OUGD504 - Studio Brief 2 - Refining Concept

Focus on Raw Materials

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It was discussed how the site could explain/ promote the benefits of using reclaimed materials, talk about why scrap materials exist and why we should use them. It was said that perhaps an ethos / manifesto could be created for the site to outline the companies aims.
It was considered that the materials could be refined to provide only raw materials as these are easy to categorise. Having basic raw materials would be inspiring and allow creatives more design possibilities. It was also said that there could be a levels of acceptance policy, on what can ad can't be put up.

What is being looked at?

- Do not focus on the branding, just have brand name, logo and strapline
- All about functionality and ease of use
- Use filler imagery and placeholder text

Considerations for Concept 

Aims and Business Goals of the website (The goals and main purpose)

- The aim of the site is to allow people to buy, sell and exchange reclaimed materials
- The platform will focus on raw materials to provide inspiration and creative opportunities for any designer or maker.   
- To encourage the creation of innovative and exciting products through the use of reclaimed materials.
- Aims to promote the use of reclaimed of materials rather than recycling them and how this benefits the environment
- Aim to minimise waste into landfill 
- Make people think twice about throwing something away and realise the creative opportunities that different materials may have, making it the norm to share resources.
- Allow people to form communities both locally and within the country

Prioritisation of Goals

Taking influence from the 'Interactive Design' book and the importance of prioritising business goals to help place focus on specific aspects, the prioritisation pyramid was used with the sites goals.


   

It was considered that the main point of the site would be to promote the use of materials to minimise waste to landfill through an ecommerce marketplace. The design would have to appeal to a creative community and inspire innovation with materials and show the creative opportunities of the products. The site would also aim to make it the norm to share resources through a friendly atmosphere, making it accessible to everyone and encouraging the use of the site.

 

Target Audience / User Groups 

- The site is aimed at an audience of creatives and designers

Tangible Targets 
- increase use of reclaimed materials within design 
- repeat customers 
- increase in number of sales and people using the site 
- promote the idea of upcycling rather than recycling and reduce waste to landfill   

Features and Functionality 

Functions

Needs and aspects of the site
- Appeal to the creative community 
- Allow users to find interesting and unique materials
- Allow users to buy reclaimed materials
- Allow users to sell reclaimed materials 
- Allow users to give things for free
- Guidelines as to what can be sold
- Ethos / manifesto for the site / why it is important to upcycle
- Enable communities to be formed to allow for more local sharing / buying
- Promotion of upcycling and the site and their benefits 
- Loyalty scheme to promote further use of site
- Quick and easy sales / purchasing 
- Has multiple sellers so must be cohesive and show products in best light dynamic 

Features 

Appeal to the creative community
- needs to be visually engaging 
- cohesive structured format

Allow users to find interesting and unique materials
- photo galleries allow product to be easily understood
- cohesive layout making it easy to navigate 
- search bar to quickly find specific items and allow for focussed searching 
- categorise items so that it is easy to find the right material
- tags for items make the listing come up in a variety of similar searches 
- similar / recommended products available should be shown when on a listing. This allows for focussed searching of products that have a similar purpose but provide different possibilities. This specific searching means people do not buy what they don't need, only what they were looking for, minimising waste output.
- things bought with an item
- featured products / materials allows exposure for a range of materials and gives people ideas 
- tries not to limit or suggest what people can do with materials 

Allow users to buy reclaimed materials
- account set up / login / sign up 
- profiles
- reviews and ratings allow people to see whether a seller has good stock, fast delivery etc 
- encourage people to relist usable scrap that they might have after using product
- recent reviews 
- local and national delivery

Allow users to sell reclaimed materials 
- add 4 images 
- tags 
- description
- local and national delivery, click set price rather than having to work it out 
- collection option needs location 

Allow users to give things for free
- Free button will allow people to pick up item from location, this will be a collection only option or pay for postage depending on size of item 
Guidelines as to what can be sold

Ethos / manifesto for the site and why it is important to upcycle
- facts and figures about upcycling, recycling etc

Enable communities to be formed to allow for more local sharing / buying 
- search by location / postcode / business or institute to find things in local area 
- when selling people should list their location / business for people to find 
- ability to follow profiles and have a feed of new products

Promotion of upcycling and the site and their benefits
- Links to social media - Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram 
- Allow people to upload things that have been made, link to their work
- encourage people to resell an item  

Loyalty scheme to promote further use of site
- points added to account 
- how much spent leads to amount of points, this will encourage people to use the site more 
- points for selling aswell  

Quick and easy sales / purchasing
- log in / sign up 
- use of paypal, apple pay, android pay and credit / debit card
- Has multiple sellers so must be cohesive and show products in best light dynamic 
- saves details of user on account 
- One tap purchasing 
- for selling money goes into paypal or link to card
- Quick sale / free / local makes it easy for people to sell things quickly