User Research and Heuristic Evaluation Enhanced Trust and Safety on Craigslist
Introducing a Verification Feature to Improve User Confidence and Streamline Transactions.
June 01, 2024
10 min read
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Imagine trying to buy a used couch or find a local job on a website that feels like stepping back into the early days of the internet—clunky, confusing, visually overwhelming, and lacking in critical trust and safety features. Despite being a popular marketplace, Craigslist has long been plagued by outdated design, inconsistent navigation, and limited user verification. For many users, the experience is a frustrating exercise in persistence, with concerns over the reliability of listings and the safety of transactions.
"My goal? To take a platform millions rely on daily and make it as intuitive, modern, and trustworthy as it should be, while enhancing trust and safety by introducing verification features that protect users and improve their confidence in every interaction."
Discovering the problem
To uncover the full extent of the issues, we embarked on a journey to understand users’ real pain points. I interviewed some buyers and sellers. Their frustrations were clear—confusing navigation, lack of trust, and a cumbersome posting process.
For Example,
Reva is an international student who has just settled into her new apartment near UMBC. With a limited budget, she’s looking to furnish her space with high-quality, used furniture. Having always been methodical and detail-oriented, Reva wants to find pieces that match her style and needs, but she's also cautious about ensuring her purchases are safe and legitimate.
I need to find furniture that's in good condition and within my budget, but I don’t want to waste time on unreliable listings.
Goals
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Find suitable and convenient accommodation near UMBC before her arrival.
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Explore and adapt to her new surroundings efficiently using digital tools.
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Maintain her healthy lifestyle and habits in her new environment.
Behavior
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Comfortable with technology and frequently uses apps and websites to simplify daily tasks.
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Relies on Google Maps for navigation and exploring her new neighborhood.
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Appreciates tools that are user-friendly, intuitive, and time-saving.
Frustrations
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Difficulty in finding accurate listings that match her lifestyle preferences.
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Lack of clarity and detailed information in online listings, leading to time-consuming searches.
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Inconsistent and unreliable communication with landlords or service providers.
Safety is my top priority. I need to feel confident that the person I’m buying from is trustworthy.
Next, we conducted a competitive analysis, drawing inspiration from modern platforms like eBay and Facebook Marketplace, which offered smoother, more intuitive experiences.
Defining the problem
With our research in hand, the next step was to define our challenge. Reva’s struggle to find suitable listings became the foundation of our user persona. Through heuristic evaluations, we pinpointed the key issues: Craigslist’s design inconsistencies, lack of visual hierarchy, safety concerns, and inadequate customization options. This gave us a clear direction for our redesign.
Reimagining the experience
Armed with insights, we began to sketch a new vision. We crafted low-fidelity prototypes for crucial pages like the Landing page, Listing page, and Seller verification process, focusing on creating a more intuitive and trustworthy experience. We invited peers to step into Reva's shoes and test our designs, gathering invaluable feedback that highlighted what worked and what needed to change.
Bringing the Vision to Life
The story moved into its most exciting chapter: transforming ideas into reality. Using Figma, we refined our designs into medium-fidelity and high-fidelity prototypes, weaving in the feedback we had received. We introduced dynamic elements to the landing page, streamlined the listing process, and seller verification page. Each step brought us closer to creating a Craigslist that felt modern yet familiar, practical yet engaging.
Central Search Bar: Placed a large, central search bar with "All Categories" and "Location" filters, making it easier for users to search for items directly without extra clicks.
Improved Accessibility: Incorporated high-contrast text and buttons to ensure readability and usability and added language selection dropdown making it more accessible to diverse audience.
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Highlighted Categories:Created visually distinct category buttons to facilitate quick browsing and provide users with an intuitive way to navigate the platform.
Personalized "Recently Viewed" Section: Introduced a carousel-style "Recently Viewed" section to enhance user engagement, allowing users to revisit their recent searches effortlessly.
Verified Seller Badge: Introduced a green “Verified Seller” badge to build trust and credibility, making it easier for buyers to identify reliable sellers and reducing concerns about scams.
Location-Based Filtering: Included an easy-to-access location filter with options like distance (e.g., “Within 2 miles”) to ensure that users can find listings that are relevant to their geographical preferences.
Advanced Filtering Options: Added a sidebar with filters for Price, Condition, Color, Shape, and Delivery Method, along with a “View all Filters” button for more granular search control.
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Clear Step-by-Step Guidance: Provided instructional text for each step, guiding users on what to do, such as encouraging new users to verify their identity for better trust and credibility.
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Location & Privacy Control: Included a checkbox option for showing or hiding the full address on the listing, giving users control over their privacy.
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Identity Verification: Introduced an Identity Verification section to improve trust, allowing users to upload a photo ID and encouraging transparency between buyers and sellers.
Reflecting on the process...
Reflecting on the design process, it's evident that while some aspects went according to plan, others presented unexpected challenges. The journey from concept to prototype offered valuable insights into both the theoretical and practical aspects of user-centered design. The design process was initially imagined pretty simple: take user feedback and apply it directly in terms of design improvements. However, the reality was more complex. Balancing user desires with the project's scope required careful consideration and sometimes tough decisions.
The iterative nature of design, particularly the need to revisit earlier decisions based on new insights, was more difficult than anticipated. One of the more challenging steps was the integration of user feedback into the medium-fidelity prototypes. While feedback is invaluable, it can also be contradictory or outside the project's scope. Deciding which feedback to prioritize and how to implement it without compromising the design's integrity or functionality was a continual challenge. If I were to undertake this process again, I would place even greater emphasis on early user testing, particularly with a more diverse group of participants.
Overall, this project has been a valuable learning experience, emphasizing the importance of flexibility, user involvement, and the iterative nature of design. It has also highlighted the significance of balancing user needs with project constraints, a critical skill for any designer aiming to create effective and user-friendly designs.