LetGo UX

The mobile application LetGo functions as an online marketplace allowing users to interact with each other with the ultimate goal of buying and selling used items. LetGo currently has no feature to facilitate online payments. This places a crippling hindrance on their ability to earn money from their users.

As my first group project in General Assembly, I worked with two talented partners to provide a viable solution to the following client brief:

LetGo would like to facilitate in-person transactions by allowing for the option of in-app payments between buyers and sellers, making the transaction process safer.

After receiving the brief, we first set the business goals; by doing so, we were able to evaluate each idea in our process to make sure it generated value for the client.

These business goals were to increase LetGo’s user base and to generate revenue directly from this expansion.

We ultimately integrated an online payment feature to LetGo’s interface. When the buyer and seller agreed upon a price for the item, the buyer would transfer the agreed amount of money to LetGo, which would hold on to the money until the buyer confirmed the transaction had been completed. LetGo would receive a small fee off each transaction facilitated through this feature.

The final screen in the transaction process shows the design elements we took to make the buyer feel safe and secure while justifying LetGo’s fee.

But here’s how we got there…

Step 1: Research

Although the business objectives provided us with assumptions about the feature we wanted to implement, we conducted extensive research of potential users to guarantee that we accurately mapped our business objectives with the needs of the users.

This research began with a simple survey to screen a variety of potential users. This lead to our primary interviews and by only interviewing applicable users (those who use LetGo or similar platforms), we could allocate our resources more efficiently. We sent this screener survey out to 100+ people and gauged our demographics from the responses we received.

We received responses from 53 people who have used an online marketplace to buy or sell used items and from those responses we generated demographic-based metrics which we constantly referenced as we conducted more research of our users, including our usability tests.

Of the 53 people who bought or sold used items through an online platform in the past year, women outnumbered men about seven to three

We selected ten people from this survey for a more in depth interview to find behavioral trends among people who fit our potential user base. We asked them broad questions to get them talking about their experiences.

Although we wanted as much information as possible, we eventually narrowed the questions to touch on the idea of safety as the brief mentioned transaction safety.

Step 2: Synthesis

We synthesized the thoughts people provided and came up with the following “I statements.”

These “I statements were”

I like the security a business entity provides (buyer)

I like the convenience of electronic payment (buyer)

I want to buy discounted products (buyer)

I get frustrated scheduling meetups (buyer)

I rarely use cash (seller)

I want to feel safe meeting in person (seller)

I want to easily connect with the buyer (seller)

I want a broad audience of buyers (seller)

I appreciate quick transactions (seller)

I buy things at all price points (seller)

Combining these “I statements” and the demographic information from the screener survey, we were able to manufacture two personas to whom we often referred back for inspiration.

Natasha was the persona we used to relate to the seller’s pain points

We used Michael to relate to the struggles LetGo buyers were having

Step 3: Strategy/Feature Ideation

After developing these personas, one buyer and one seller, we began to ideate which features we should highlight. We began this process by determining which features were necessary for the buyer, for the seller, and most important, for both the buyer and the seller.

Because LetGo only has a single app (other apps, such as Eventbrite, have one app for the attendee and one for the organizer) we focused only on features that could be integrated into the app without causing disruption to the party that didn’t use that feature in a particular transaction.

Using the MoSCoW method, we prioritized which features were necessary and which were, well, just fun to have. To get to our final matrix, we each created our own MoSCoW grid and merged our ideas with each other and came up with the following grid:

Now I’ll speak to the three main features we included and how we arrived at the final design for each:

Step 4: Feature Creation

Negotiation Tracker

We arrived at the need for this feature from the insight that buyers and sellers needed easier communication routes. Although LetGo hosts a messaging page, deals are often forgotten about and not carried through because a conversation dies down.

This feature played to the desire of buyers and sellers to more easily communicate with each other. We integrated this into the chat feature — as buyers and sellers message each other, the buyer can make an offer with either cash or card/PayPal.

The seller would then receive a notification and have the option to accept or reject the offer.

2-Step Checkout

When we learned that security was often a person’s main concern when making a payment online, we had no choice but to place the feeling of security at the center of our design. By adding two steps to the checkout process after the offer being accepted, we made users feel as if they were never at a loss from a deal.

The final part of our checkout process was designed to prevent any money from going to the seller until the buyer confirmed they received the product. Upon receiving the buyer’s money, LetGo sends the buyer a confirmation code. This confirmation code is vital to the seller receiving the money from LetGo; only once the seller inputs the confirmation code will they receive their payment.

Bank/Card/PayPal Management

This feature was necessary but the most generic. For people to pay and receive money through LetGo, they needed to connect their credit cards, bank accounts, and PayPal accounts. As this is feature is a necessity for all online marketplaces, we wanted people to have a familiar feel while walking through this process. Any unfamiliarity in this part of the app could cause discomfort and steer people away from completing their transactions.

Step 5: Usability Testing

We walked through a variety of iterations of this feature, improving on each based off usability test results.

While conducting these tests, we asked potential users to go through a series of tasks. These tasks were:

1. Add a new credit card to your account
2. Make an offer to a seller you have been chatting with
3. As the seller, accept an offer sent to you

Usability Testing Round One

Task One: Add a new credit card to your account

Our first and final iteration of the screen to add new payment methods

This task only yielded one round of iterations. During the first round of testing some comments we received revolved around the “Add new card to file” button. We were told “it got lost in the bottom of the screen” and that “it didn’t seem to fit with the rest of the cards.” Once we brought it to the main chunk of the screen, people no longer needed to look for it and every person who tested the app finished this task with zero mistakes the second time around.

Task Two: Make an offer to a seller you have been chatting with

The first and second iteration of the make offer screen

FYI, the CTA button is the white dollar sign on the red circle… You won’t be the first person to tell me it is not ideal.

Some design issues that the testing highlighted were that people had trouble getting to the make offer screen. This is because, as you can see on the picture on the right, that the call to action button is not very clear. Only half of the people who completed this test were able to do so on their first try. Although we knew we had to change the placement and clarity of the button, we know that was a mostly cosmetic change. Causing a bit of confusion is an easier fix than developing distrust. So when people brought the pop-out screen to our attention, simply put, we were shook. We completely reworked that part of the flow. We made the “make offer” screen independent. Keeping it as a pop-out and making people think that the money transfer was not taken seriously by LetGo was a big mistake. These comments did not occur after we made the change.

Task Three: As the seller, accept an offer sent to you

The pop out was put to rest after people said it blended it too much with the background

The first iteration of this design followed the visual format of the buying task. When the user had a notification, they would click into the message and see an offer presented to them.

While people did not struggle with this task, the visual design needed work. People complained the pop-out blended in too much with the background and that there was not route to exit this screen without accepting or rejecting. You needed to review with only the information presented on the screen.

Usability Testing Round Two

Task Two: Make an offer to a seller you have been chatting with

As you can see above, the second iteration of this design was altered to enhance the usability of the app and to simplify the functionality to meet the business needs; if LetGo controls the money before the seller receives it, why should it matter if the buyer pays with a card or PayPal?

That is why we consolidated both online payments into a single button. It also allowed us to add much needed visuals to the page. It eliminated confusion and enhanced the aesthetics.

Our final product accomplished the business goals we set out to conquer:

By adding an option for online payment, the app now caters to more people. By creating a safe-feeling interface, more people will stay on this app and complete the transactions they message about. And by adding an option for LetGo to hold onto the money safely before sending it to the seller, LetGo is justified in accepting a fee for each transaction it facilitates.

You can find the link to the final prototype here:

https://projects.invisionapp.com/d/main#/console/14186316/295203268/preview