UX/UI Member- 2019
I currently help facilitate the creation of Rentabl itself by working on the look and feel of what it is going to be like, since we are still in the beginning phases (first 3 weeks).
Why?
The reason we chose to create this app was because we wanted to make a better way for students to have a network to sell and rent their items. There currently is a Facebook group called- “UCSD Free and For Sale” but the issues are that it is not exactly safe, as anyone with a UCSD email can join. Also, people can cancel transactions without consequences, which is something we want to change. We also want to give the app a distinguished aspect to it that would make UCSD users feel protected.
“The first screenshot is of the FB Free and For Sale Page, and the second shows an example of an item that would be sold”
User Flow
The team first tasked me with creating a user flow of how someone using the app would be able to navigate content. So, I gathered the main types of content, which were the profile, renting mode, seller mode, shopping cart, and messages/notifications section. All UX designers collaborated to come up with 4-5 main sections of the app, as shown on the bottom of the image to the right.
“Above is a quick user flow I created, starting from opening the app to posting an item or searching for an item”
Competitive Analysis
I then worked on comparing the best of the best in terms of competitors, which were Airbnb, Ebay, and Offerup. These apps stood out to me because it was quick to switch from searching or posting and there was a sense of mastery of using the app within minutes. Offerup stood out to me the most since it had a feeling of community and the homepage was solely showing live user posts of items.
“From left to right, screenshots of- Offerup, Airbnb, Ebay”
Wireframes
I sketched four images for my wireframes. 2 of them were just about signing in and creating an account, because this was a huge selling point of our app- we wanted to make it very secure. This is why you have to enter in your UCSD ID to be a part of the app. The bottom 2 designs were for the homepage, which was just other live user posts on a scrolling feed (left) and the hamburger menu (right).
“The top 2 wireframes are for signing in, and the bottom 2 are for checking on items being sold nearby”
First Task- Create Basic Post Section
The team split into making basic designs for the separate parts of the app, and I was tasked with the post section. I knew that the main sections would be having a title, description, price, and delivery methods, so I modeled it based on that. It became a stage-based process ending with you seeing all the attributes attached to the item and then finally posting it live.
This is my basic idea of the posting section of Rentabl
Continuation
Our project was unfortunately cut short due to time restrictions and the team’s interest in other projects! However, we made sure to keep in touch and chronicle our work here!