Illustrated Iconography
Barbo
The Challenge Create a people-centered e-commerce product experience that does not use money as a form of exchange. Create a trust that popular personal listing apps do not.
The Team
Zachary Snyder, Project Manager
Megan Crouch, Visual Designer & User Research
Kaan Beyhan, Project Manager & Interaction Design
Sam Rapa, Visual & Interaction Designer
Tori Reimersma, Accessibility Designer
How might we create a community-oriented space
by helping people exchange skills and goods they have
for skills and goods they need?
User Insights
Affinity Mapping revealed User Assumptions and Proto-Personas. User Assumptions framed all product decisions. Storytelling gives us a path to express those decisions. This story assigns a Role for our user and the Tasks our app must accomplish for the user’s experience to be successful.
The Affinity Map revealed significant themes: positive attitudes towards community, a need for trust, and a need for fair value. Other insights describe technology as a crucial tool providing information and convenience. We discover people are rewarded by completing tasks. Areas of concern are available time, communication, scheduling, and finding value to offer others.
Concept
Popular online listing tools fail to assist people who have value to offer in the form of tradable goods or services and provide them with a safe environment to trade with others. Design a mobile app that addresses these problems by facilitating the exchange of services and goods without monetary involvement, engaging those who want to make local community connections.
Personas: Proto-Personas give life to the data in the form of two characters. Ellie wants to expand her social network and is engaged in the local community. The widower, Marie, has a large family but lives alone and is financially limited. She relies on her family and neighbors for help, but sometimes they cannot meet her service need. She needs to search beyond her social network to find someone willing to trade with her.
Storyboards illustrate a situation where each Proto-Persona uses the platform (originally referred to as TradeJam) to meet needs that mirror those found in the data.
Storyboards
Marie Storyboard
Ellie Storyboard
Wireframes
Color & Typography System
Design System & Branding
These are the principles that shape how we design all the experiences across the Barbo platform.
Easy to engage: A bright, playful tone and style reflect the feeling of completion and making connections.
Clearly explained: A good plan makes for a good trade. We use clear, well-sorted information screens to navigate users through trade details. Color provides navigational cues.
Clean visual style: A clean, simple style makes things feel approachable and efficient.
Trustworthy character: A clarity in design and information casts a clear light on our users and creates something that they can trust.
Accessible: A look through many lenses considers the differences of our users.
