OUGD504 - Studio Brief 2 - Wireframing Part 2

Development of Wireframing 

From crit feedback it was suggested that perhaps the homepage could solely focus on providing a way of helping the user find what they could use to make a particular project, to make it easier for people to be able to the materials.

It was considered that perhaps there could be a bar asking the user 'what are you making?'. By answering this then a page of materials could come up that could be useful for the project. However one problem with the idea would be that many of the materials on the site would be unique or in limited quantity which would make it hard to get the exact sizes or quantity of the same material for a particular project. Also by asking the user what they are making and suggesting materials they could use, perhaps influences their creativity and limits the possibilities of the materials. 

However there is an understanding that something like this would help people to understand how to use the site and perhaps allow them to consider different materials that they maybe wouldn't of though of unless shown. Instead of using an explicit search bar for this it was considered that perhaps when listings are uploaded, tags could also be inputted. Tags about the actual material could be listed as well as things that the material could be used for. Inputting techniques that use the material e.g. cardmaking or things that are often made with the material e.g. cards would be a good way of allowing people to search for projects and inspiration through the search bar as well as finding specific items. 

From this idea it was also considered as a way of allowing the user to understand better how the site works, a trending ideas section and trending materials section could be added. These would list popular uses, techniques or projects for certain materials e.g. # chair or #cardmaking  and the trending products would show popular items from around the site allowing a wider variety of people to see new and interesting materials. There would be three images that are viewable at any one time to link with the idea of the 3 R's (reduce, reuse and recycle) however the use of buttons would allow more images to be scrolled through to the left and right creating a dynamic and engaging layout. Clicking on an item from these sections would take the user through to a page of listings with the same tag.

Having these new additions to the homepage will mean there are five different areas for users to engage with, which also ties in well with the five aspects of waste management which also influence the grid system.

The five sections include, the branding and user buttons at the top of the screen, the search bar for specific searching, the category bar for browsing, trending ideas for inspiration on how and what to use the materials for and the trending materials which will show users a variety of popular items exposing them to new materials.  

It was considered that there could be four buttons at the top of the screen which will open up different pop up boxes, including account, favourites, basket and sell. The account section will allow the user to view and edit there profile, details and payment detail as well as view reviews that have been left for them. The favourites button will allow the user to see products they have favourited alowing them to potentially buy things at a later date etc. To search through favourites the user will be able to sort them in terms of time e.g. favourited in the last 30 days etc. In the basket section this will be where any items wanting to be bought will go, it will also include a section to see previous orders and leave feedback on these. Once all items for the order have been put into the basket and the user wants to purchase them this then takes the user on to the checkout section. The use of expandable sections within these sections allows different information to be hidden and shown at different points which also saves space and makes the design look more refined.

Within the checkout process it was considered that people will want to purchase in different ways. By adding a screen which asks the user whether they want to sign up, login or pay as a guest, it allows the user choice over how they want to use the site. Depending on what they do influences the rest of the check out process for example if they login then there details will already be on file so they will go straight to the summary whereas if they are paying as a guest then they have to fill all their details out. At the end of the checkout process there is a section which reminds the user to relist any leftover material, this aims to make the user consider what they do with their left overs.  

When a listing is clicked on this will bring up another pop up which will include details about the listing, shipping / collection, price and the location of the product. Images of the product will be set so that only one is viewable at a time allowing the user to scroll through multiple imagery as well as reducing space. Similar items will be at the bottom of the popup allowing people to go to other products if the listing they are on is not suitable.