Revitalizing User Experience: Enhancing Accessibility, Trust, & Ease in Online Marketplaces
Solo Student Project
UX Design
UX Research
Overview
This project tackled the challenge of updating Craigslist's UX without alienating its current user base while making it more approachable for new users. I sought to balance modernization with the preservation of the brand's identity, which is minimalist, simplistic, and functionality-focused. Highlighting the question of whether Craigslist might be missing out on potential users due to its outdated interface is an excellent way to show the project's real-world relevance.
The site needs a complete revamp of its information architecture, organization, and mostly text-based interface.
Approach
My approach to the UKGWorkforce case study was user-centered, starting with informal interviews and observations of key users, including caregivers and the Business Office Coordinator, to identify pain points. Based on this research, I mapped user journeys, created personas, and identified opportunities to improve the app’s time clock feature. Using wireframes and prototypes, I tested and iterated designs to simplify navigation and reduce errors.
Using this approach, I aimed to enhance usability and streamline the visual design and navigation of the site for a more seamless user experience.
Problem
Craigslist possesses a variety of UX challenges, including a dated interface misaligned with modern web standards, an information overloaded homepage lacking clear architecture, heuristic violations affecting interaction design, navigation, and UI as well as visibility issues like the obscured search bar and essential features blending with textual links.
Solution (Final Design)
Brainstorming + Sketches
Wireframes
First-Click / Usability Testing
In this section, we assess the effectiveness and intuitiveness of the app’s design. We gathered feedback from users on navigation, layout, and overall user experience to identify areas for improvement and ensure a seamless, user-friendly interface.
We asked participants to complete four tasks to evaluate where they would most likely click first when attempting to accomplish each task. In the end, we also gathered input from users by asking if there were any navigational elements, design features, or other aspects of the interface that they found missing, difficult to use, or in need of improvement. This feedback helped us identify potential areas for enhancing the overall user experience.
Applying Insights (Iteration)
Task 1 asked the users where they would click to expand the top most event listing and reveal additional details about the opportunity. Of the testing, []% of users clicked on the correct area, which was the expanding icon in the lower right corner or the event listing itself.
Task 2 asked the users where they would click to report a posted trashMob for inappropriate content. Of the testing, []% of users clicked on the correct area, which was the vertical three-dot menu icon in the upper right corner.
Task 3 asked the users where they would click to identify individuals who have already signed up for a given trashMob opportunity. Of the testing, []% of users clicked on the correct area, which was the icon with three people labeled with the number of volunteers needed.
Task 4 asked the users where they would click to create their own trashMob opportunity. individuals who have already signed up for a given trashMob opportunity. Of the testing, []% of users clicked on the correct area, which was the icon with three people labeled with the number of volunteers needed.
Final Design
Reflection