The demand for sneakers have increased tremendously and it’s become quite challenging for sneaker collectors and enthusiasts to win sneaker raffles.
Rares created an investing experience that allows investors to buy, sell, and trade shares of rare and collectible sneakers that increases the chance and potential to earn returns on sneaker investments.
January 2023 - April 2023 (4 Months)
I led UX research and design as well as the redesign aspect of the app. Main areas of responsibility included:
1. Research
2. Data Analysis
3. Content Strategy
4. Copywriting
5. Design
6. Testing
7. Quality Assurance
Team Members
1. Greg, Chief Creative Officer
2. Hector, Chief Marketing Officer
3. Jake, Senior UX/UI Designer
4. Jo, Graphic Designer
5. Ryan, Head of Product
6. John, Director of Product
7. Angus, Senior Product Manager
8. George, Chief Technology Officer
9. Haeven, Senior Software Engineer
10. Triston, Senior Software Engineer
11. Casey, Senior Full Stack Developer
12. Jonathan, Full Stack Developer
Summary
The redesign was initiated based on business objectives and user insights.
The app was primarily redesigned to make the experience unique to the Rares brand, appeal to the target audience, educate and provide clarity in the message and services, make the core feature of investing more prominent, and convert more visitors into signups.
The Rares investor experience was redesigned for desktop, tablet, and mobile by Spring 2023.
I began the UX process by conducting primary and secondary research in order to better understand sneakers as an alternative asset class and how investors might respond to sneaker investments because it is a rather new, high-risk activity.
My assumption was that there would need to be an onboarding process to ensure investors are financially able to invest as well as understand the complexities and risks involved with it.
It is assumed that technology for alternative asset investments already exists in the finance and technology industry, and that investment patterns will be reflected in those existing experiences.
Topic Research
I reviewed academic research studies on diversifying investment portfolios with collectible sneakers relative to the expected returns and benefits of diversification.
- An investor’s knowledge on sneakers and sneaker trends are a significant determining factor in improving the expected returns from investing in collectible sneakers.
- Investors must be able to identify and focus their investments on sneakers that they know will stay in trend by using information on restocks and historical sneaker data.
- The sneaker resale market alone is estimated to be worth $30 billion by 2030.
Source → Soo, Samuel, "Diversifying Investment Portfolios with Collectible Sneakers: Expected Returns and Benefits of Diversification" (2021). CMC Senior Theses. 2746. https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/2746.
Market Research & Competitive Analysis
I conducted market research in order to understand industry standards and key features of investment apps.
- There is a lot in common amongst investment app experiences relative to the types of information collected from investors.
- Investment companies lack transparency on the risks and potential to earn returns on investments involved with alternative asset investing.
- Successful investment companies tend to provide in-depth information on assets as well as alternative payment options.
In order to identify problems in the existing design and uncover opportunities to improve, I facilitated and moderated in-person, qualitative, usability tests with 5 participants who had an interest in stocks and/or sneakers.
Day 1
Plan the study, create the surveys, and select and schedule tests
Day 2
Conduct tests and surveys with participants
Day 3
Analyze data and findings and convert them into design recommendations
Survey Questions
The test consisted of survey questions to gain insight on their existing investing behaviors and preferences, thoughts, and feelings surrounding investments and experiences with Rares and other apps.
After completing the usability tests and surveys, I organized my findings based on each core aspect of the Rares app and prioritized problems and opportunities, then discussed findings and decisions with my team.
- The platform is perceived as an e-commerce platform
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The platform appears incomplete
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Overwhelming and clustered, lack of focal points
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Design appears old school and very dated
- Unreadable, needs new fonts
Opportunities Discovered 💡
- Create a strategy plan to improve platform’s overall content
- Emphasize investment elements, make focal points more prominent, and minimize clusters of information
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Improve design to modernize the platform
- Improve visual hierarchy and create typographic hierarchical system
Top User Values 🤩
- Visuals
Participants were most excited by visuals and imagery of rare, collectible sneakers
- Key Information
Participants felt that privacy, security, rarity, and price were the most important aspects of sneaker investments
- Story
Participants do extensive research on highly sought out and highly valued sneakers and feel the significance and history behind what makes a sneaker rare or collectible are important
Based on data and insights from my research and persona, I categorized and structured the app information based on what was most effective and intuitive.
I created a sitemap in order to visualize the layout and content of the web app.
In order to understand the ideal user path, I designed a task flow of the investment process.
I mapped out the major paths users could take to achieve the path described in the task flow above.
I came up with a few wireframes for the homepage to determine how to best organize content and decide which components worked most effectively together.
I then designed wireframes for essential screens of the app and identified key tasks for each screen.
Before moving into high fidelity mockups and interactive prototypes, I explored various styles and designed all the necessary UI components for Rares design system to ensure consistency across the app.
To show how the website would appear on various mediums, I designed responsive screens for the homepage, investment listings, investment details, how it works, and about us pages.
To evaluate the efficacy of the Rares app, I conducted usability tests with 5 participants who were interested in stock investing and/or sneaker collecting.
Wins 🏁
- There is clarity in the Rares message and services
- Received positive feedback regarding video on investment detail page telling the story and significance of investment; “A lot of care has gone into this and makes the platform feel trustworthy”
- User stated they are likely to return in the future because of their knowledge in the sneaker market and its projected and exponential growth
Pains 😩
- More than one user had issues with landing page on mobile device; could not close out of video pop-up in the hero section
- User was unsure if their account creation was complete as they were directed to the investment listings
- User had issue with verification code and confirming their email; received the “Code entered is invalid” message
- User is not 100% comfortable with investing on Rares because there isn’t enough data to show movement in investments; “How do I know the value has increased or decreased? How do I know I’m going to make money? I don’t fully understand if an investment has gone up or down”
Next Steps ✅
Design is a continuous cycle of making constant improvements. Next steps would include:
- Turn autoplay settings to “off” for embedded video on homepage
- Create a notification letting the user know they’ve successfully created an account on Rares
- Test verification code internally with dev team
- Add more elements to show change of investment values
Reflection 💭
This end-to-end UX design project allowed me to understand the significance of research, testing, and continuous iteration of designs. This project taught me the complexities involved with product design marketing as it required me to think outside the box while strategizing content to ensure we provided clarity in the Rares brand message and services.
Designing for the user requires taking the time to understand their thoughts, feelings, and motivations to ensure we effectively support them throughout every experience.