only the begining of the process. Usability studies and peer feedback influenced each iteration of the app’s designs.

Conduct another round of usability studies to validate whether the pain points user experienced have been effectively addressed.

Conduct more user research to determine any new areas of need.

Keep iterating and polishing the design accordingly. Constant improvement.

DEFINING PERSONAS:

There will be two kind of users for this app: the buyer and the seller (farmer)

I conducted video interviews with 10 users (5 farmers and 5 potential buyers) to develop a rich understanding of their shopping habits and problems. I completed the research with surveys in order to obtain the best idea as possible about the user’s behaviour, preferences, habits, characteristics, etc.. and empathise with them.

After the interviews and surveys, as well as my personal observations,  I obtained the necessary information to define the “personas” or archetype of the two types of users that will use the app.

USER 1: THE FARMER

A first group formed by modern and technology-friendly farmers who want to open a new line of business or just make extra money selling their quality products in their area.

A perfect prototype of this kind of user could also be people tired of the stress of cities who left their jobs to achieve a calmer and more relaxed lifestyle in the countryside and rural areas dedicated to agriculture.

Name: Francisco

Age: 52

Status: Married

Education: Second Grade

Job: Farmer

USER 2: THE BUYER

On the other hand, the other group of users would be consumers aware of the negative impact of chemicals and intensive agriculture in the environment, as well as the importance of eating quality ecological fruits and vegetables to achieve a healthier lifestyle.

These kinds of users would have a remarkable social and environmental awareness.

Name: Sara

Age: 28

Status: Single

Education: University Degree

Job: Ambientalist

HOW DOES THE APP WORK?

The app will work in a similar way as Tinder, Uber or AirbNb, using geolocation to define an area near to these users seeking to buy eco products directly to the farmers, being the area close enough to pick the goods at the farmers place with their own car. Delivery could also be an option with an extra fee 

The idea behind this process is to create a positive and empowering interaction between the urban customers willing to buy top quality vegetables and fruits at fair rates, and the local/rural producers near them, which are an slightly conservative economic sector in terms of work and commercialization procedures, that has historically been left behind in terms of digital technology and innovation. 

This solution would aim to empower this collective taking advantage of technology to help them to fight against abusive intermediary costs and very low and unfair prices paid by major corporations and supermarkets. 

This solution, would also allow the customers to see the fields where the products are grown, checking its quality, its origin, etc…(the idea is not just to buy stuff, but to become a kind of experience itself for those people who are sick and tired of ultra-processed food, additives, etc and want go back to the roots) and in the other hand, would avoid the inconvenience of delivering the goods, which is one of the main handicaps the farmers face when they want to sell their products.

Both, the customers (people willing to buy products) and the farmers, will create a profile on the app where they will describe clearly their goals, value proposals and preferences. After that, the main action to be taken within the app, will be to create a link between these two groups in order to meet supply and demand in a direct, frictionless and fair way, where both parties will win.

CREATIVE PROCESS

IDEATION AND SKETCHING

In this initial phase, We spent a few days building the basis of the project. After researching the more detailed info as possible about the potential users, competitors, functionalities, and other features, here We decided what the main structure of the app would be and how the whole process would work.

In this initial stage, Sketching  was a simple yet super effective method of putting thoughts to paper, whether it was when describing thoughts to colleagues or brainstorming new solutions individually and as a group. 

One of the main challenges I faced in this phase, was at the very beginning with the login functionality. I had to decide whether the app should have a unique sing up form for both the users (buyers and sellers) or differentiate both roles initially offering two different forms.

This was a key decision since it would affect and modify the whole structure of the app dramatically, and We had to make sure that the right and smartest approach was the one we chose. 

In the beginning, our premise was that the possibility of splitting the users at the very beginning could make the subsequent usage of the app easier and simpler for each user/role. We also thought that it could be a good idea, since we could categorize and tag certain characteristics and preferences of each user, making the whole experience more accurate.

In order to decide which path to follow, We carried out the sketching of both basic roads, carefully compared them, as well as researched competitor's decisions in this sense.

After analyzing the pros and cons of each option, We discovered that the unique sing up form option has become almost an industry convention, and would be the more convenient option for the users and for us as designers, since it would simplify the process a lot. It would also offer more versatility and contemplate the possibility for the user to acquire both roles eventually, allowing him/her to purchase/sell products within the same profile.