RUBook

Overview

RUBook is a iOS mobile app designed for college students to buy/ sell/ lend academic materials, including books, visual material, and study relevant gears. This is a school project within very short time. Within 4 weeks, I and another UX designers works together to conduct user research to find out the user needs and deliver wireframes.

My Role

UX designer & researcher

Design Tool

Figma

The Target User

Undergraduate students

The Problem

Buying class materials from corporate sources is expensive. There should be a healthy population of individuals from previous years who already have the book and are willing to sell/buy for a cheaper price.

The process of selling class materials is intimidating and inconvenient. Relying on a big-corporate middleman strips the user of control making it cost-intensive.

The User Study & Key Findings

By conducting user study methodology of interview & survey, the key findings can be summarized below:

- The facets user values most: Cost, Efficiency, Convenience.

- The user behaviors: (a) will acquire books at best price; (b) not engaging in selling materials due to lack of platform.

- User needs:

> Negotiate prices to get materials as low in price as possible;

> Availability of platform to host their items;

> Quick access to textbooks- cannot wait for shipping.

The Solutions

A specific marketplace app to:

- Buy/sell;

- Communicate with others; negotiate prices;