A mobile application designed to give parents a designated platform to buy and sell second-hand items for children.

Overview

This project is a result of the final exam at Noroff School of Technology and Digital Media.

One group member, who is a parent, observed that while many parents showed an interest in buying and selling second-hand items for children, they often hesitated to follow through. To understand this better, the group decided to conduct further research on the topic and design a potential solution.

My role

UX Designer and Researcher

Active role in all areas from UX research, defining stages, ideation, low-fi and high-fi wireframing, design system, prototyping, testing and iterations

User survey and interviews

We surveyed over 100 parents and conducted 8 in-dept interviews which revealed that nearly 70% of parents indicated they were likely or very likely to buy second-hand items for their children. However, we found that only 1 in 4 parents actually follow through with this intention.

On a scale from 1-5, please rank how likely it is for you to buy second-hand equipment, items or clothes for your children.

“Buying items for my children is expensive. They grow up so quickly. I guess it would make sense to buy more second-hand.”

- User interview

“I think the lack of online platforms is an issue. I mean, current solutions are just all over the place - not very specialised.”

- User interview

= 70%

After gathering all of our research, we used affinity mapping to uncover common themes amongst the participants to give us some insights:

Why aren't more parents buying second-hand items, despite the clear motivation?

A screenshot displaying an affinity map unveiling different themes and insights. 
Snapshot of our affinity map

Insights

  • Parents are unaware of places where second-hand items are available, and therefore refrain from it.

  • Time required to locate items is a hindrance, because of busy schedules

  • Parents stick with sub-optimal solutions because it is convenient. It’s what they know.

SWOT

To better understand the current landscape, we examined existing platforms and surveyed parents about their usage habits. The brands included in our competitive analysis are those most frequently mentioned by parents, reflecting their current preferences and experiences.

We quickly realised that most of the existing platforms either:

  1. catered to many different needs, not only parents, leaving them feeling overwhelmed and paralysed with decision fatigue.

    or

  2. offer solutions only for renting and subscription based services, not ideal for parents wanting to own their own items.

Meet our persona - Sofie

Frustrations:

  • With two small children, time can be limited.

  • Navigating the vast number of platforms not specifically tailored to parents is time-consuming.

  • The existing solutions feel irrelevant, as she has not yet found a places specialising in equipment for kids.

“I am motivated to buy second-hand, but I feel like I have no time to browse the entire internet to locate a specific item for one of my boys!”

We wanted to explore different options to help Sofie, and did an extensive brainstorming session.

We concluded that a designated platform from parent to parent would give the most potential, as we could include more solutions later on.

Through our research we realised that there is a hole in the market for this service as existing apps cater to a huge variety of users and therefore also offer products that are not relevant for children. By using a mobile app which specialises in items for children, Sofie can more easily find products that fit her needs.