Overview
Seoul Shop is an Android app project that aims to provide Chinese customers with a simple and fast online experience that feels like shopping in authentic boutiques and shops in Korea anytime even when they are sitting on their cozy couches at home.
DATE
May – Dec 2016
PLATFORM
Android
MY ROLES
UX Design
UI Design
Illustration
Branding
TEAM
1 PM
1 Designer
3 Marketers
1 Developers (Outsourced)
The Problem
In early 2016, our company started the business to provide cross-border shopping service to Chinese domestic customers. We used a template e-commerce website solution in the beginning but soon found it necessary to build up our own platform because of various limitations of the template. We needed an app that did not only excel in fresh design but also offered fresh content and service compared with other domestic cross-border shopping platforms.
Define the Problem
With the goal and constraints in mind, we conducted user interviews and group discussions to decide what our real problem is. I categorized every opinion and idea according to its importance and viability with the help of the prioritization matrix.
GOAL
To build up a trust worthy cross-border Korean products shopping platform
RISKS & CONSTRAINTS
To find price competitive supplying and logistic solutions
Why would users choose to shop on our app over other shopping agents or platforms?
Limited developement support
Review Inspiring Solutions
Most of the cross-border shopping platforms in Chinese market adopted the Taobao user interface style, which is totally acceptable but somewhat sophisticated and medicore to us. We looked into some successful Korean e-commerce platforms, trying to come up with something simple and modern, different from the mainstream competitors.
Taobao (left) / 29cm (right)
Idea Sketches
From what we have found from our discussions and research, we brainstormed and sketched out ideas that might help solve the problem.
Solution Wireframes
I transferred the sketches into wireframes, showing what our users would see when they interacted with our app. Then our teammates gave their opinions again and put the sticky notes accordingly on the wireframe. This would be the blueprint for making our MVP afterward.
Sitemap
Sitemap was made in this step. We used it to make sure all the content would be included in the final design to support user requirements and fulfill our business strategy.
Create Prototypes
“Fake it till you make it.” Learned from Agile Development and Design Sprint philosophy, I used Sketch 3 and InVision to make our MVP, “faking” a clickable prototype with user test missions in my mind.
Test
As soon as we had our first prototype, we tested it wiht multiple users and synthesized our findings into interations. I used InVisoin’s user test function to record users’ reactions.
