Project Focus

Milestone 1

Project

Revamp the Facebook Marketplace Using

  • Market characterization for new system concepts
  • Next Generation System

Customers

  • Current Facebook and Facebook Marketplace Users
  • Potential users from other second-hand selling applications (Examples: Craigslist, LetGo App, eBay, Amazon)
  • Potential new users joining Facebook
  • Potential users from other social media platforms

Problems

If you are looking to buy or sell a second-hand item, there are numerous applications people can use. Facebook Marketplace is one of the more recent additions to enter the fray but it is already being widely used. While using Facebook Marketplace, users have the option to search for items to buy or list items to sell. What makes Facebook Marketplace unique is that it is an addition to Facebook where you can see ratings of a person as a seller or buyer if they’ve used Marketplace before and can message them using Facebook Messenger. But our team is looking to address current problems that we’ve seen with the system. These problems are:

Profile

The ratings system is generic and simple right now with limited options (allows for a happy or sad face and predetermined tags.)

Ratings

The ratings system is only generic and simple right now with options for a happy or sad face and predetermined tags.

Category

The category system is sorted by high-level items that doesn’t include enough options or details.

Filtering

The current filtering options are limited and don’t give users a full range of search options.

Design

There are some inconsistencies between Mobile and Desktop versions of Marketplace.

Solution

To solve our defined problems, our team is looking to introduce these potential solutions:

Profile

Potentially add new options to expand the seller's information on Marketplace. This information will only be on Marketplace

  • New/Expanded Options - Add specific fields/information for sellers
    • Allows buyers to be more confident with communicating to a seller
    • Allow sellers to potentially have more people contact them about a item they are selling
Ratings

Completely revamp the entire rating system to allow expanded buyer and seller feedback

  • Ranking - Add a new ranking system to better determine ratings for buyers and sellers
    • Potentially remove smile/frown face options and replace with a star system like other applications
  • Feedback - Allow users to input feedback on buyers/sellers
    • Potentially add comment boxes for users to fill out after buying/selling an item
  • Tagging - Expand the current tagging system for buyers and sellers
    • Add new tags for both buyers and seller
Category

Expand the current category system to further break down groups of items for easier searching from users

  • Sections - Change the current sections of categories
    • Add new sections to groups and or rearrange current searches
  • Sections Expanded - Add new options for searching once you are in a section
    • Potentially add another search or filtering options
Filtering

Add new filtering options to help searching for users

  • Options based on Category - Potentially add specific filtering options based on a users search category
  • Common Options - Add common filtering options from other platforms
Design

Create a new UI/UX that has the same experience between Mobile and Desktop themes

  • Fix Inconsistencies - There are some options that are only shown on desktop or mobile and not the other. Potentially find an option to incorporate them on both platforms
  • New Viewing Options - Potentially add the ability to view the view search on the main page differently. Add the option to toggle between views

Stakeholders

The stakeholders for our project are:

The current Facebook/Marketplace users
Potential new users
Potential users from other second-hand selling applications/platforms
Examples: Craigslist, Amazon, eBay, Let Go, etc.
Potential users from other social media platforms
Facebook Leadership

Stakeholder Thoughts

With taking on this project we need to consider these potential thoughts from the stakeholders:

Goals

Revamped Facebook Marketplace

  • Successful launch of the new Marketplace with potential solutions
    • Gathered research from current users, rival application users, and potential users for diversified feedback
  • Increased Marketplace users
    • More users are using Marketplace
Worries

New system concepts and UI/UX designs will not bode well with current/new users

  • Marketplace loses users
    • Because of the changes, users aren’t happy and start using other applications/platforms
  • Public Reaction
    • How will the public react to these new potential changes?
      • Will they be positive or negative?