⚙️ WHAT IS COMMUNITY GEARBOX?

Community Gearbox is a platform where people can lend and borrow items for free, hence building deeper connections, decreasing individual consumption, and creating an abundance of shared resources.

“Together we have so much”

“A REAL SENSE OF ABUNDANCE”

HYPOTHESIS

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the average group of millennial friends have a surprising amount of things to share with each other - somewhere between $20k to $40k worth between them

https://communitygearbox.com/

PROBLEM SCOPE

The CEO approached us with the challenge of enhancing the collaborative aspects of this platform, with the aim of making the borrowing and lending experience more enjoyable and rewarding. The objective was to create an environment where individuals lending items not only feel valued but also encouraged to share more.

HMW Design more collaborative features within Community Gearbox to make borrowing amongst a network of trusting people delightful and/or rewarding, so people lending items feel appreciated and compelled to share more and borrowers think of Community Gearbox before purchasing a new item?

BREAKING DOWN THE PROBLEM

Wow, that was a mouthful! Let's break down the problem scope into bite-sized pieces.

1

Enhancing Collaborative Features

How can we design and implement more collaborative features within Community Gearbox to promote enjoyable interactions and foster trust among users who borrow and lend items?

2

Promoting Appreciation and Sharing

How can we create a system that makes lenders feel valued and appreciated for their contributions while also compelling them to share more frequently within the Community Gearbox network?

3

Influencing Consumer Behavior

How can we influence borrowers' decision-making processes, encouraging them to consider Community Gearbox as their first choice before making new purchases of items they may only need temporarily?

DIVING INTO RESEARCH

Research before designing is crucial because it involves understanding various human behaviors crucial to this project, such as collaboration, trust, and appreciation, which are similar but distinct in their own way. By uncovering these insights, research identifies opportunities for innovation and validates assumptions about user preferences, reducing the risks of developing features that may not resonate with users. This approach minimizes costly redesigns and ensures that design decisions are grounded in evidence, thereby enhancing user engagement, satisfaction, and the overall success of the platform.

USER SURVEYS

In our product design process, we initiate our user research with surveys. Given the diverse age range of our user base, spanning from young to older individuals, we have strategically chosen surveys as an effective means to gather insights from various age demographics.

100+ responses

GOALS OF USER SURVEYS

• Identify a variety of potential interviewees that demonstrate unique borrowing/ lending habits
• Understand borrowing behavior
• Understand how demographics and hobbies influence behavior
• Understand the basis of building trust

SURVEY INSIGHTS

USER INTERVIEWS

We interviewed 11 interviewers who key characteristics are: niche hobbies, adventurous, sharing, trusting, community oriented, socially-conscious, on a budget. This diverse group, spanning in age from 18 to 60, is geographically dispersed across Berkeley, Seattle, and Virginia.

Borrowing and Lending Behavior

Documenting detailed accounts of positive and negative past borrowing/lending experiences

Rewarding Experiences

Looking into what makes people feel appreciated and feel a sense of achievement

Digital Communities and Environments

Uncovering favorable digital features that form connections and build strong communities

PUTTING ALL THE RESEARCH TOGETHER

AFFINITY DIAGRAM

Lending Habits

Considerations that factor into lending

Borrowing Habits

Typical behaviors and desires of borrowers

Gratuity

How individuals express appreciation to others

Digital Features

Aspects of digital experiences that people enjoy

click image to enlarge

CONCEPT MAPPING

Connecting reoccuring patterns to the values, motivations, and priorities of potential users

Community

Accountability, Reciprocal Relationships, Connection

Digital Features

Openness, Goal Oriented, Visual Features

Borrowing & Lending

Familiarity, Saving Money, Exploration, Altruism + Acknowledgement

click image to enlarge

KEY INSIGHTS MOVING FORWARD

PUTTING ALL THE RESEARCH TOGETHER

USER PERSONA

Found out that we want to focus on the lender aspects.

USER JOURNEY

Experience online and offline of a lender.

The pain points for The Loyal Lender emerge towards the end of their journey. They feel good about sharing their items with people in need. However, because the interaction is online, they might be unsure about the communication and boundaries they need to set for the items exchanged. This uncertainty can lead to potential damages and confusion about how to handle such situations. Consequently, their trust is compromised, which may discourage them from using the app further

RESEARCH TO DESIGN DECISIONS

That’s a lot of research methods, but what does it all mean when making design descisions?

1. UNDERSTAND WHAT THESE FEATURES SHOULD BE SOLVING

2. IDEATING IDEAS AND RATIONALIZING THEM

3. QUICK RESEARCH OF WHAT OTHER PLATFORMS ARE DOING TO SPARK TRUST

4. FINALIZE WITH DESIGN DECISIONS

STARTING THE DESIGN PROCESS

Our team created low-fidelity and mid-fidelity designs to help us vision out the designs a lot better. These are some of the many screens we designed to explore our ideas further.

🪄 FINAL DESIGNS (TA-DA!)

HOME PAGE

💬 Community Building

PRIVATE GROUPS

Horizontal scroll for private groups catering to niche interests and communities.

COMMUNITY

Reflecting the horizontal scroll above, friends with the most interactions appear here, with the option to view more. Requests and suggestions are also located in this section.

LEADERBOARD

Overview of your achievements (exchanges) and your rankings among friends.

LEADERBOARD

💬 Community Building

💚 Building Trust

PUBLICIZING EXCHANGES

Displaying exchange counts under each user highlights achievements, measures activity, and fosters app-wide competition.

YOUR RANKING

Highlighting your rank among friends on a mobile app leaderboard encourages competition while motivates engagement within app.

ACTIVITY FEED

⚠️ Accountability

💚 Building Trust

💬 Community Building

PUBLICIZING EXCHANGES

Inspired by Venmo's social aspect of lending and borrowing, publicizing this encourages users to feel more accountable.

IMAGES, REACTS, COMMENTS

Users can upload images, react to posts, and comment, inspiring others to engage in borrowing and lending as participation grows.

ENTRY POINT TO PROFILES & ITEMS

Users can click on items and profiles within this feed for easy access (requesting use) or to view someone's inventory.

PROFILE PAGE

⚠️ Accountability

💚 Building Trust

SLIDE UP PROFILE

Access someone's profile directly from the borrowing feed.

REQUEST FORM

Send a request for an item by filling out necessary information such as the pickup time, pickup person, and return process.

CARD VIEW OF ALL ITEMS

All items are displayed on separate cards for easier organization and distinction between them.

A SPECIAL THANKS TO...

My lovely team and Dante, the founder of Community Gearbox, met with us every week to discuss his future vision for his startup and provide feedback on our designs. Working with a startup founder has deepened my passion for creating products that will not only support the company's mission but also deliver value to its users.